How Technology Is Changing the Archaeology of the Ancient Maya
Arlen Chase
Thursday, 09 Oct 2014 at 7:00 pm – Sun Room, Memorial Union
Arlen Chase is a pioneer in applying laser-based remote sensing to research on the ancient Maya civilization. He will discuss how LiDAR technology (Light Detection And Ranging), with its ability to penetrate dense tropical canopies, can provide detailed information about the large-scale distribution of archaeological remains without the laborious process of on-the-ground mapping. Chase is a Pegasus professor and chair of the Anthropology Department at the University of Central Florida. He currently co-directs excavations at Caracol, Belize, the largest recorded Classic Period (A.D. 250-900) Maya center. Sigma Xi Series.Abstract
With its ability to penetrate dense tropical canopies, LiDAR has revolutionized the field of Mesoamerican settlement archaeology. Because dense vegetation covers most ancient remains in the Maya area, archaeological documentation of the spatial extent of sites using traditional means was both difficult and usually incomplete. LiDAR was initially applied to the site of Caracol, Belize in April 2009 and yielded a 200 sq km Digital Elevation Model that, for the first time, provided a complete view of how the archaeological remains from a single Maya site - its monumental architecture, roads, residential settlement, and agricultural terraces - were distributed over the landscape. In May 2013, an additional 1057 sq km of LiDAR data were recorded in west-central Belize. For the site of Caracol, these LiDAR data may be combined with 30 years of continuous archaeological research and excavation to formulate temporal parameters and guide interpretations. The detailed information that can be extracted from LiDAR is significantly changing our perceptions of ancient Maya civilization by demonstrating both its pervasive anthropogenic landscapes and the scale of its urban settlements. The use of this technology elsewhere around the globe holds similar promise for changing the way that we do spatial archaeology.
Cosponsored By:
- Sigma Xi
- Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government)
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