Lidar Reconnaissance of the Calakmul Urban Landscape

Summary

This is an abstract from the "A Session in Memory of William J. Folan: Cities, Settlement, and Climate" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Building on the work of William J. Folan, the Bajo Laberinto Archaeological Project, initiated in 2022, is focused on investigations of urbanism centered on the city of Calakmul in southern Campeche. An initial 100 km2 lidar survey along the northern rim of the Bajo Laberinto has revealed large, elaborate multi-courtyard residential groups, as well as extensive landscape modifications, that likely signal a shift in social and economic organization in the Bajo Laberinto region during the Late Classic. Remarkably, we have discovered that despite being created over 40 years ago, the map of Calakmul by May Hau, Couoh Muñoz, and Folan is exceptionally accurate. Differences principally lay in the details and extent of the architectural arrangements and landscape modifications, which were, no doubt, very difficult to discern using survey methods of the 1980s. Significantly, early studies of structure density support our hypothesis—derived from Folan’s investigations—that Calakmul and the surrounding area was the most heavily populated region in the prehispanic Maya lowlands.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• A Session in Memory of William J. Folan: Cities, Settlement, and Climate   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36150.0