The Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque: Improving Architectural Analysis, Conservation Assessment, and Public Dissemination via Terrestrial LiDAR and 3-D Mapping

Summary

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

The Temple of the Inscriptions—K’inich Janab Pakal’s funerary building—is an outstanding evidence of Palenque elite’s grandiose architectural programs in the 7th century AD. Are terrestrial LiDAR and drone-based 3-D mapping viable techniques to inform a new architectural analysis on the construction of this iconic temple? Can digital monitoring based on terrestrial LiDAR provide conservators with a solid framework for enhancing the protection of Pakal’s funerary crypt, which is rapidly deteriorating? In 2018, scholars from UC Merced and UNAM in collaboration with INAH, began a project of intra-site digital documentation at Palenque, including 3-D scanning and drone surveying. This paper presents the preliminary results of the project including new digital drawings and 3-D animations of the Temple of the Inscriptions produced via LiDAR point clouds and aerial 3-D maps. Our approach exploits 3-D models and digital documentation to improve comparative architectural analysis at Palenque to shed new light on the earlier phases of the Temple of the Inscriptions. This paper also addresses how surface change detection in multi-temporal hi-resolutions LiDAR scans can enhance monitoring and understanding of the deterioration of Pakal’s funerary crypt, when combined with temperature and humidity logging conducted year-round in the chamber.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24830