Using airborne LiDAR Survey to explore historic-era archaeological landscapes of Montserrat in the eastern Caribbean

Opitz, R. S. , Ryzewski, K., Cherry, J. F. and Malone, B. (2015) Using airborne LiDAR Survey to explore historic-era archaeological landscapes of Montserrat in the eastern Caribbean. Journal of Field Archaeology, 40(5), pp. 523-541. (doi: 10.1179/2042458215Y.0000000016)

Abstract

This article describes what appears to be the first archaeological application of airborne LiDAR survey to historic-era landscapes in the Caribbean archipelago, on the island of Montserrat. LiDAR is proving invaluable in extending the reach of traditional pedestrian survey into less favorable areas, such as those covered by dense neotropical forest and by ashfall from the past two decades of active eruptions by the Soufrière Hills volcano, and to sites in localities that are inaccessible on account of volcanic dangers. Emphasis is placed on two aspects of the research: first, the importance of ongoing, real-time interaction between the LiDAR analyst and the archaeological team in the field; and second, the advantages of exploiting the full potential of the three-dimensional LiDAR point cloud data for purposes of the visualization of archaeological sites and features.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Opitz, Dr Rachel
• Authors: Opitz, R. S., Ryzewski, K., Cherry, J. F., and Malone, B.
• Subjects: C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology
• College/School: College of Arts > School of Humanities > Archaeology
• Journal Name: Journal of Field Archaeology
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 0093-4690
• ISSN (Online): 2042-4582
• Published Online: 02 September 2015
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2015 Trustees of Boston University
• First Published: First published in Journal of Field Archaeology 40(5):523-541
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License