Identification of Altars at Angamuco in Michoacán, Mexico Using Geospatial Analysis of LiDAR Data

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The site of Angamuco was discovered during a survey of the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin in 2007. Angamuco is located in western Mexico, within the modern Mexican state of Michoacán. This site has been identified as part of the Purépecha Empire. Angamuco has primarily been examined using spatial data from LiDAR flights. Previous researchers have used the spatial data to understand how the residents of Angamuco organized their buildings and social space, to classify and analyze the function of circular architectural features, and to understand the political and spatial organization of Purépecha cities. I will use the geospatial data to identify, classify, and analyze altars across the entire site of Angamuco. Using ArcGIS, I will locate the altars on the site. After the altars have been identified, they will be differentiated by where they are in relation to the architectural features around them. I expect to find altars that are used for residential, community, and district-wide religious activities. The proposed research project will provide more information about the Purépecha Empire by defining previously unresearched architectural features on the site. It will also provide future scholars with more details on the religious activities in this state-level society.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25842