Digital Technologies in the Periphery of the Ancient Maya site of Lamanai, Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Threats to ancient Maya cultural heritage sites – from modern construction, looting, agricultural intensification, and burgeoning tourism – are an ongoing challenge in Belize. This is especially true of the northwest region of Belize, in the periphery of the well-known site of Lamanai, which has been hard-hit by looting and a growing community of farmers who clear parcels of land with heavy machinery. Recognizing that traditional paper-based recording methods are often slow with inconsistent results across multiple users, and therefore unsuitable for rapidly recording data from sites at immediate risk of damage and destruction, the Coco Chan Archaeological Research Project implemented a digital recording strategy during their investigations in Lamanai’s periphery. This presentation will provide an overview of the different technologies used by the project, which included a digital software called STRATUM to record field information (developed by a team of researchers at the University of New Brunswick). IPad Pros with light detection and ranging (LiDAR) scanners were also used to create 3D models of excavation units and cultural features. Additionally, drone photography was captured using a DJI Mavic 3 and images were processed via photogrammetry into 3D and digital elevation models (DEM) of the landscape using Agisoft Metashape.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39396.0