Landscape Archaeology
Remote-sensing investigation of the ancient Maya in the Peten rainforest of northern Guatemala
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6033378 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Thomas L Sever, Daniel E Irwin, Daniel Irwin |
| Year | 2003 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 113-122 |
| Publication date | 2003-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Ancient Mesoamerica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0956-5361 • E-ISSN: 1469-1787 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0956536103141041 |
| OpenAlex | W2106652097 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 27 |
| References cited | 8 |
Conducting field research in the dense forests of the Peten, northern Guatemala, is as difficult today as it was for A. V. Kidder 70 years ago. However, through the use of airborne and satellite imagery we are improving our ability to investigate ancient Maya settlement, subsistence, and landscape modification in this dense forest region. Today the area is threatened by encroaching settlement and deforestation. However, it was in this region that the Maya civilization began, flourished, and abruptly disappeared for unknown reasons in the ninth centurya.d.At the time of its collapse it had attained one of the highest population densities in human history. How the Maya were able to manage water successfully and feed this dense population is not well understood at this time. A project funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) used remote-sensing technology to investigate large seasonal swamps (bajos) that make up 40% of the landscape. Through the use of remote sensing, ancient Maya features such as sites, roadways, canals, and water reservoirs have been detected and verified through ground reconnaissance. The results of this preliminary research cast new light on the adaptation of the ancient Maya to their environment. Microenvironmental variation within the wetlands was elucidated and the different vegetation associations identified in the satellite imagery. More than 70 new archaeological sites within and at the edges of thebajowere mapped and tested. The combination of satellite imagery and ground verification demonstrated that the Maya had modified their landscape in the form of dams, reservoirs, and possible drainage canals along the Holmul River and its tributaries. The use of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM), 1-m IKONOS satellite imagery, as well as high-resolution airborne STAR-3iradar imagery—2.5 m backscatter/10 m Digital Elevation Model (DEM)—are opening new possibilities for understanding how a civilization was able to survive for centuries on a karst topographic landscape. This understanding is critical for the current population that is experiencing rapid population growth and destroying the landscape through non-traditional farming and grazing techniques, resulting in socioeconomic problems
Archaeology · Geography · Human settlement · Maya · Physical geography · Population · Rainforest · Remote sensing · Satellite imagery · Subsistence agriculture · Swamp · Vegetation (pathology · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Ecology
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The ancient agricultural landscape of the satellite settlement of Ramonal near Tikal, Guatemala
Geoarchaeological Investigations in Mesoamerica Move into the 21st Century
Google Earth Engine for archaeologists
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A new methodology for geoglyph research
Small Buildings and Small Budgets
Locating and Dating Sites Using Lidar Survey in a Mosaic Landscape in Western Belize
Satellite Data for All? Review of Google Earth Engine for Archaeological Remote Sensing
Improved detection of archaeological features using multi-source data in geographically diverse capital city sites
Pattern identification and analysis for the traditional village using low altitude UAV-borne remote sensing
The Archaeology of Regions
The Elusive Maya Marketplace
The Nature and Origins of Linear Features in the Bajo de Azúcar, Guatemala
Tikal timbers and temples
Evaluating the use of Ikonos satellite imagery in lowland Maya settlement archaeology
Discovering ancient Maya settlements using airborne radar elevation data
People and Pixels 20 years later
Big Archaeology
Modeling Settlement Patterns of the Late Classic Maya Civilization with Bayesian Methods and Geographic Information Systems
An overview of satellite synthetic aperture radar remote sensing in archaeology
Taking the high ground
Recentering the rural
| Unique citing works | 27 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,42 |
| Citation span | 2007 - 2024 (18) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 27 |