The Usage of Levels of Detail in LiDAR Survey to Increase the Digital Applications on Maya Archaeology.

Summary

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

The advantages of LiDAR survey applied to the identification of Archaeology under forested areas has been evident since the early 21st century. Most LiDAR studies have been done by placing the laser devices on aircraft, and in more recent years, drones. However, this is still quite an expensive endeavour that relies on several variables to succeed (forest density, number of pulses, weather, etc.). In this research, we test different LiDAR sensors (drone, hand-held and close-range) to locate and document the ancient Maya architectural remains at and around the sites of San Clemente, Zapote-Corozal, Quemada-Corozal and Torre-Corozal, both protected under the forested canopy and left exposed on the open fields. We aim to achieve and display LiDAR in a range of Levels of Detail to balance the possibilities and needs of LiDAR survey in order to interpret and understand the Maya remains, at small and large scales. Our research has proven that these methods are complementary and can benefit the creation of a solid ground base for the application of the incipient technologies such as the creation of digital twins, the application of sourced-based 3D Digital Archaeology and the new functions that come with the usage of Machine Learning codes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40328.0