The Past, Present and Future of Archaeological Lidar: A View from Southeast Asia

Summary

In the last five years multiple campaigns of airborne laser scanning (or lidar) have been conducted by archaeologists over Angkor-period sites in Cambodia and neighbouring countries such as Thailand. Analysis of the lidar data is still underway and will continue for many years both in the lab and on the ground, but some key outcomes have now been published, and it is already clear that the advent of lidar represents an important milestone in the history of archaeological remote sensing. This presentation will locate lidar within the historical context of mapping and surveying the Angkorian world; summarise archaeological lidar projects in Cambodia and beyond that are completed or ongoing; present new tools and techniques that have been developed for analysis and interpretation; and discuss some key limitations and opportunities that arise as a result of the technology. The paper will canvas the potential for new acquisitions and comparative studies across the region in light of new developments in UAV technology, lidar miniaturisation, and the imminent deployment of high-resolution spaceborne lidar systems, and explore how research data might be integrated into global repositories of archaeological topography.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22542