Using LiDAR and Ground Survey to Understand Regional Settlement Patterns in Terminal Classic Central Yucatan

Summary

The first research performed by the Proyecto de Interaccion Politica del Centro de Yucatan centered on understanding the impact of Chichen Itza in the region to the southwest of this Terminal Classic city. Working in an area of roughly 500 square kilometers around the site of Yaxuna we performed traditional ground reconnaissance and mapping at numerous centers in the region from 2007 to 2013 to better understand regional settlement patterns and how they changed with the establishment and growth of the Itzae center. In 2014, we conducted a lidar survey of a 48 square kilometer area that included Chichen Itza, Yaxuna, and a one kilometer-wide transect between the two sites. In this paper we report on the results of this survey, as well as an intensive ground-truthing sample along the transect between the sites of Yaxuna and Popola. The combined data suggest that rural settlement decreased when Chichen Itza was urban leaving primarily scattered small hamlets throughout most of the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Integrating and Disintegrating in Central Yucatán: Archaeological Approaches to Social Change at Multiple Scales

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14724