From the Sky and from the Ground: Using Multiple Survey Strategies to Map El Palacio, Northern Michoacán

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.

In this paper, I present the recent results of the archaeological surveys conducted at El Palacio, an important pre-Tarascan site located in the Zacapu Basin, Northern Michoacán. The settlement was occupied from the Epiclassic through the Colonial era, with an important episode of urbanization occurring ca. 1250 A.D. If the modern agricultural activity has altered significantly several areas at the site, other areas present an excellent state of preservation, coupled with a general erosion and low post-abandonment soil deposit. Prehispanic architecture remains overall, clearly visible. In order to create the first map of the site and understand its spatial structure, I combined various tools and techniques to survey this highly contrasted topography and preservation of archaeological remains at the site. The use of remote-sensing techniques (LiDAR) was coupled with a pedestrian survey to obtain a reconstructed multi-layer map of the site that allows advanced spatial analyses, and consistent excavation sampling strategies. Finally, the observations made shed the light on the progressive destruction of the archaeological zone.

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)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24057