Integrated non-invasive remote-sensing techniques and field survey for the geoarchaeological study of the Sud Lípez mining district, Bolivia

Abstract

New investigations have been carried out in the framework of a joint French-Argentine project dealing with the mineral resources and the metal production in the Andean plateau from the 10th to the 18th century. Geoarchaeology of the Sud Lípez, southern Bolivia, is revisited using multisource remote-sensing data including archive data from the 1960s and recent very high resolution (VHR) data simultaneously acquired with field work. The detailed geological mapping of the area is allowed by the field survey complemented by the multispectral and VHR data. The emphasis is on integrating all the geological features such as morphologies, petrology of the volcanics, lithology of the volcano-sedimentary rocks, regional and local faulting, veins, hydrothermally altered rocks, etc. GeoEye-1, which features the most advanced technology ever used in a civilian remote-sensing system, allows the detailed mapping of the archaeological remains that are particularly numerous at San Antonio de Lípez, with shallow pits, shafts connected in depth with adits, and large slag areas. Particularly, the plan of three old miners' villages has been drawn and its accuracy has been evaluated.