New Perspectives on Purépecha Urbanism Through the Use of LiDAR at the Site of Angamuco, Mexico

Abstract

Advances in LiDAR technology promise to change the way that ancient architectural remains are documented, analyzed, and managed at Mesoamerican urban centers. Here we discuss the way that LiDAR has helped document the location, temporal associations, and spatial arrangement of ancient architecture at the Pur�pecha city of Angamuco, located within the Lake P�tzcuaro Basin, Michoac�n, Mexico. Angamuco occupies a rugged topographic feature that has served to preserve ancient architectural features to a degree not typically seen within the region. As a supplement to full-coverage survey we obtained dense LiDAR data for 9 sq km of the settlement that clearly show over 20,000 architectural features from the urban core of the city. Through the use of LiDAR we were able to more quickly and accurately determine the size of the ancient city, better document the type and distribution of ancient features, and significantly change the manner in which we conducted the survey.