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A new environmental and spatial approach to the Tiwanaku World Heritage site (Bolivia) using remote sensing (UAV and satellite images)
Author(s) -
Pérez González María E.,
Gallego Revilla José I.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/gea.21778
Subject(s) - terrain , remote sensing , context (archaeology) , geography , flood myth , satellite imagery , natural (archaeology) , land use , population , archaeology , cartography , engineering , civil engineering , demography , sociology
This paper analyses the research carried out in the Tiwanaku World Heritage site in Bolivia, using unmanned aerial vehicles and satellite images. The combined use of images with different scales has made it possible to locate many archaeological structures unknown to date (drainage systems, walls, circular crop marks, and a possible dock). The Sentinel‐2 images, which were processed using principal components analysis and histogram equalization, show the river beds, flood‐prone areas, and several buried drainage channels surrounding the most important structures. The archaeological evidence obtained with the digital terrain model and natural color/multispectral images enables us to contrast a new dimension of land and water uses that go beyond what was known to date. In the same way, these images enable us to understand in detail the environmental characteristics, land use, building distribution, and flood defense structures of the Tiwanaku culture throughout its history, within the context of the environmental conditions of the Bolivian altiplano. This study allowed the authors to collect new information and pose questions on the relationship of this site with water, as well as a better understanding of the extent and habitat of this historical population.