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GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTION AT THE FORMATIVE SITE OF ALTICA IN THE TEOTIHUACAN VALLEY PIEDMONT

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2019

Andrés G. Mejía Ramón Open the ORCID record for Andrés G. Mejía Ramón [Opens in a new window] ,
Luis Barba ,
Agustín Ortiz  and
Jorge Blancas
Andrés G. Mejía Ramón*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
Luis Barba
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Prospección Arqueológica. Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
Agustín Ortiz
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Prospección Arqueológica. Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
Jorge Blancas
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Prospección Arqueológica. Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
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Abstract

The Formative-period site of Altica in the Patlachique Range poses many methodological problems when designing an excavation strategy. Three millennia of erosion, twentieth-century chisel plowing, and modern reforestation efforts have destroyed or disturbed most surface architecture above the local tepetate bedrock. As such, in the early stages of the Altica Project, the primary concern was the detection and identification of subsurface features, especially deep pits as found at other Formative sites. Although Altica is located at the top of a low, flat ridge, strong localized rain frequently flooded the terraces of interest for days, making it impossible to detect subsurface features using the most common prospection techniques. Because of these practical and taphonomic limitations, we relied on magnetic gradient prospection. This technique had never been applied to an early village site in the Basin of Mexico. This paper presents the methods used, discusses various difficulties encountered during prospection, applies interprets the results of the magnetic gradient study using results from excavation and aerial multispectral remote sensing. We discuss how the method might be applied to similar Formative sites to remotely detect indicators of anthropogenic activity, including subsurface features.

Type
Special Section: Before Teotihuacan—Altica, Exchange, Interactions, and the Origins of Complex Society in the Northeast Basin of Mexico
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , Summer 2019 , pp. 267 - 278
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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References

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