Airborne LiDAR Reveals a Vast Archaeological Landscape at the Nan Madol World Heritage Site

Douglas C Comer,Maureece J Levin,Devin A White,Katherine A Seikel,Jacob A Comer,Michael J Harrower,William S Ayres,Ioana A Dumitru

doi:10.3390/rs11182152

Abstract

An airborne LiDAR survey of the Nan Madol World Heritage Site and adjacent Temwen Island revealed a complex, irrigated cultivation system, the first found in the Central and Eastern Caroline Islands. This informs the goals of the sustainable conservation project, funded by the U.S. Department of State Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, that inspired the survey, and expands understanding of Nan Madol and its place in the network of Pacific island interaction and trade. Fieldwork verified the presence, across Temwen, of low, wet, cultivable areas, many of which are connected by water channels or separated by earthen berms. The berms themselves may also have been cultivated. In complexity, labor investment, and organization, the system is comparable to Nan Madol itself, the largest archaeological site in Micronesia, with structures on about 100 artificial islets built of stone and coral on a reef flat. Constructed over a millennium, Nan Madol was the seat of the Saudeleur Dynasty, which persisted from about 1200 to 1600 CE. The cultivation system appears to have been able to provide ample food for consumption, feasting, and redistribution or trade. If the landscape alteration described here proves to date to the time of the Saudeleur Dynasty, it will offer many avenues of research into the economic basis of Nan Madol’s regional dominance.

Highlights

An airborne LiDAR survey of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Nan Madol and Temwen Island has revealed a vast archaeological landscape consisting of a network of cultivation features connected by a complex water management system
Products derived from the LiDAR data set prove themselves useful for preparing the Nan Madol Sustainable Conservation Plan, and revealed, to all appearances and in accordance with Pohnpei’s larger archaeological context, a sophisticated and extensive landscape of cultivation features hidden under Temwen Island’s vegetation
The LiDAR survey discussed here was done to advance the goals of the U.S Department of State-funded Sustainable Conservation Plan for Nan Madol

Summary

Introduction

An airborne LiDAR survey of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Nan Madol and Temwen Island has revealed a vast archaeological landscape consisting of a network of cultivation features connected by a complex water management system. This landscape is adjacent to the core area of Nan Madol. Data products and models generated from the LiDAR data will guide the physical conservation and management of Nan Madol and enhance site interpretation. They enrich understanding of the scope, organization, and influence of the Saudeleur Dynasty, which ruled from Nan Madol. This discovery and further research are expected to open many avenues of inquiry

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion