The USGS recently published Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data for much of the contiguous United States, providing researchers with landscape data at an unprecedented scale. Researchers and land managers working in the Four Corners region of the Southwest have begun examining these data and have documented ancient villages and landscape features, such as potential ancient road segments and berms and swales indicative of potential agricultural fields.

As we continue to engage with these data and identify additional features of interest, the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center Research Institute seeks to establish new research directions, employ cutting-edge technical tools for processing and analyses, and develop ethical standards that promotes Indigenous data sovereignty and governance. Crow Canyon researchers have collected over four decades of data in the Mesa Verde region. These data will be paired with GIS and LiDAR imagery to approach a variety of research questions at scales from individual communities to regional landscapes.

At present, the Research Institute team and Research Institute Associates are analyzing data related to previously identified community centers, testing methods for organizing these data for future analyses, and standardizing methods for documenting and identifying new landscape features.