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Mapping Ritual Landscapes Using Lidar

Cave Detection through Local Relief Modeling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2017

Holley Moyes  and
Shane Montgomery
Holley Moyes*
Affiliation:
Anthropology Program, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, University of California, Merced, 5200 N. Lake Dr., Merced, CA, 95343
Shane Montgomery
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology at the University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd, Howard Phillips Hall Rm 309, Orlando, FL 32816
*
hmoyes@gmail.com
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Abstract

Data collected from aerial lidar scanning provides new opportunities for archaeological survey. It is now possible, in a short period of time, to collect vast amounts of geographic data that would have taken years of pedestrian survey to acquire. This enhances and extends landscape studies by reducing time-frames and cost, encouraging analyses based on real-world data collection on a regional scale. This paper describes an approach for modeling the ritual landscape surrounding the ancient Maya center of Las Cuevas, Belize by analyzing the spatial aspects of ritual cave use. Using lidar-derived data, we describe a method for locating potential cave sites using Local Relief Models, which requires only a working knowledge of relief visualization techniques and no specialized skills in computer programming. Our method located the five known cave sites within our 222 km2 lidar study area—including one with a fissure entrance. We plan to ground-truth potentialities to develop models of the ritual landscape that can be visualized and analyzed. By researching cave use on a regional scale and defining the relationships between caves and surface features, we advance cave studies by deepening our understanding of the ritual landscape and its articulation with ancient Maya socio/political dynamics.

Los datos recolectados por el reconocimiento aéreo lidar ofrece nuevas oportunidades para el estudio arqueológico. Ahora en un período corto es posible recopilar grandes cantidades de datos geográficos que antes tomaban años para adquirir en un reconocimiento peatonal, pero las imágenes digitales todavía requieren interpretación y verificación en el terreno. El nuevo método mejora y amplía el estudio del paisaje en que se reduce el tiempo y los costos del estudio. En esta manera fomenta el análisis basado en la recolección de datos del mundo actual en una escala regional. En este artículo enfocamos en diferente métodos de modelar el paisaje ritual que rodea el antiguo centro maya de Las Cuevas, Belice mediante el análisis de los aspectos espaciales de uso ritual de una cueva. Utilizando los datos de lidar, describimos un método para localizar posibles sitios de cuevas utilizando Shaded Relief Models que sólo requiere un conocimiento práctico de las técnicas de visualización, sin el conocimiento especializado en la programación de computadoras. Estamos a favor de un enfoque híbrido utilizando tanto automatizado y manual de evaluación, que ha demostrado ser eficaz en la búsqueda de las posibilidades más prometedoras. Nuestro método nos permitió a localizar todas las cuevas conocidas en el área de lidar de 222 km2—incluso aquellas con entradas estrechas y horizontales. Con estos datos en mano tenemos la intención de desarrollar modelos de paisaje ritual y sus cambios en el tiempo que se pueden visualizar y analizar. La investigación del uso de las cuevas en una escala regional y la identificación de las relaciones entre las cuevas y los rasgos de la superficie, los estudios ayudaran nuestra comprensión del paisaje ritual y cómo coincide con las dinámicas sociopolíticas de los antiguos Mayas.

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. 249 - 267
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2016

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