The Lambayeque Political System Viewed from the Lidar Map of Sicán Archaeological Complex

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ancient Landscapes and Cosmic Cities out of Eurasia: Transdisciplinary Studies with New Lidar Mapping" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Lambayeque refers to the late prehispanic archaeological culture that emerged after the political demise of the preceding Moche Culture and reached its height of prosperity during the late tenth century, centering on a large city called Sicán on the Peruvian north coast. The Lambayeque Complex Archaeological Project (PIACL) has carried out research in and around the city since 2016. Previous research on this site, including ours, have focused primarily on its ceremonial core that consists of monumental mounds once called the “Batán Grande Group.” We have not paid equal attention to other miscellaneous mounds and residential zones that are thought to have extended further in all four directions. Thus, our view of the site, and inevitably of the society as whole, has relied heavily on research with an overemphasis on monuments. As the first step to solve this problem, in 2022 we carried out a 3D mapping of the site using the lidar SLAM and aimed to define the site extent and to clarify the architectural components, which have never been clear. We expect that the spatial configuration of the site revealed by this mapping project will provide important clues for examining the political system of the Lambayeque society.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ancient Landscapes and Cosmic Cities out of Eurasia: Transdisciplinary Studies with New Lidar Mapping   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40274.0