The Electronic Atlas of Ancient Maya Sites

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The Electronic AtlasofAncient Maya Sites

• Walter R. T. Witschey
• Science Museum of Virginia
• Clifford T. Brown
• Middle American Research Institute

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Thanks

• Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative
• Middle American Research Institute
• Science Museum of Virginia

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Goals

• Identify systems
• Social, economic, political ( polities)
• Use settlement data
• Use epigraphic data
• Test theoretical settlement models
• Predict and identify settlement patterns in
  unsurveyed areas

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Typical GIS

• Research OR
• Modest resources
• Smaller in scope
• Geographically limited
• Data-constrained

• State/Federal CRM
• Heavy on resources
• Public Administration
• Record-keeping

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Mexico Central America
Maya Area
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The Maya Area
Yucatan
Q.Roo
Mexico
Campeche
Tabasco
Belize
Chiapas
Guatemala
Honduras
El Salvador
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Scale

• Area detail
• Cost
• Labor
• Compute power
• Knowledge
• required for system use

• Challenge
• Enough detail for interesting questions
• Enough resources for the effort

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Excavation unitwith artifacts
Settlement unit with structures
Region with sites
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Digital Chart of the World

• Developed by United States Department of Defense
  (Defense Mapping Agency)
• Described in Military Specification Digital
  Chart of the World. MIL-D-89009.
• Mapped at scale of 11,000,000
• Horizontal accuracy ? 2000 - 4200 m

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Accuracy Issues

• Of site location (latitude/longitude)
• Proxy location
• Data Conversion
• Projection scheme
• Source data

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Sites
Daughter filesOccupationsLong
counts ArchitectureCeramics
ArcviewGIS 3.2
BaseData (DCW )
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Main sign
Piedras Negras
Structure of Emblem Glyphs
Tikal
Quirigua
Palenque
Yaxchilan
Copan
After Coe 1992
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Rank 1, 2, 3 and 4 sites
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Uomuul
Chichmuul
Lagartera
MMJ
Chacchoben
La Reforma
Tzibanche
Chetumal
Kohunlich
One-day, two-day walks
After Harrison 1981
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Thiessen polygons
Calakmul
Mexico Belize Guatemala
Tikal
After Mathews
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Kimball Museum Birmingham Museum of Art
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Result

• Non-environmental variables more powerful
• Better cognitive and ideological models of
  settlement and polity