The use of ground‐penetrating radar to map the buried structures and landscape of the ceren site, el salvador

Abstract

AbstractMore than 7800 m of digital ground‐penetrating radar data were acquired at the buried 6th century archaeological site of Ceren in El Salvador. The data were used to explore for buried structures and map the paleotopography through more than 5 m of volcanic overburden. The archaeological site consists of an agricultural village that was rapidly buried by pyroclastic debris erupted from a nearby volcano, preserving structures, plants, agricultural fields, and much of the surrounding landscape. Ground‐penetrating radar profiles were computer‐processed to remove system and background noise and time‐depth corrected to identify the reflection which represents the ancient ground surface. This buried surface, and the structures built on it, were computer‐modeled in two dimensions to aid in anomaly identification and interpretation. Twenty‐six buried structures were identified on GPR profiles and an accurate representation of the landscape and environment, as it existed just prior to the eruption, was reconstructed. Ground‐penetrating radar is an excellent geophysical tool with which to reconstruct buried landscapes and map cultural features due to its ability to accurately resolve underground features in three dimensions.