Large-scale early Maya sites revealed by lidar
Lidar images from one plane flight can provide more information than can be generated by decades of conventional archaeological surveys. Airborne lidar has been of benefit for the study of other archaeological sites in tropical forests, such as those at Angkor Wat in Cambodia3. [...]with the Maya re...
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Published in | Nature (London) Vol. 582; no. 7813; pp. 490 - 492 |
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Main Author | |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
London
Nature Publishing Group
25.06.2020
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Lidar images from one plane flight can provide more information than can be generated by decades of conventional archaeological surveys. Airborne lidar has been of benefit for the study of other archaeological sites in tropical forests, such as those at Angkor Wat in Cambodia3. [...]with the Maya region farther east and the region to the west associated with Olmec societies (known for colossal stone heads from the second to first millennium Bc), Tabasco has taken a back seat in terms of archaeological investigations during the past century, despite its position between those two regions. At Aguada Fénix, in particular, the lidar data coupled with Inomata and colleagues' excavations substantially deepen our understanding of the social transformations that occurred there, and strengthen the argument that public architecture on a monumental scale pre-dated village life in eastern Mesoamerica. |
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ISSN: | 0028-0836 1476-4687 |
DOI: | 10.1038/d41586-020-01570-8 |