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rm t Uirsity Ctrl Flri strugglt umt t jugl-r rlgil rmis t

Crl i str Bliz. Crl s upi rm 600b.c. t a.d. 900 y ppulti tt li pk itt lst 115,000 iitts. A systm ril rs, rusys, liks irt prts t sit rss mst Blizs lus V Pltu. W mpp, usig tri-til -t-gru tiqus, pprximtly 9 squrmils sttlmt, 1.3 squr mils trrig, 25mils usys. W ls stui t uiligs pyrmis t sits tr, s ll s 118 rsitilgrups tt sist rul utis st uil-igs rrg ru trl plz. Our rk s r lrlystliss Crl s t lrgst k rlgil sit i

t sutr My lls, ut riss sut-ig suggst tt t ity s lrgr t s priuslytugt. Dspit t qutity t , tr r stillligrig qustis ut t sits tru siz ppulti, ut t sity t trr systms tt t itMy strut r griultur. sr ts iultqustis itut spig tr 25 yrs i t l, lrly strtgy y t s trug ts rst rig t rlgil rmis.

Fr t lst tr s rlgists ll r trl usig sp-s imgig tls t t-tr urst it lsp sttlmt pttrs.

Even when one is lmst irtly tp tm, my My sits r impssil t s. I

t jugl, smll plms rus sprig t14 t ig i yr, llig t sp ttrig r, mgy, rm, itrs. W rlgists can lrg My

sits, t sily mp tm us it is xpsi lr-itsi. E mr ltri ist mtrs limit utility; i t s trug t trs,itr ty. S ut pts it mts, srmltrug tik urrus, r t migt missig. T ility t s trug tis s, stmy jugls lg t rm My rlgists.

Ts iultis l us t urstimt t

mplismts iguity t it My. Tris littl grmt mg rlgists r just igsm My itis r, my ppl li i tm, r itsily tir rsits mi t lsp. Itt pprs tt sits i mr sily stui rs trlplis, sprs rsts, r rs lr i mrtimsr lrgr mr mplx t tir trpil r-st utrprts. Ds tis imprssi rft t iility it ums t rt lrg, sustil sttlmts it trpis, r is it t rsult implt istigtis,mpr y t mplitis rkig i rirst?

Fr mr t 25 yrs, multiisipliry tm

Airborne laser-scanning

technology, called LiDAR,

provides a 3-D map of

part of the Maya city at

Caracol in Belize. LiDAR

cuts through the jungle

to reveal the hidden

features beneatha

revolution in

the study of

ancient Mayalandscapes.

Airborne sensors reveal a vast Maya landscape

Lasers in the Jungleby Arlen F. Chase, Diane Z. Chase, andJohn F. Weishampel

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ArchAeology July/August 201028

lti t it. Fr lkig t My sits, it s imprtt t tk t msurmts t t t ry ss t rst is t mst plt. Tis lsr-ssigtlgy is t y itsl , ut s rus sigitly irr lsr st mppi(ALSM) systm tt spt rss 1,500-t-i rit pss t pl. T Crl t rprs

t rst tim tt t ALSM tlgy s pplirss xtsi rgi i t My r, t rsultr stuig.

Smigly itut rt, t systm pru tili rly 80 squr milsly 13 prt i priusly mpprlig tpgrpy, istruturs, usys, griulturl trrs. T ts t ull xtt Crl, t sttlmt strutur, t it My rilly mitir lsp t rt sustil ur irmtllgig lg-l ssumptis ut t lpm iilizti i t trpis.

T LiDAR t rm tt Crl s l-sitygriulturl ity mpssig sm 70 squr mils. Ouprius -t-gru rk umt multiplusys, ut t LiDAR imgs rl 11 s 5 usy trmii (trtis uiligs t ts rs), rlig t sits tir mmuiti trsprtti irstrutur t its igt urig t Lt

Clssi Pri (a.d. 550900). Equllimprtt, t LiDAR imgs lrly sumi ills llys t t g t sury r, iitig t limit t sit priig its ut y

t My Crl sttl r ty i t ity xp r tim.T stuy lrly rms ur rli

ppulti stimts r Crl, lsumts t xtt t i t ppl t ity mi t l t tmsls. W r prtiulrly imprssit LiDARs ility t rl Crlgriulturl trrs. W umtts struturs i -t-gru surysut it s r-impssil t imgi txtt t mi lsp. T

Lik tir llgus, My rlgists tur tts tiqus t rm t mplitis rk-ig t rst pyut t it littl suss.

Grlly, ly l t s rlgilturs tt xt t py, r i rs i gtti, r isrupt t rst i l y. E lrgpyrmis sp t y i t sky. A r rmt-ssig tlgy ll LiDAR (Ligt Dtti Rgig), prt rm pl rtr t stllit,s lp us ptrt t jugl Crl prmisst rlutiiz ur urstig My iilizti.(Lsr-s -t-gru sig, tur i T Psti Hig-D, My/Ju 2009, is ls giig trti i trlgil rl.)

I iti t til stuy xistig stllit imgry,

t Crl rmt-ssig prjt, u y NASA, ssig t trmi i LiDAR us t s lt py t pri imgs mplt it Mylsp. It s mr sussul t p.Just ys fyrs tr ks prssigyil r suprir pitur Crl t -t-grumppig r .

Airr LiDAR rks y sig ut illis lsrpulss rm pli tis s prt y tNtil Si Futisupprt Ntil Ctrr Airr Lsr Mppigl mil t rstpy. Crully lirt ssrs msur t pulss tt

u k. Iitilly, t lsrs r rrt y t tps trs, pruig til rr t rst r. Buttrtps r prus, s sm pts ptrt pr,il trs r ll t y t t gru rft krm t urlyig sur trri y uiligs rit struturs it. T rsult is urt, tr-imsil mp t t rst py t gru

Caracol has been studied and excavated for 25 years,

but just a few weeks of LiDAR work created a detailed map

of 80 square miles of the sitenearly eight times the area

that had been previously mapped from the ground.

A LiDAR image of the Caana complex at the heart of Caracol, at left, shows the

tree canopy surrounding a 140-foot-tall building (in an aerial photo at right). The

lasers also penetrate the jungle to reveal structures hidden by that overgrowth.

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mtrplit r tt rs rly 400 squr mils l t itrprttis t sits mplx tr systms tul mt. At Crl, s lrg, l-sity, griulturl ity tt tri i trpil ir-mt. But r t ppl Agkr m xtsi iult-t-miti yrlgil gs t gr ug t tmsls, Crls iitts us

t itsi rti sustil trr ls. Tstrrs t ly trll tr f urig t riyss, i ru rsi, ut ls rti trlgr. Usig t trrs, t it My ul prumultipl rsts miz, s, squs, tr rpsi sigl yr, utrits ul rplis y rtil-izig t rt it igt sil mpst. Cmi itt pprprit spig sttlmts rsrirs, trylig grg, usy systm t mmuit istriut rsurs, t griulturl trr systm ssig t rk it its irmt supprt tily s mr t 100,000 ity llrs.

Fr t lg, My rlgists li yt jugl, l ly t smpl -rus itis spult ut is ppl. T irr LiDAR till lp us lly ispl pri tis ut ittrpil iiliztistt ty r limit i siz spistitiy lttig us pr trug t trs. I rr ss, ill l t t sits it

tr tt plitil urist rstrut it trpil plitis iull. Imgi ig l t s mpt tir My rlits ls pyrmis, its uss tr ruts,

its itrtis fits. But ttis i t utur. Fr , it is ug t l t s t tir ur lsp it My ity, k ttplm rs tgl rst ill lgr utmtilly sur ur i t pst. n

A and D C areanthropologists, andJW a biologist, at theUniversity of Central Florida.

rmt-ssig t s tt lmst ll t Crllsp ltr; sil- tr-srigtrrs r tir llys ills, mkig it lr tt

griulturl pruti sustiility r ritil tt it My. Airr LiDAR is lrly t tl ttMy rlgists itig r.

LiDAR rsults r t s pssil r, trug lg-trm rlgil prjts, su s tst ikl i Gutml Clkmul i Mxi, ut ttlgy s rks. It my t rr t rmis mpltly prisl struturs, i my l ly lis st, tug ur rsults suggst it istiguisturs lss t t ig. O-t-gru rmti,tritil mppig, xti r still ssry t irmti ut uiligs r us, tils,

tig. But us LiDAR rs lrg rs s itly,it ul ultimtly rpl tritil mppig i trpilrirsts, ri rlgil rsr y rl-ig uusul sttlmt pttrs itiyig llsr -t-gru rk. At Crl, r xmpl, upriusly uk lustrs mplx rittur ttr t irtly ti t t Lt Clssi usy systm.Pssily rs rt r pttry pruti r t rmis rlir sttlmts, ts r prim trgts r uturrlgil istigti.

Urstig t sl mi My lspill ls lp us mpr t My it tr it iili-

ztis mr tily. Rmt-ssig tiqus us it Amz Bsi Sutst Asi rlutiizur tikig ut it ulturs tr. Stllit imgig,mi it -t-gru GPS mppig, r xmpl,mstrt tt mplx ppulus sitis upit Amzi rirst r Eurp tt. At Agkr i Cmi, rmt ssig lp lit

In this LiDAR image of the Caracol epicenter, the jungle cover

has been removed. Clearly visibleas ripples in the valleys

and hillsidesare the agricultural terraces the ancient Maya

constructed to feed the sprawling city.

LiDAR is operated from a plane half a mile above the jungle. This illustration shows

the twin-engine Cessnas route over 23 hours in the air. In that time, the system made

more than 4 billion measurements of the landscape below.