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High tech devicesÌýfly high when it comes to archaeological mapping.ÌýÌýProfessor Gerardo Gutierrez of the Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Boulder Anthropology Department has found that the right technologyÌýcan free up hours of work for the archaeologist.ÌýÌýGutierrez has receivedÌýtwoÌýASSETT Development Awards to purchase state of the art mapping technology for his students to learn to use.ÌýÌýWith matched funding from the Department of Anthropology, Gutierrez purchased two total stations, one Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), andÌýrelated mapping software.Ìý Taking aerial pictures with UAVsÌýis aÌýgreat improvement over more traditionalÌýmapping methods.ÌýÌýUntil recently,Ìýan archaeologist relied uponÌýtotal stations, which require hours in the fieldÌýto take measurements ofÌýhundreds of points.

GutierrezÌýused the equipmentÌýthat he purchased to conduct mapping research with his students this past spring.Ìý They found thatÌýmapping with UAVsÌýisÌýmore affordable and fasterÌýthanÌýis mapping withÌýthe moreÌýtraditional archaeological tools. Even the initial purchase ofÌýa UAV has become more affordable in recent years: "New digital photogrammetry is emerging very fast," says Gutierrez.ÌýÌýAlso,Ìýthe UAV isÌýsmaller, more compact, and lighter in weight than is a total station.

With the ASSETT Development Award funding,ÌýGutierrez was able to purchase software that interprets the photos from the UAVÌýcamera.Ìý He noted that the software, "... generates high resolution georeferenced orthophotos (up to 5 cm accuracy)ÌýÌýand exceptionally detailed Digital Elevation Models.Ìý This software enables students toÌýprocess thousands of Ìýaerial images on a desktop computer to produce professional photogrammetric data."Ìý Gutierrez and his studentsÌý(Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Boulder students Grace Emy, Alyssa Friedman, Melanie Godsey, and Machal Gradoz)Ìýfound that it takes 27 timesÌýlonger to gatherÌýdata mapping with a total station than with a UAV.Ìý They created aÌýtrainingÌýmodelÌýforÌýothers to use whenÌýlearning to map with total stations and UAVs.ÌýÌýGutierrez and hisÌýteamÌýfound thatÌýeven training others to map withÌýUAVs takes much less time--3.5 times less time--than training someone to use and interpret data from a total station or a LIDAR system (mapping dataÌýtaken from a piloted aircraft).Ìý TheyÌýsubmitted these findingsÌýto the journal, Advances in Archaeological Practices for the Society of American Anthropology.

Gutierrez led one of the four GIS ArcMap workshop sessions this spring, which were also funded by ASSETT Development Awards!Ìý He partnered with Classics DepartmentÌýProfessor Elspeth Dusinberre.Ìý Further, Gutierrez has taken his equipment training across borders through a partnership with the Insitituto Nacional de Anthropologia e Historia (INAH), the Mexican government's Cultural Resource Management agency.ÌýÌýGutierrez trained Mexican archaeologists in using such equipment to create archaeological maps.

Gutierrez says, "We are really grateful for the assistance of ASSETT. ÌýWithout this funding, we wouldn’t have been able to do any of this."