Mapping Matacanela - the complementary work of topographical survey and LiDAR.

Summary

This talk compares methods used for the topographical mapping of the archaeological site of Matacanela. Specifically, we compare the results of the GIS processing of LiDAR data collected and distributed for no charge by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía with the results of traditional topographical mapping, undertaken using a Sokkia total station. For the purposes of project planning, the LiDAR data was processed, and maps were generated using GIS. These LiDAR-based data enabled the first topographical map of Matacanela and its environs to be generated, the project area to be defined, and for cost and time assessments to be estimated for the purposes of budget preparation. Because of the uncertainty of the quality and resolution of the LiDAR data, topographical mapping of the site area was considered an important step to "ground-truth" the LiDAR, and to collect more fine-grained measurements from small-scale architectural features, artifact concentrations, and other cultural and natural features that may have been missed during the fly-overs. Here, we consider the two approaches and the type and quality of data achieved by each, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of using either approach alone.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• The Matacanela Archaeological Project 2014

Keywords

Spatial Coverage