Running out of empty space: environmental lidar and the crowded ancient landscape of Campeche, Mexico

As airborne lidar surveys reveal a growing sample of urbanised tropical landscapes, questions linger about the sampling bias of such research leading to inflated estimates of urban extent and population magnitude. ‘Found’ datasets from remote sensing conducted for non-archaeological purposes and thu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAntiquity Vol. 98; no. 401; pp. 1340 - 1358
Main Authors Auld-Thomas, Luke, Canuto, Marcello A., Morlet, Adriana Velázquez, Estrada-Belli, Francisco, Chatelain, David, Matadamas, Diego, Pigott, Michelle, Fernández Díaz, Juan Carlos
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.10.2024
Subjects
Ancient civilizations
Archaeological sites
Archaeology
Architecture
Bias
Datasets
Excavation
Landscape
Mayan civilization
Population density
Remote sensing
Remote sensing systems
Sampling
Sinkholes
Topography
Urbanism
Campeche Mexico
Central America
Mexico
Maya Lowlands
Central America
remote sensing
settlement patterns
lidar
low-density urbanism
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Summary:As airborne lidar surveys reveal a growing sample of urbanised tropical landscapes, questions linger about the sampling bias of such research leading to inflated estimates of urban extent and population magnitude. ‘Found’ datasets from remote sensing conducted for non-archaeological purposes and thus not subject to archaeological site bias, provide an opportunity to address these concerns through pseudorandom sampling. Here, the authors present their analysis of an environmental lidar dataset from Campeche, Mexico, which reveals previously unrecorded urbanism and dense regional-scale settlement. Both characteristics, the authors argue, are therefore demonstrably ubiquitous across the central Maya Lowlands.
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ISSN:0003-598X
1745-1744
DOI:10.15184/aqy.2024.148