ANTHROPOGENIC INDICATORS OF MAMMOTH CAVE NATIONAL PARK, KENTUCKY

This project seeks to understand the diachronic archaeological record of Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA), Kentucky by employing Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data. LiDAR has been used for a number of applications over the past several decades, its use in archaeological research in North America is relatively limited. The ability to observe remotely sensed anthropogenic features within the landscape is fundamentally tied to the quality of the Digital Elevation Model (DEM). In order to create a bare earth DEM, two different vegetation removal algorithms will be used and compared. After empirically determining the best DEM for prospection purposes, the DEM will then be interrogated to understand why features appear within the DEM. Interrogation will primarily come from comparing different visualizations of the elevation data (e.g. slope, flow accumulation) and. Potential causes of each feature will be identified for future ground truthing.