LIDAR TECHNOLOGY AND THE CLASSIC PERIOD POPULATION OF THE MAYA LOWLANDS:

NEW DATA, NEW CHALLENGES

Marcello A. Canuto (Tulane University)

 

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Recent application of lidar technology to the Maya area in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico is revolutionizing long-established models regarding the scale and complexity of the Lowland Maya society. The thorough analysis of the anthropogenic remains recorded in lidar coverage attests to a tropical society composed by widespread regional interaction, intensive use of natural resources, and massive landscape modifications. As a result, lidar data compel a reconsideration of current theoretical models regarding Classic Maya society’s relationship with the environment, agricultural organization, urbanism, population density, and the regional interaction.

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Recent lidar coverage by the Pacunam Foundation in a sector of over 2100 sq. kms of the Maya Biosphere Reserve in the Department of Peten, Guatemala has allowed a consortium of researchers to identify a large number of domestic architectural features suggesting that the central Maya Lowlands sustained a population of between 7 and 11 million people during the Late Classic period. In this paper, I review various methodologies used to develop population estimates along with the potential problems inherent with each, proposing means of constraining these problems to produce reliable estimates. I conclude by discussing what these population estimates suggest about the nature, scale, and operation of Classic Maya society.

 

(Talk in English)