Turtles, Faces, and Hieroglyphs: 3D Recording of Monuments from La Tortuga and San Isidro

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Archaeological Investigations in Chiapas, Mexico" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The adoption of 3D digital recording strategies at archaeological sites yields numerous benefits: detailed preservation of data while the original may be at risk of damage or erosion, increased visibility of small details, and precise tracking of change over time, to name a few. Additionally, there are nearly limitless possibilities for applications of 3D data, such as producing scale models and accessible virtual versions of artifacts. The Proyecto Arqueológico Sak B’alam has begun implementing digital recording techniques and is envisioning future research and collaborations around these data. Two archaeological sites were studied in the field season of 2023, La Tortuga and San Isidro. A total of nine monuments were photogrammetrically recorded between the two sites: an altar and a stela fragment from La Tortuga; and five hieroglyphic stairway blocks, one panel, and one column altar from San Isidro. In this paper, we discuss the process of digitally recording monuments at La Tortuga and San Isidro, as well as the preliminary results of epigraphic, iconographic, and contextual analyses of the monuments. We also discuss directions for future research, including the ways that digital data can support collaborations with the local communities at each of these sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Archaeological Investigations in Chiapas, Mexico   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38651.0