Challenges and opportunities to the lidar mapping of the Tres Zapotes region

Summary

The Olmec polity of Tres Zapotes, which developed on the southern gulf lowlands of the present day state of Veracruz in Mexico, is nestled between the Papaloapan river delta and the Tuxla Mountains. Topographic, geological, ecological and cultural context of the region presents unique challenges and opportunities to archeological prospecting using airborne lidar mapping due to extensive cultivation of sugar cane which can hinder the capability of the lidar to map the ground beneath it; cultural features which are very similar to natural topographic features and in some cases are buried under several levels of alluvium. But these challenges present improvement opportunities to the lidar prospecting technique both in terms of hardware and data analysis developments. This presentation will cover lessons learned dealing with the challenges during a lidar survey project that was conducted in the region in 2014.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Charting the Evolution of the Tres Zapotes Polity: Results of the RRATZ 2014–2016 Field Seasons

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16101