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Lidar-Based Analyses of Anthropogenic Landscape Alterations as a Component of the Built Environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2017

Keith Prufer  and
Amy E. Thompson
Keith Prufer*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, MSC01-1040, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA
Amy E. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, MSC01-1040, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA
*
kmp@unm.edu
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Abstract

Lidar has shown considerable utility for answering specific questions regarding anthropogenic landscape alteration in archaeological contexts. We document the extent and timing of these alterations in the construction of the public and political core architectural groups at Uxbenká, Belize, using combined data from Lidar and archaeological excavations. We detail how Lidar methods combined with archaeological excavations enhance the precision of our measurements of the broad range of impacts on the landscape from investment in the built environment. We conclude that the large social investment in landscape alteration to accommodate public architecture occurred early in the polity's history (prior to A.D. 400) and that later developments, including architectural reconfigurations, did not expand greatly on these initial investments.

Lidar ha demostrado ser considerablemente útil en responder a las preguntas específicas relacionadas con la modificación antropogénica de paisajes en contextos arqueológicos. Documentamos el grado y el momento de estas modificaciones en la construcción de los principales grupos arquitectónicos públicos y políticos en Uxbenká, Belice, usando datos combinados de Lidar y excavaciones arqueológicas. Detallamos cómo los métodos Lidar combinados con excavaciones arqueológicas mejoran la precisión de nuestros cálculos relacionados con la amplia gama de impactos en el paisaje derivados de la inversión en el ambiente construído. Concluimos que la gran inversión social en la modificación del paisaje con el objetivo de acomodar la arquitectura pública ocurrió temprano en la historia del régimen (antes del año 400 d.C.) y que desarrollos posteriores, incluyendo reconfiguraciones arquitectónicas, no ampliaron enormemente estos cambios iniciales.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 4 , Issue 3: Special Issue: Progression and Issues in the Mesoamerican Geospatial Revolution , August 2016 , pp. 393 - 409
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2016

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