Current Approaches, Solutions and Practices in Conservation of Cultural Heritage

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DOI :10.26650/B/AA9PS34.2024.006.016   IUP :10.26650/B/AA9PS34.2024.006.016    Full Text (PDF)

Photogrammetry Data Processing for the Detection and Conservation of the Maya Heritage in the Tropical Environment of El Petén, Guatemala

Carolina Collaro

A survey using a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor and a red, green and blue (RGB) oblique camera was carried out in April 2022 by the University of Jaén in Spain and the University of San Carlos de Guatemala in the tropical forest of El Petén, Guatemala, in the Yaxhà-Nakum-Naranjo National Park, with the participation and expertise of a German company from Munich. This chapter illustrates the various stages of the expedition and the results of the high-resolution data acquired, processed and interpreted. This highly advanced technology allows direct georeferencing of the two data sets, LiDAR and RGB, facilitating data processing. The aim of the expedition was to detect ancient settlements of archaeological importance in a park of 38,000 ha, largely inaccessible, to validate and compare the results already obtained by other archaeologists, even without the use of LiDAR. We also tested the hypothesis of the importance of LiDAR in a tropical environment, where vegetation covers the pyramids and hides archaeological remains and the caliza stone benches used to build the monumental acropolises of the three parks. The spatial scale connects large, monumental pyramids with small settlements covered by earth and tropical vegetation to form a continuous landscape, like a palimpsest, where we can also detect vegetation biodiversity and significant remains. The highresolution data also gives us hope for the development of virtual restoration and remote 3D models for local and global tourists. The chapter highlights the challenges of using this competitive technology and its relative benefits in an environment with many anthropogenic and environmental threats.


Keywords: LiDAR, Maya Archaeology, VTOL drone, Photogrammetry, conservation

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