Hilltops and Boundaries: The LiDAR Survey of El Zotz and Tikal

Summary

The ancient Maya kingdoms of El Zotz and Tikal, while not comparable in size or influence, share a geographical region in the central Peten of Guatemala. Tikal is located at the eastern head of the Buenavista Valley, the northernmost east-west corridor of the Peten Karst Plateau, with El Zotz situated 23 km to the west at the intersection of the valley and a north-south drainage leading to El Mirador and the northern Peten. A steep limestone escarpment and the karstic uplands north of it bind the top of the valley and are replete with settlement. The 2016 Peten LiDAR survey acquired 175 km2 of topographic data over this region, with a 1 km-wide strip connecting the two major settlements. This paper examines the reliability of the data for detecting ancient settlement in rolling karstic hills and also examines issues of ancient political boundary detection in the densely settled central Peten. Thoroughly mapped, central Tikal provides a great baseline for assessing the reliability of LiDAR data in this area of the Peten, while extensive reconnaissance of the El Zotz uplands aids in identifying remotely sensed hilltop settlements. The paper concludes with suggestions for future LiDAR-aided field methods for settlement survey.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• LiDAR in the Maya Heartland: Results of the 2016 LiDAR survey in Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16352