Another Step Forward: What We Didn't See Before LiDAR
Author(s): Fred Nials
Year: 2025
Summary
This is an abstract from the "Lidar Research in the US Southwest" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
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A distinctive system of terrain modification consisting of large areas of near-invisible, widely-spaced, quasi-parallel linear ridges (berms) was first identified by Hurst and Willian in 2014 during archaeological survey. Despite an apparent association with a Puebloan road and great house, questions about the age and origin of the originally discovered berms led to additional examination of remote sensing and historical data. Subsequent examination of LiDAR imagery released in 2020 has conclusively demonstrated a prehistoric origin, and has verified the existence of almost 6,000 km<sup>2 </sup>(60 mi<sup>2</sup>) of mesatop berm-and-swale topography in Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. It now appears that it once may have been more than double this extent. Imagery analysis has further identified hundreds of kilometers of associated roads and ritual features. Berm-and-swale topography appears to represent a sophisticated multi-faced approach to enhance agricultural success in a marginal environment, although some features have yet to be explained. Further releases of LiDAR imagery in 2024 in a more varied topographic setting gives additional insight into the role of topographic position and runoff from berm-and-swale features in field placement.
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Cite this Record
Another Step Forward: What We Didn't See Before LiDAR. Fred Nials. Presented at The 90th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. 2025 ( tDAR id: 509996)
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Record Identifiers
Abstract Id(s): 51204