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![Comparison of maps of the Great Circle produced with LiDAR and total station data combined (left) and LiDAR data alone (center) (both with 20 cm contour intervals) and with Sears' map (right) (2 ft [61 cm] contour intervals). Redrawn from Sears (1982: fig. 1.1).](profile/Victor-Thompson-2/publication/272255413/figure/fig5/AS:667642323009537@1536189742316/Comparison-of-maps-of-the-Great-Circle-produced-with-LiDAR-and-total-station-data.png)
Comparison of maps of the Great Circle produced with LiDAR and total station data combined (left) and LiDAR data alone (center) (both with 20 cm contour intervals) and with Sears' map (right) (2 ft [61 cm] contour intervals). Redrawn from Sears (1982: fig. 1.1).
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Publicly available LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data provide a potential windfall for archaeologists, permitting the creation of detailed topographic site maps with little more than an internet-connected computer and appropriate software. The quality of these LiDAR data for site mapping is variable, however, and may need to be supplemented w...
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The paper shows the results of archaeological surveys carried out at the site where the Spaniards founded the Fortress of Santo Tomás de Jánico in 1494, during the initial colonization of Hispaniola. With the objective to identify structural remains of the fortress, and to validate ideas of a second occupation of this enclave, as well as searching...
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... Chase et al. (2012) have argued that the method is prompting a scientific revolution due to its success. LiDAR surveys around the world have unambiguously depicted the remains of both monumental and non-monumental architecture across a variety of environmental conditions and cultural contexts (Baires 2014;Bewley et al. 2005;Chase et al. 2011;Evans 2016;Evans et al. 2013;Fisher et al. 2016;Harmon et al. 2006;Howey et al. 2016;Johnson and Ouimet 2014;Pluckhahn and Thompson 2012;Randall 2014;Rosenswig et al. 2013). However, archaeologists have noted that the successes of LiDAR in mapping ancient human occupations and infrastructure can be constrained by issues involving groundcover during data collection, the long-term weathering of landforms, and modern land use practices that might include urban and rural development (e.g., home and business construction, barns, roads, agricultural plowing) (Baires 2014;Barnes 2003;Evans and Fletcher 2015;Howey et al. 2016;Pluckhahn and Thompson 2012;Randall 2014;Riley and Tiffany 2014;Risbøl et al. 2006;Rochelo et al. 2015;de Souza et al. 2018;Prufer et al. 2015;Venter et al. 2018). ...
... LiDAR surveys around the world have unambiguously depicted the remains of both monumental and non-monumental architecture across a variety of environmental conditions and cultural contexts (Baires 2014;Bewley et al. 2005;Chase et al. 2011;Evans 2016;Evans et al. 2013;Fisher et al. 2016;Harmon et al. 2006;Howey et al. 2016;Johnson and Ouimet 2014;Pluckhahn and Thompson 2012;Randall 2014;Rosenswig et al. 2013). However, archaeologists have noted that the successes of LiDAR in mapping ancient human occupations and infrastructure can be constrained by issues involving groundcover during data collection, the long-term weathering of landforms, and modern land use practices that might include urban and rural development (e.g., home and business construction, barns, roads, agricultural plowing) (Baires 2014;Barnes 2003;Evans and Fletcher 2015;Howey et al. 2016;Pluckhahn and Thompson 2012;Randall 2014;Riley and Tiffany 2014;Risbøl et al. 2006;Rochelo et al. 2015;de Souza et al. 2018;Prufer et al. 2015;Venter et al. 2018). The morphology of some architecture archaeologists attempt to detect can also be difficult to identify (Hutson 2015;Hutson et al. 2016). ...
... Elsewhere around the world, archaeologists have wrestled with identifying ancient architecture and infrastructure in LiDAR-derived datasets due to a variety of impacts to the landscape (Barnes 2003;Bennett et al. 2011;Freeland et al. 2016;Gibson 2018;Hutson 2015;Hutson et al. 2016;Mlekuž 2013;Prufer et al. 2015;Quintus et al. 2015;Quintus et al. 2017;Venter et al. 2018). However, in the eastern USA specifically, historic and modern impacts to the landscape have severely altered the size and shapes of earthworks, sometimes obscuring them in LiDAR datasets or rendering them invisible (Baires 2014;Burks and Cook 2011;Henry 2018;Pluckhahn and Thompson 2012;Randall 2014;Riley and Tiffany 2014). Through our research in the Middle Ohio Valley, we found that LiDAR-derived imagery can be misleading but still beneficial when used in conjunction with a multi-scalar, multi-method, research strategy that seeks to rediscover the remains of monumental earthen architecture constructed by precontact societies. ...
Archaeologists around the world have shown that LiDAR has the potential to map a wide range of architectural features built by humans. The ability to map archaeological sites at a landscape scale provides researchers the possibility to reconstruct and assess the ways humans organized, constructed, and interacted with their surroundings. However, LiDAR can be impacted by a variety of modern development and land use practices. In this article, we confront these issues by presenting the first examination of high-resolution LiDAR-derived imagery from Central Kentucky, part of the larger heartland for late-Early and Middle Woodland-era (ca. 300 bc–ad 500) Adena-Hopewell societies. Our investigations demonstrate that multiple issues can arise when analyzing LiDAR imagery for monumental earthen architecture in this region. We outline an integrated strategy to rediscover and confirm the presence of earthen architecture made by Adena-Hopewell societies that incorporates aerial photographs, multi-instrument geophysical surveys, and geoarchaeological methods into the examination of LiDAR imagery. This methodology will be applicable in other global contexts where archaeologists are seeking to rediscover ancient forms of earthen architecture within heavily disturbed or developed landscapes.
... We, however, suggest that there are a few reasons why this value is credible. First, while there are gross similarities to other Mississippian societies in the American Southeast, Calusa and related sites tend to be occupied and re-occupied over hundreds and in some cases thousands of years (Luer, 2014; Marquardt and Walker, 2013; Thompson and Pluckhahn, 2012). In addition, the (3) Dark gray, 10YR4/1, sand with moderately abundant whole and broken shells, mostly Cv with secondary shells variably throughout. ...
Our work at Mound Key, the Capital of the Calusa Kingdom, identifies a large structure on top of Mound 1 that likely was associated with a powerful long-lived lineage. The rise to power for this group coincided with a significant amelioration of the shallow-water estuarine environment of Estero Bay during the Warm Medieval Period. We interpret this commitment to place as a way for successive members of this lineage to transmit political and social capital. We propose that prior to the sixteenth century the Calusa, and the broader landscape
these groups inhabited, were organized much like the great houses were at the community level. A series of small polities participated in a fluctuating heterarchical system, that were likely the result of political jockeying of high ranking houses at larger settlements. We argue that long-lived houses with their accrued political and social capital were in the best position to take advantage of events that afforded the differential exercise of agency among their peers, allowing for new, novel, and seemingly more complex engagements. We use this case study to examine the role of collective action for the development of the Calusa Kingdom observed by the Spanish explorers during the sixteenth century, and its broader comparative lessons for state building among similarly organized societies.
... Mound Key, as well as contemporary sites along the coast (e.g., Pineland) and in the interior (e.g., Fort Center) are testimony to the ability of the Calusa, and other communities under their political influence, to coordinate largescale labor projects (see Marquardt andWalker 2012, 2013;Pluckhahn and Thompson 2012;). All of these sites evince sizeable labor projects that include one or more of the following: extensive mounds, middenmounds, geometric earthworks, canal systems, and largescale structures. ...
There are many examples of colonial entanglements resulting in shifts in religions, practices, subsistence, and political structures, largely linked to inequalities between the colonized and the colonizers. However, there are also examples in which practices, particularly among Native American societies, persisted in the context of social situations that intertwined peoples with diverse histories. At the time of Spanish arrival, the Calusa of southwestern Florida were a large‐scale, hierarchical society with supra‐community integration and were able to maintain high degrees of autonomy. Our focus here is to explicate the early colonial world of the Calusa. Specifically, we want to understand why early European interactions take such a dramatically different course in southwestern Florida than in other areas of Spanish colonization. To do so we use political ecology and recent scholarship on eventful archaeology to consider Calusa and Spanish social and political action. Our work focuses on interactions between the Spanish and the Calusa during the early and mid‐sixteenth century (ca. 1513 to 1569 CE). We argue that because the Calusa were fisher‐gatherer‐hunters, lacked maize agriculture, and had their capital on the defensible island of Mound Key, Spanish‐Calusa interactions and events transpired in a fundamentally different context compared to other Spanish outposts and colonies. With this example, we show how various events, knowledge, and traditions of the Calusa of southern Florida all worked to create a vastly different colonial entanglement that resulted in the Spanish abandonment of the area for some time.
... In eastern North America, there is a boon in the amount of publicly available LiDAR and while such data was not created with archaeology in mind, researchers have been making full use of this resource [44][45][46][47][48]. LiDAR, briefly, uses an instrument that emits and receives a laser that records spatial information via a high precision global positioning system (see [46]). ...
... In eastern North America, there is a boon in the amount of publicly available LiDAR and while such data was not created with archaeology in mind, researchers have been making full use of this resource [44][45][46][47][48]. LiDAR, briefly, uses an instrument that emits and receives a laser that records spatial information via a high precision global positioning system (see [46]). The scanner sends out thousands of pulses that are measured in the time it takes to reflect back to the receiver. ...
In this study, we present the results of a comprehensive, landscape-scale remote sensing project at Santa Elena on Parris Island, South Carolina. Substantial occupation at the site extends for over 4000 years and has resulted in a complex array of features dating to different time periods. In addition, there is a 40-year history of archaeological research at the site that includes a large-scale systematic shovel test survey, large block excavations, and scattered test units. Also, modern use of the site included significant alterations to the subsurface deposits. Our goals for this present work are threefold: (1) to explicitly present a logical approach to examine sites with long-term occupations; (2) to examine changes in land use at Santa Elena and its implications for human occupation of this persistent place; and (3) to use the remote sensing program and past archaeological research to make substantive suggestions regarding future research, conservation, and management of the site. Our research provides important insight into the distribution of cultural features at this National Historic Landmark. While the majority of archaeological research at the site has focused on the Spanish period, our work suggests a complex and vast array of archaeological features that can provide insight into over 4000 years of history in the region. At a gross level, we have identified possible Late Archaic structures, Woodland houses and features, Late Prehistoric and early Historic council houses, and a suite of features related to the Spanish occupation which builds on our previous research at the site. In addition to documenting possible cultural features at the site, our work illustrates the value of multiple remote sensing techniques used in conjunction with close-interval shovel test data.
... Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) datasets have been used over the course of more than a decade in examining cultural landscape features (Risbøl, 2013;Sittler, 2001), with an increasing popularity during the last several years (Doneus & Kühteiber, 2013;Opitz, 2013;Tarolli, 2014). LiDAR has become widely used in heavily forested areas internationally in Europe (Bewley, Crutchley, & Shell, 2005;Devereux, Amable, Crow, & Cliff, 2005;Doneus, Briese, Fera, & Janner, 2008;Lasaponara, Coluzzi, & Masini, 2011;Risbøl, 2013;Schindling & Gibbes, 2014;Sittler, 2001;Tarolli, Preti, & Romano, 2014), Asia (Evans et al., 2013), and North and Central America (Chase et al., 2011;Gallagher & Josephs, 2008;Johnson & Ouimet, 2014;Millard, Burke, Stiff, & Redden, 2009;Opitz, Ryzewski, Cherry, & Moloney, 2015;Pluckhahn & Thompson, 2012;Randall, 2014;Rosenswig, López-Torrijos, Antonelli, & Mendelsohn, 2013). Despite exciting new applications and an overwhelming number of recent case studies, any imagery derived from LiDAR data portrays the landscape and associated long-term processes occurring at varying temporal rates at the single point in time (or a short series of points in time (Nordström, 2017)) that the data were collected; not truly as they appeared during historical time periods that many of these studies examine (Harmon, Leone, Prince, & Snyder, 2006). ...
... The overwhelming number of remaining topographic features expressed as a collection on the land surface often make it difficult to interpret surface or elevation models derived from LiDAR data and locate or identify specific features of interest without supplementary informationin a sense, there is almost too much information to interpret without context. While also acknowledging that our own histories and worldviews influence our interpretations of landscapes (Holtorf & Williams, 2006), many limitations to landscape interpretation and the burden of excess information can be partially overcome for more recent time periods by using supplementary data such as sequential satellite or aerial photography, other remote sensing techniques, historical maps, oral histories, field validation studies, archival data, or other physical or environmental data for a broader range of time periods (e.g., Challis, Kokalj, Kincey, Moscrop, & Howard, 2008;Pluckhahn & Thompson, 2012). ...
High resolution airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) has become a commonly used resource on a global scale to study landscapes and associated cultural features, especially in areas covered by dense forest. While LiDAR allows for unprecedented views of the terrain beneath the forest canopy, and of landscapes at broad scales generally, few studies have provided an examination of features within theoretical frameworks used to describe landscapes, or have acknowledged LiDAR data as a palimpsest. Any derivative imagery from LiDAR data depicts a moment in time of a contemporary landscape with topographic traces of cultural and physical elements from a range of time periods within and beyond human history. In order to effectively interpret the landscape as represented through LiDAR, it is critical to supplement this data with multiple contextual sources and a more robust theoretical geographic framework. While the concept of landscape as a palimpsest is well known, for the first time in hyper-realistic form we can see and physically interpret that palimpsest, along with the traces of data processing and visualization that we ourselves add to the digital landscape palimpsest in an effort to interpret it. This study provides a critical examination of the LiDAR landscape as a palimpsest, summarizes studies that have used a combination of LiDAR and supplementary resources, and provides observational examples from the northeastern United States, thus providing a practice-based observational and theoretical framework from which other landscapes and associated cultural features can be studied using LiDAR.
... Another recent study in the United States using LiDAR successfully documented ancient earthworks in the northern Everglades of Florida (Rochelo et al. 2015: 632-634), using post-processing techniques to improve on previous usage of the same LiDAR (Pluckhahn and Thompson 2012). Using lower-resolution 2-m data, Rochelo and his colleagues (2015: 642) were able to process the raw data with alternative software systems to eliminate some of the vegetation problems that were not resolved with originally available DEMs. ...
Remote sensing technologies have helped to revolutionize archaeology. LiDAR (light detection and ranging), a remote sensing technology in which lasers are used as topographic scanners that can penetrate foliage, has particularly influenced researchers in the field of settlement or landscape archaeology. LiDAR provides detailed landscape data for broad spatial areas and permits visualization of these landscapes in ways that were never before possible. These data and visualizations have been widely utilized to gain a better understanding of historical landscapes and their past uses by ancient peoples.
... , the utility of lidar for locating and mapping archaeological sites in jungle environments has been tested with success in the tropics by a number of other projects (e.g., Evans et al. 2013;Prufer et al. 2015;Rosenswig et al. 2013Rosenswig et al. , 2015. Data collection and processing in forested areas, however, continues to present challenges for researchers (see Corns and Shaw 2009;Crow et al. 2007;Devereux et al. 2005;Doneus and Briese 2006;Doneus et al. 2008;Evans et al. 2013;Fernandez-Diaz, Carter, et al. 2014;Gallagher and Josephs 2008;Harmon et al. 2006;Johnson and Ouimet 2014;Pluckhahn and Thompson 2012;Risbøl et al. 2006;Rosenswig et al. 2013;Sittler and Schellberg 2006; see also Kraus and Pfeifer 1998;Pfeifer et al. 1999). In this paper, we want to highlight that, while lidar technology has revolutionized the way we locate and map archaeological features, local conditions (i.e., topography, vegetation, type of archaeological features, among others) can significantly impact the detection threshold of certain archaeological features. ...
In this article we evaluate ∼48km ² of airborne lidar data collected at a target density of 15 laser shots/m in central Yucatán, Mexico. This area covers parts of the sites of Chichén Itzá and Yaxuná, a kilometer-wide transect between these two sites, and a transect along the first few kilometers of Sacbé 1 from Yaxuná to Cobá. The results of our ground validation and mapping demonstrate that not all sizable archaeological features can be detected in the lidar images due to: (1) the slightly rolling topography interspersed with 1-6 m-high bedrock hummocks, which morphologically mimic house mounds, further complicated by the presence of low foundations; (2) the complex forest structure in central Yucatán, which has particularly dense near-ground understory resulting in a high number of mixed-signal ground and low vegetation returns which reduces the fidelity and accuracy of the bare-earth digital elevation models; and (3) the predominance of low archaeological features difficult to discern from the textural noise of the near-ground vegetation. In this article we explore different visualization techniques to increase the identification of cultural features, but we conclude that, in this portion of the Maya region, lidar should be used as a complement to traditional on-the-ground survey techniques.
... To date, the majority of archaeological research projects involving airborne LiDAR have been undertaken in northern and western Europe (Opitz and Cowley 2013). However, the dramatic results of airborne LiDAR mapping at the Maya settlement of El Caracol in Belize and other Mesoamerican sites (Chase et al. 2011(Chase et al. , 2014Rosenswig et al. 2013), coupled with the increase in publicly-accessible USGS LiDAR data in the United States (Pluckhahn and Thompson 2012;Randall 2014), are certain to increase the pace of LiDAR integration internationally in the near future. This trend is already evident in the growing scope (Chase et al. 2014) and number of projects utilizing LiDAR in North, Central, and South America. ...
This article describes what appears to be the first archaeological application of airborne LiDAR survey to historic-era landscapes in the Caribbean archipelago, on the island of Montserrat. LiDAR is proving invaluable in extending the reach of traditional pedestrian survey into less favorable areas, such as those covered by dense neotropical forest and by ashfall from the past two decades of active eruptions by the Soufrie're Hills volcano, and to sites in localities that are inaccessible on account of volcanic dangers. Emphasis is placed on two aspects of the research: first, the importance of ongoing, real-time interaction between the LiDAR analyst and the archaeological team in the field; and second, the advantages of exploiting the full potential of the three-dimensional LiDAR point cloud data for purposes of the visualization of archaeological sites and features.
... Data for this study was provided through a publically available website hosted by the International Hurricane Research Center at Florida International University (http://mapping.ihrc.fiu.edu/fldemlidar20100504/Default.aspx). This increased accessibility of LiDAR data has expanded the tools at hand for archaeologists who cannot afford to hire consultants to conduct an aerial LiDAR survey and process data into manageable forms (Pluckhahn and Thompson, 2012). In addition to increased technology and availability, LiDAR's impact on the archaeological community has increased due to improvements in digital visualization and processing techniques which allow users to manipulate data and hence increase the value of the information (Bennett et al., 2012;Hesse, 2010;Kokalj et al., 2011;McCoy et al., 2011;Stular et al., 2012;Verhagen and Dragut, 2012). ...
... Pluckhahn and Thompson discussed some of the limitations of LiDAR which were dependent on data quality and vegetation that they linked to observed data gaps. This study used data from the same project as Pluckhahn and Thompson (2012) and also identified LiDAR data containing large gaps attributed to low dense vegetation coverage and tropical climate when addressing the vendor ground classification. Pluckhahn and Thompson's methodology combined total station mapping and LiDAR point layer data to interpolate a raster surface with a 1 meter cell size; this paper will focus on the LiDAR data aspect. ...
... Johnson and Ouimet (2014) identified European settlement structures including foundations, stone walls, and basements in the northeastern United States' temperate environment by utilizing vendor classifications in leaf off conditions. Johnson and Ouimet's (2014) methodology was selected over Pluckhahn and Thompson's (2012) in response to their combination of traditional total station mapping data with LiDAR data for creation of their DEM while Johnson and Ouimet (2014) only used LiDAR data and accessed the standard vendor ground classification for site identification and mapping. This paper compares Johnson and Ouimet's (2014) methodology against a methodology using FUSION software and the ground filter program to process ground data on two Belle Glade formations in the northern Everglades of South Florida. ...
Locating and mapping methodology of archaeological earthworks for the pre-historic Native American Belle Glade culture can be improved by applying airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) employing FUSION software and the Ground Filter program to these remote areas. This study compares the standard utilization of vendor created classes for ground classification to FUSION's software ground filter program. The two case study locations contain Belle Glade type B circular–linear earthwork formations that were utilized for quantifying the results of each LiDAR processing methodology and visualization method through comparison of identifiable formations. Florida's northern Everglade's landscape and South Florida's tropical climate make traditional methods for archaeological earthwork identification difficult. However, FUSION ground filter program provides more data and discernible features that were not possible from the standard method in both study sites in addition to providing reference points for geo-rectification of the original scaled maps.
... To create more detailed maps of the modern landscapes, we combined total station survey with publically-accessible airborne LiDAR data. The former proved particularly important for filling voids in the LiDAR data produced by the misclassification of elevations associated with archaeological surface features, such as mounds and shell middens (see Pluckhahn and Thompson, 2012 for a case study elsewhere). We collected approximately 18,000 surface elevations at Crystal River and 3000 at Roberts Island, then combined these with around 200,000 and 340,000 LiDAR data points (respectively) in ArcMap (ESRI, Inc.) to produce Digital Elevation Models of the contemporary surface of the shell-bearing deposits (see Figs. 2 and 3). ...
We employ a landscape perspective to the shell middens at Crystal River (8CI1) and Roberts Island (8CI41), Woodland period (ca. 1000 BC to AD 1000) mound centers on the west-central coast of Florida in the American Southeast. Specifically, we adopt Ingold’s (1993: 162) understanding of landscape as the physical incorporation of social life, with all of its complexities of temporality and movement. Mapping, geophysical survey, and coring were used to document the location and scale of the contemporary and ancient landscapes. We followed this with small scale excavations to understand the form and timing of midden deposition. We employ Bayesian chronological modeling of radiocarbon dates from our investigations in the middens at Crystal River and Roberts Island to identify the broader rhythms of human activities. To characterize finer rhythms of social life within these phases, we compare rates of midden accumulation and other quantitative and qualitative measures of the distributions of artifacts and sediments. Our results indicate that the shell-bearing landscape at Crystal River and Roberts Island incorporates activities that fall in four broad phases over the interval from around AD 150 to 1050. These phases are characterized by diverse activities and temporalities, including both repetitive, small-scale refuse disposal and temporally discrete, larger-scale depositional episodes. Consistent with recent work on shell midden variability, both the archaeological deposits and the activities they encapsulate blur the lines between midden and monument.
