The 2022 Petén Lakes Lidar/GPS Georectification Project

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Research in the Petén Lakes Region, Petén, Guatemala" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Remotely sensed lidar data has proven to be a boon for Maya archaeology, from its beginnings at Caracol in Belize, Copan in Honduras, to consortiums of various archaeological projects like Salinas de los Nueve Cerros, La Corona, Holmul, and elsewhere. In a relatively simple regiment of sensing, detailed cartographic maps can be assembled on an exponentially larger scale than can be mapped manually. However, these images can vary from actual field interpretations and should be “ground-truthed.” Some of the latest lidar imagery was gathered from the Petén Lakes region of Guatemala, and includes several important surrounding ancient settlements. Ucanal, Tayasal, Cenote, Paxcaman, Flores (the prehistoric site overlain by the modern town), and Nixtun-Ch’ich’ are just a few of these. GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) positioning and on-the-ground detailed survey is used to solidify the accuracy and precision of these lidar graphics, while also contributing to current humanistic archaeological and anthropological standards and ethical responsibilities. This recent research addresses the technicalities of lidar-verification, GPS (Global Positioning System) usage, and GIS (geographic information system) modeling, while embracing student engagement and development, cultural resources, and the local communities surrounding Lake Petén Itzá and the island of Flores in Guatemala’s Petén Lakes region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Research in the Petén Lakes Region, Petén, Guatemala   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37189.0