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Abstract
A 2013 survey of a 40 square kilometer area surrounding Mayapán, Yucatan, Mexico used high-density LiDAR data to map prehispanic architecture and related natural features. Most of the area is covered by low canopy dense forest vegetation over karstic hilly terrain that impedes full coverage archaeological survey. We used LiDAR at 40 laser points per square meter to generate a bare earth digital elevation model (DEM). Results were evaluated with comparisons to previously mapped areas and with traditional archaeological survey methods for 38 settlement clusters outside of the city wall. Ground checking employed full coverage survey of selected 500 m grid squares, as well as documentation of the chronology and detail of new public and domestic settlement features and cenotes. Results identify the full extent of continued, contemporary Postclassic settlement (A.D. 1150–1450) outside of the city wall to at least 500 meters to the east, north, and west. New data also reveal an extensive modified landscape of terraformed residential hills, rejolladas, and dense settlement dating from Preclassic through Classic Periods. The LiDAR data also allow for the identification of rooms, benches, and stone property walls and lanes within the city.
Highlights
The goal of Mayapán LiDAR Mapping project is to contribute to long-term investigations at the ancient city by documenting the regional system of settlement and the environment in which it developed
We ask the questions; how did household producers interact with governing elites? How were urban and rural communities interrelated? How did all community members subsist in this region? we are constructing a regional database from which to study the processes of settlement growth, resource use, production activities, political organization, and sustenance of the largest Maya political capital of the Postclassic Period (A.D. 1150–1450)
Our results are contributing to the creation of a growing body of comparative literature on the complex patterns of households and administrative economies observed in ancient cities
Summary
The goal of Mayapán LiDAR Mapping project is to contribute to long-term investigations at the ancient city by documenting the regional system of settlement and the environment in which it developed. The initial step in achieving this purpose is the construction of a comprehensive map of a 40 km area centered on the walled city of Mayapán using LiDAR-generated data, ground survey, surface collection, test excavations, artifact analysis, and GIS-aided spatial analysis. The analyses of these data allow us for the first time to fully map the urban structure of the city itself and characterize the regional social and environmental context in which the city was embedded. Our results are contributing to the creation of a growing body of comparative literature on the complex patterns of households and administrative economies observed in ancient cities
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