Rediscovering the lost archaeological landscape of southern New England using airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR)
Introduction
Airborne light detection and ranging, more commonly known as LiDAR, has become a well-established resource used to enhance spatial knowledge of the archaeological and cultural landscape in Europe, Central America, Canada and limited locations in North America including the United States (Chase et al., 2011, Cowley, 2011, Crutchley, 2009, Crutchley and Crow, 2009, Devereux et al., 2008, Devereux et al., 2005, Doneus et al., 2008, Gallagher and Josephs, 2008, Harmon et al., 2006, Lasaponara et al., 2010, Masini et al., 2011, Millard et al., 2009, Opitz and Cowley, 2013, Pluckhahn and Thompson, 2012, Rosenswig et al., 2013, Werbrouck et al., 2009). Many of these archaeological studies make use of LiDAR as a means to view the terrain and archaeological features below the forest canopy, though there are also studies that have been undertaken in non-forested landscapes (Harmon et al., 2006), and new research has shown it is possible to locate underwater archaeological sites as well (Doneus et al., 2013). Case studies vary by geographic location, time period and culture, yet all have used LiDAR data in a similar manner. Digital visualization and processing techniques have also been developed and refined that allow archaeologists or interested parties to manipulate the data in different ways after it is collected (Bennett et al., 2012, Hesse, 2010, Kokalj et al., 2011, McCoy et al., 2011, Štular et al., 2012, Verhagen and Drăguţ, 2012). Despite the growing literature and range of studies regarding the use of LiDAR that examine cultural resources and archaeology with LiDAR, very few have used data gathered in the United States, and few published studies exist for New England and its unique landscape. The disparity of published literature regarding LiDAR use in the United States and New England specifically for any type of archaeological analysis is unprecedented given its history and apparent wide-spread use in Europe and Central America. As a result, there is a great need for such research in this region to not only complement existing international studies, but to provide an assessment of the archaeological and cultural landscape in New England as measured through LiDAR.
This study will contribute to the growing international dialogue regarding LiDAR and its use for studying the archaeological landscape, and specifically will contribute new data regarding the types of features present in New England's unique historical and geomorphological landscape and their relationship to how humans have historically shaped and experienced the New England landscape. Prior to European colonization, small areas of forest were cleared for agriculture, and landscape-altering agricultural activities were conducted by Native American groups (Cronon, 1983, Garman et al., 1997, Merchant, 1989). The arrival of European colonists in the seventeenth century brought drastic changes to the predominantly forested landscape as English-style agriculture was imposed and thousands of acres were cleared of forest (Cronon, 1983). Agricultural lifeways gradually declined beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, causing once-maintained fields and agricultural landscapes to revert back to forest. Forests now prevail on the landscape in many parts of southern New England, obscuring features of that once-agrarian past such as old roads, building foundations, stone walls, mills, or dams – reminders that the landscape is itself an artifact (Rubertone, 1989). In aerial and satellite imagery, these features are often hidden from view by a dense forest canopy; but by using LiDAR as others have done, these features become visible for identification and analysis.
Recently, airborne LiDAR data has been made publicly available for the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. In this geographic region, which is predominantly forested, LiDAR is a vital tool for archaeological landscape studies because it allows the archaeologist or interested party to see not only the terrain beneath the dense New England forest canopy, but also to see that terrain at a much higher resolution than was previously possible. This paper presents preliminary results regarding the use of airborne LiDAR in southern New England to identify and interpret specific types of archaeological and cultural features that comprise the unique New England landscape. This will not only lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the historical human impact on the New England landscape, but will also allow for the identification of new archaeological sites or landscape features prior to archaeological reconnaissance surveys and analysis in areas that are inaccessible for fieldwork. This study will contribute to the growing international dialogue regarding LiDAR and its use for studying the archaeological landscape. Specifically, it contributes new data on the visualization and analysis of the types of features associated with New England's unique historical and geomorphological landscape, which also have global applications.
Section snippets
Study areas
Though southern New England has been considered part of the growing “megalopolis” encompassing cities and towns from Boston to Washington D.C., forests tend to dominate the southern New England landscape, obscuring features of a once-agrarian past. Northeastern Connecticut, specifically, has been called “America's megalopolitan park” because of its extensive forests and lack of development (Berentsen, 1996). Though this area did not see the wide-spread industrialization of the nineteenth
LiDAR processing and visualization
The data used in this paper is publicly available in each of the three states (CT, MA, and RI) and was not flown specifically for our study. A LiDAR aerial survey to collect data was undertaken for all of Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts in late April and early May 2011 as part of the Northeast LiDAR Project. Data was collected for eastern Connecticut separately in November and December 2010 for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The point data was processed and
Types of cultural features
The preliminary examination of the hillshaded LiDAR data for these three areas revealed many types of historical archaeological features, stone wall networks, building foundations, old roads and pathways. These features of the “lost” New England landscape, usually hidden in satellite and aerial imagery, are clearly visible in hillshaded LiDAR-derived DEMs in each of the three selected towns. In the hillshaded LiDAR data, building foundations appear as small clusters of shaded pixels indicating
Conclusion
It is evident that like other areas of the world, there are many applications of LiDAR data for archaeology in New England. The new data that have been made available by various state GIS agencies in southern New England can be downloaded for free, and could allow for more efficient and informed survey planning prior to walkover surveys in the field. Some of these applications include: looking at the data generally in the project area to see and understand the topography and cultural features
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Alexia Smith at the University of Connecticut for her insightful comments and suggestions prior to the submission of this manuscript, Robert Thorson for discussion and Kate Erickson for her assistance volunteering with locating and measuring some of the archaeological features in the field. We'd additionally like to thank Emily Wilson at the Center for Land Use Education and Research at the University of Connecticut for making the Connecticut LiDAR data available
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