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Lidar data and the Izapa polity: new results and methodological issues from tropical Mesoamerica

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Abstract

Light detection and ranging (lidar) and pedestrian survey are employed to document regional settlement patterns associated with the well-known center of Izapa in Chiapas, Mexico. Within an area of 47.5 km2, we located 413 previously undocumented mounds with associated time diagnostic artifacts. These mounds are the remains of both monumental architecture defining regional centers as well as domestic house mounds. This paper presents new data of overall occupation levels from the low hills zone that complements previously published patterns from the piedmont surrounding Izapa as well as eight newly documented Middle and Late Formative period (850 cal. bc–ad 100) monumental centers of various sizes that are coeval with Izapa. In addition to these substantive archaeological findings, the efficacy of lidar data acquired from two environmental zones (low hills and piedmont) are compared to evaluate how well Prehispanic mounds were detected under different vegetation covers. We conclude that the lower density of lidar collection from the low hills zone was as effective at detecting archaeological mounds as the higher density collection campaign used in the piedmont zone. The implication of these findings is that higher-density collection strategies may not always improve the documentation of archaeological features.

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Notes

  1. We previously reported the piedmont ground point density as 1.1 points/m2 (Rosenswig et al. 2013, p. 1497), but that includes low-density edges of the lidar swath that were not included in the pedestrian survey zone.

  2. We have previously reported the piedmont survey zone as measuring 43.1 km2 (Rosenswig et al. 2013). The new area measurement is due to the elimination of low-density edges of lidar swaths that were not included in the pedestrian survey zone, as also mentioned in Note 1.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this survey was provided by a National Science Foundation, senior research grant (BCS-0947787). Additional funding was provided by a UAlbany, College of Arts & Science Faculty Research Award Program grant and the UAlbany Center for Social and Demographic Analysis (CSDA) supported by NICHD (R24-HD044943). Special thanks to Linda Lawrence and Chip Ensel at CSDA for all their help. Permission to undertake this field work in Chiapas was granted by the INAH Consejo de Arqueología as well as landowners in the Municipios of Frontera Hidalgo and Tuxtla Chico. Helpful suggestions were provided by Payson Sheets and an anonymous reviewer.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University at Albany-SUNY, Albany, NY, 12222, USA

    Robert M. Rosenswig & Caroline E. Antonelli

  2. CasaAlba Consulting, Albany, NY, 12203, USA

    Ricardo López-Torrijos

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  1. Robert M. Rosenswig
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Correspondence to Robert M. Rosenswig.

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Rosenswig, R.M., López-Torrijos, R. & Antonelli, C.E. Lidar data and the Izapa polity: new results and methodological issues from tropical Mesoamerica. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 7, 487–504 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-014-0210-7

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