People and Pixels Linking Remote Sensing and Social Science (1998) / Chapter Skim
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7 Validating Prehistoric and Current Social Phenomena upon the Landscape of the Peten, Guatemala
7 Validating Prehistoric and Current Social Phenomena upon the Landscape of the Peten, Guatemala
Pages 145-163
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From page 145... ...
This information is critical in research on the Maya to help answer questions regarding subsistence, settlement patterns, population densities, societal structure, communication, and transportation. These issues in turn may well relate to perhaps the most intriguing question of all: the reason for the Mayan collapse.
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From page 146... ...
As a result of these developments, the original study area was expanded to include both the Peten region of Northern Guatemala and the MBR, the protected area within the Peten's boundaries (see Figure 7-1~. Initially, the primary focus of this investigation was on the use of remote sensing technology for the identification of unrecorded archeological features.
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From page 147... ...
While remotely sensed data provide quantifiable information about forest and land-cover changes, they do not explain the anthropogenic causes for those changes. Hence ground-truth information is required both to validate the satellite imagery and to supplement it with information from local harvesters, farmers, and ranchers regarding the criteria they employ for land-use conversion.
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From page 148... ...
; this figure contrasts significantly with the ancient Mayan population densities of 2,600 persons per square mile in the center and 500-1,300 per square mile in the more rural areas (Rice, 1991)
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From page 149... ...
They contrast with informal routes, such as paths, which show little if any evidence of construction, are irregular in design, and tend to avoid natural obstacles. From a remote sensing perspective, the Mayan roadways tell us how the cities were connected and to some degree suggest the level of sophistication of the city responsible for their construction and maintenance.
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From page 150... ...
This level had been reached by the Maya by 300 A.D., far before their population peak in the Late Classic period (600-830 A.D.) , when population densities ranged from 500 to 2,600 persons per square mile (Rice, 1991~.
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From page 151... ...
The light spots represent ancient Mayan temple structures beneath the forest canopy at the archeological site of Mirador, while the dark lines represent Mayan causeways and natural geological features. Ground reconnaissance and sometimes excavation are required to separate the cultural from the natural features.
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From page 153... ...
Currently, we are applying supervised classification techniques using information from two transects as the training samples. The transect data come from field data collected by Culbert and his research team during their May 1995 field season.
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From page 154... ...
DEFORESTATION Central America has one of the highest rates of deforestation, on a percentage basis, in the world (Food and Agriculture Organization, 1991~. Satellite imagery provides the primary source of quantifiable data about forest and landcover changes.
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From page 155... ...
These analytical techniques have been applied to present evidence of the current deforestation threat to the Peten region. As noted earlier, the ancient Maya had substantially deforested the region by the time of their collapse in the ninth century, while the current tropical forest, no more than 1,000 years old, is being destroyed at an alarming rate in the wake of human migration and settlement.
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From page 156... ...
These areas include the Sierra del Lacandon and the Mexico-Guatemala border region in the west. Forest clearing is less severe near lower, more stable resident populations, as in Carmelita in the central Peten, where more traditional farming techniques are practiced.
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From page 157... ...
157 . igration routes of birds and animals, is unknown at this What is known is that the increasing human migration into the area is adding to the social stress as the competition for land and resources increases.
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From page 158... ...
Generally, our interviews with local farmers and ranchers provide accurate information. Sometimes, however, the respondents provide us with either information they think we want to hear or false information intended to mask illegal activity.
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From page 159... ...
To address these scientific issues, we will acquire additional information as we interview local farmers and ranchers. Through these interviews, we will determine such factors as the crop-to-fallow ratios, the decision process for converting land to pasture or to shifting agriculture, the forest fragmentation indices and spatial characteristics of cleared land, the associated socioeconomic factors, and how the driving forces differ by zones or management units.
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From page 160... ...
The detection and subsequent analysis of these features may help answer questions regarding ancient Mayan subsistence, transportation, and water management and the factors that led to the eventual abandonment of the area at the time of the Mayan collapse. At the same time, however, verification of archeological features detected in the remote sensing data is expensive, timeconsuming, difficult, and dangerous because of the dense vegetation, remoteness, and hazards associated with the Peten landscape.
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From page 161... ...
Food and Agriculture Organization 1991 Second Interim Report on the State of Tropical Forests. Unpublished paper, Forest Resources Assessment 1990 Project, United Nations FAO, Rome, Italy.
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From page 162... ...
Sader, S.A. 1995 Spatial characteristics of forest clearing and vegetation regrowth as detected by Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery.
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From page 163... ...
Turner II, B.L. 1993 Rethinking the "new orthodoxy:" Interpreting ancient Maya agriculture.
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