Mapping the Ancient City of Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Regional and Intensive Site Survey: Case Studies from Mesoamerica" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

A systematic mapping program conducted at Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico, revealed a considerable amount of archaeological as well as non-archaeological features distributed over the surface of several areas located in the site’s periphery. This program relied upon the traditional mapping method consisting in clearing the vegetation in the area selected to be mapped, a detailed record of the archaeological evidence using sketch-maps, and upon an extensive and detailed mapping program utilizing total stations theodolites and the Cartesian coordinate system. The details achieved at Chichen Itza using the traditional mapping method indicate that the use of LiDAR technology will definitely assist at the very onset of the research project before the mapping teams begin their activities in the field. In other words, LiDAR technology could provide excellent information on the presence and spatial distribution of archaeological and non-archaeological features in areas that still need to be surveyed and mapped. In Chichen’s case, LiDAR cannot deliver detailed surface information related to features such as cisterns, metates, causeways, wall widths, and accesses associated with ancient structures.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Regional and Intensive Site Survey: Case Studies from Mesoamerica   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24718