The Redención del Campesino Valley Archaeological Survey

Research Strategies and Methodology

As mentioned above, the results obtained during the field season of The Pomoná Kingdom and its Hinterland project constituted the basis of a spatial model that accounts for the territorial extent of the kingdom of Pomoná. The additional data recovered during the initial visit to the valley was essential in defining the criteria necessary to outline the parameters of the site prediction model. On this basis the strategies for the archaeological survey of the valley were established. To this effect the UTM coordinates of the central points of the high potential areas identified were downloaded to hand-held GPS units as waypoints to assist us in the navigation to these areas. A finer resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was also created using a more sophisticated algorithm in ArcGIS. The resulting DEM was ground-truthed in the field. We feel that the subsequent fine-tuning of the DEM provides a greater reliability to the site predictive model generated and subsequent spatial analysis of the settlement pattern of the Redención del Campesino Valley proposed here.

Site identification was undertaken with the aid of topographic maps, aerial photos, GPS and mapping software, as well as through the consultation of the local communities. A variety of techniques, including pacing, compass and tape, and GPS were applied in the survey. Plotting and preliminary drafting of surveys was done in situ using a hand held GPS and a portable computer. This allowed for immediate identification and correction of errors, thus enabling us to compensate for the lack of detail and at the same time to help us manage in a more efficient way our resources.

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