An international study in which the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) participates, in Spain, allows identifying Mayan buildings vaced by Lidar maps, a technology that makes it possible to “see” under vegetation, which offers “the key to understanding Mayan urbanism.”
This is stated by those responsible for this work, in which the architect and researcher of the Centro Pegaso of the UPV Laura Gilabert participates, and which is the result of a collaboration with Tulane University (New Orleans, United States) and the International Consortium Pacunam Lidar Initiative.
It analyzes more than 2,600 square kilometers of jungle in the Mayan lowlands, between Guatemala and Mexico, where more than 100,000 old structures were detected, of which 30% were identified as vaveled (linked to greater status).
As explained by the UPV, the project, financed by the Valencian regional government, discovered how to trace wealth and status in the old Mayan society using Lidar technology, through the detection of aboavence structures and the analysis of their territorial distribution in urban and rural environments.
For this, the team developed a predictive model, validated with 93% reliability, which allows to classify the old buildings according to its construction system, identifying those made with stone walls and vaults, a feature linked to greater wealth and social prestige.
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New hypotheses about the Organization of the Maya
The possibility of differentiating the vaulted buildings from other simpler constructions allows us to formulate new hypotheses about the social and economic organization of the old Mayan civilization, they explain from the academic institution.
The study thus offers new keys on the daily life of thousands of people who inhabited Mayan cities during the classic period (250-900 AD).
One of the most relevant findings is that the Mayan elites tended to be distributed among the general population, both in urban and rural areas, to supervise the use and exchange of resources.
“Until now it has been difficult to define the Mayan neighborhoods,” says Francisco Estrada-Belli, archaeologist and researcher at Tulane University and leader of the study, who points out that being able to see the distribution of elite residences and not large-scale elite “gives the key to understanding Mayan urbanism.”
“In this article we show how the combination of archaeological excavation, architectural analysis and Lidar data allows us to obtain new perspectives on the organization of the ancient Mayan society,” says Marcello A. Canuto, director of the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University.
In addition to the buildings, Lidar technology allowed to detect agricultural and water management infrastructure, such as cultivation terraces, channels and waterfalls, findings that reinforce the idea of a high degree of territory planning and a complex political organization.
“Lidar remote sensing allows optimizing the use of economic and human resources dedicated to archaeological research, as excavations can be previously planned in a very precise way,” says Laura Gilabert.
The UPV researcher adds that Lidar opens “new horizons in the conservation and management of archaeological heritage, especially when it is under protected natural areas.”
With EFE information
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