Beyond the magic wand: methodological developments and results from integrated Lidar survey at the ancient Maya Center El Pilar

Large-scale Lidar surveys have revitalized interest in regional settlement studies in the Maya Lowlands. Remotely identified features in Lidar imagery must be verified on the ground, with results of ground-truthing studies forming the basis of reliable, comparative databases for understanding ancient Maya land use and modification. The El Pilar Project integrates data generated by established survey methods with Lidar imagery to construct more complete pictures of settlement distribution, landscape modification, and human-environment interactions. This paper describes the results of Lidar-guided survey at El Pilar along with the protocol our project developed to systematize data collection and increase the efficiency of survey. The methods we describe have proven effective for investigating Maya settlement patterns at the site scale and locating features difficult to discern in Lidar imagery.