Excavations of Structure 215, Baking Pot, Belize (original) (raw)
Related papers
in M. Liverani (ed.), Aghram Nadarif – The Barkat Oasis (Sha’abiya of Ghat, Libyan Sahara) in Garamantian Times, 2005
Structure from Motion Mapping and Remote Sensing at Structure A-5, Chan Chich, Belize
During the 2013 season of the Chan Chich Archaeological Project (CCAP), the National Geographic Society/Waitt Grants (NGS/Waitt) program funded Structure from Motion (SfM) mapping and remote sensing at Structure A-5. Grant Number W261-12, issued to the senior author and Texas Tech University (TTU), funded innovative research that shows tremendous potential in Maya archaeology. This chapter is a condensed version of the final grant report, which Houk et al. (2013) submitted to NGS/Waitt upon completion of the initial data processing, which took place during the 2013 season of the CCAP. Although the original grant report included information on subsequent excavations, conducted by the CCAP and the TTU Field School in Maya Archaeology, Herndon et al. (Chapter 4, this volume) discuss the excavation data, and this chapter strictly comments on the mapping methods and results. While the use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) constituted a primary component of the research, as discussed below, interpreting the GPR data is a complicated process and analysis of the data is ongoing.
Errors & Inaccuracies in Repositioning of Archaeological Sites
In archaeological surveys and excavations, positioning and mapping of sites and monuments is essential to studies related to settlement pattern, viewshed analysis as well as cultural resource management. Various methods and techniques have been used in the past for the mapping of sites according to the technological means that were available at each time. These methods had a variable degree of accuracy, creating a number of problems in the repositioning of archaeological sites today.
Journal of Cultural Heritage, 2002
Started in 1996, the Chacas Valley Project is coordinated by Laura Laurencich Minelli and aims to study the social-cultural organization of space in the Chacas Region (Ancash-Perú) during the Early Intermediate Period (III-VII century A.D.). For an anthropological interpretation of ancient urbanized territory, a multidisciplinary approach focused on gathering both archeological data and topographical information is necessary. The kinematic GPS method has been applied in order to reach the needed accuracy in representing the geometric properties of the objects, to preserve the geometric properties between the structures and to document the relations with the ground morphological aspects.
3D Heritage Documentation and GPS Survey of Chalcatzingo, Morelos, Mexico
In 2006, The World Monuments Fund added the archaeological site of Chalcatzingo, in the Valley of Morelos, Central Highlands Mexico, to the World’s 100 Most Endangered Monuments Watch List. Chalcatzingo is an important Formative Period archaeological site, founded about 1500 B.C. Famous for the extensive corpus of bas-relief carvings and Olmec-style monumental art and iconography, this civic-ceremonial center, has architecture that includes pyramids, plazas, and ballcourts, with a considerable quantity of stone sculptures that provide substantial information about the Formative period culture. The site covers more than 100 acres and is situated between two towering rock formations, or cerros, that rise up from the valley floor. Beginning with talks in 2009, researchers Drs. Lori Collins and Travis Doering, from the University of South Florida (USF) Library’s Digital Heritage and Humanities Collections (DHHC) have partnered with Mario Cordova Tello and Carolina Meza Rodriguez, archaeologists with Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), to assist them in addressing long-term management, protection, and research analysis needs at Chalcatzingo. During this time, a comprehensive digital documentation survey and database construction has been undertaken, with the most recent work conducted in 2016, being the focus of this report. A combination of 3D and imaging technologies and GPS survey, have been used to document the majority of sculptures and structures at the site. Documentation in 2016 included recently discovered carved stone monuments and their fragile context. The results of these efforts include the best available techniques for documentation of the monuments as well as the environmental contextual setting and location details.