Participatory mapping and UAV photogrammetry as complementary techniques for landscape archaeology studies: an example from north-western Argentina

Abstract

In this article we highlight the relevance of a combination of a participatory mapping approach and unmanned aerial vehicle photogrammetry as complementary techniques for landscape archaeology studies. We exemplify this approach with the discovery and mapping of the Cerro Quemado site, located in the Yocavil valley in north-western Argentina. The site presents a local Inka architecture pattern corresponding to an administrative centre type settlement of the southern provinces of the empire and is placed closely to one of the main routes of the Inka road that runs through the bottom of the valley. The implications of this finding are substantive in terms of a more complete understanding of the expansion of the Inkas in this region. The finding of Cerro Quemado has been possible thanks to the local spatial knowledge registered by the implementation of a participatory mapping approach with students and teachers of a local high school. Its expedited registration and the preliminary map of the structures presented here was facilitated by drone technology and spatial photogrammetry that helped to define in a cost efficient and quick way its architectural pattern.