Description

With great new data, comes great new responsibility. Although LiDAR is still a relatively new technology, it has already transformed archaeology and reshaped our understanding of the past. Yet, its regional impact has been surprisingly uneven. While LiDAR has revolutionized archaeological research in many parts of the world, its potential in the U.S. Southwest remains comparatively underrealized. Drawing on preliminary research and examples from the Ancestral Pueblo world, this presentation explores both the opportunities LiDAR presents and the challenges that remain. It also considers what archaeologists can realistically expect from the next generation of remote sensing technologies—and where future research efforts are likely to have the greatest impact.