A GIS and Remote Sensing Approach to Settlement Patterns, Cultural Landscape, and Utilization of Natural Resources in the Hinterlands: Dos Hombres to Gran Cacao Archaeology Project

Summary

This is an abstract from the "2023 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of Timothy Beach Part I" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Besides using lidar data, the application of various methods (e.g., documentation by total station, aerial photographs, modern/historical maps, and archaeological data) helps to assure a more precise identification and interpretation process of the archaeological features. In addition, the geographical information system (GIS) offers a great solution for managing together all these various types of information. In this paper, the application of lidar analysis in the GIS environment will be discussed. The results of this research will contribute to the growing international dialogue regarding the use of lidar for archaeological studies by providing examples of features that have been discovered in this region, how they can be interpreted and how these interpretations can contribute to theoretical anthropological perspectives regarding how the ancient Maya utilized and managed their landscape. Some of the results from the sites surveyed by lidar and field surveys are presented in this paper including the discovery of new sites and the detection of new structures at known sites. By layering diverse datasets in GIS—derived from remote sensing, field surveys, artifactual data, paleobotanical analyses, and other methods—the project is generating a wealth of information pertaining to this area and its relationship to the local and regional economy.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)   •
• 2023 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of Timothy Beach Part I

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36756.0