Dept. of Anthropology (Emeritus), Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina, United States of America.
Centro Regional Yucatán, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mérida, Yucatán, México.
PLoS One. 2021 Apr 28;16(4):e0249314. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249314. eCollection 2021.
The application of lidar remote-sensing technology has revolutionized the practice of settlement and landscape archaeology, perhaps nowhere more so than in the Maya lowlands. This contribution presents a substantial lidar dataset from the Puuc region of Yucatan, Mexico, a cultural subregion of the ancient Maya and a distinct physiographic zone within the Yucatan peninsula. Despite the high density of known sites, no large site has been fully surveyed, and little is known about intersite demography. Lidar technology allows determination of settlement distribution for the first time, showing that population was elevated but nucleated, although without any evidence of defensive features. Population estimates suggest a region among the most densely settled within the Maya lowlands, though hinterland levels are modest. Lacking natural bodies of surface water, the ancient Puuc inhabitants relied upon various storage technologies, primarily chultuns (cisterns) and aguadas (natural or modified reservoirs for potable water). Both are visible in the lidar imagery, allowing calculation of aguada capacities by means of GIS software. The imagery also demonstrates an intensive and widespread stone working industry. Ovens visible in the imagery were probably used for the production of lime, used for construction purposes and perhaps also as a softening agent for maize. Quarries can also be discerned, including in some cases substantial portions of entire hills. With respect to agriculture, terrain classification permits identification of patches of prime cultivable land and calculation of their extents. Lidar imagery also provides the first unequivocal evidence for terracing in the Puuc, indeed in all northern Yucatan. Finally, several types of civic architecture and architectural complexes are visible, including four large acropolises probably dating to the Middle Formative period (700-450 B.C.). Later instances of civic architecture include numerous Early Puuc Civic Complexes, suggesting a common form of civic organization at the beginning of the Late Classic demographic surge, (A.D. 600-750).
激光雷达遥感技术的应用彻底改变了定居点和景观考古学的实践，也许在玛雅低地最为明显。本研究介绍了来自墨西哥尤卡坦半岛普克地区的大量激光雷达数据集，该地区是古代玛雅文化的一个次区域，也是尤卡坦半岛的一个独特地貌区。尽管已知遗址的密度很高，但没有一个大型遗址得到过全面调查，而且关于遗址之间的人口情况知之甚少。激光雷达技术首次可以确定定居点的分布情况，表明人口虽然高度集中，但没有任何防御设施的迹象。人口估计表明，该地区是玛雅低地人口最密集的地区之一，尽管腹地的人口数量适中。由于缺乏地表水，古代普克居民依赖于各种存储技术，主要是 chultuns（蓄水池）和 aguadas（用于饮用水的天然或改造水库）。这两种技术在激光雷达图像中都可见，这使得通过 GIS 软件可以计算出水库的容量。图像还展示了密集而广泛的石材加工工业。图像中可见的烤箱可能用于生产石灰，用于建筑目的，也许还可以软化玉米。还可以辨别出采石场，包括在某些情况下整个山丘的很大一部分。关于农业，地形分类允许识别优质耕地的斑块并计算其面积。激光雷达图像还提供了普克地区梯田的第一个明确证据，实际上在整个北尤卡坦也是如此。最后，可见几种类型的城市建筑和建筑群，包括四个可能可以追溯到中形成期（公元前 700-450 年）的大型卫城。后来的城市建筑实例包括许多早期普克城市建筑群，表明在晚期经典人口激增时期（公元 600-750 年）开始出现一种常见的城市组织形式。
