LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY: Remote-sensing investigation of the ancient Maya in the Peten rainforest of northern Guatemala

Abstract

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.