HR: 0800h
AN: NS51C-02    [Abstracts]
TI: GPR and Magnetic Modeling on an Archaeological Site in Central Mexico
AU: Chavez, R E
EM: exprene@geofisica.unam.mx
AF: Instituto de Geofisica UNAM, Cd Universitaria Circuito Exterior s/n, Mexico, DF 04510, Mexico
AU: * Argote, D L
EM: efenfi@yahoo.com
AF: Instituto de Geofisica UNAM, Cd Universitaria Circuito Exterior s/n, Mexico, DF 04510, Mexico
AU: Camara, M E
EM: camara.me@upm.es
AF: Escuela Superior de Ingenieros Industriales UPM, Jose Gutierrez Abscal 2, Madrid, MAD 28006, Spain
AU: Cifuentes, G
EM: gercifue@geofisica.unam.mx
AF: Instituto de Geofisica UNAM, Cd Universitaria Circuito Exterior s/n, Mexico, DF 04510, Mexico
AU: Lopez, P
EM: efenfi@yahoo.com
AF: Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Centro INAH de Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, Tla , Mexico
AB: A geophysical study was carried out in an archaeological site called Los Teteles de Ocotitla, which means ‘bunch of rocks'. The area is located within the central portion of the Sierra de Ocotitla, towards the northeast of La Malinche volcano, in the municipality of Altzayanca, State of Tlaxcala. This site is conformed of several artificial terraces with evidence of human occupation, probably from the Teotihuacan or Tenanyecac phase. At first the presence of several hills, which are the remains of small pyramids can be seen. Also, some exposed walls and floors can be appreciated. The geophysical work included magnetic (vertical field) and GPR observations in five terraces. The magnetic data depicted a series of dipolar anomalies probably related to walls, and stairways. A report from a previous archaeological excavation carried out almost 30 years ago on an upper terrace, mentioned the discovery of an ancient burial. The tomb was a room (3x2x2 m3) to a depth of 1 m, where corpse remains were found, along other archaeological artifacts. Magnetic and GPR profiles were observed in this area to define geophysical signatures of the mentioned ancient structure, to later compare with anomalies obtained in other terraces. Two interesting anomalies were observed in two lower terraces that compared well with the signatures obtained. The magnetic anomalies were modeled employing a 3D inverse approach, assuming that the Earth is conformed of a series of magnetic dipoles. The final result produced a magnetic block of 5x3x3 m3 to a depth of 1.5 m, approximately. The GPR anomalies helped to constrain the initial geometry of the archaeological structure.
DE: 0903 Computational methods: potential fields (1214)
DE: 0910 Data processing
DE: 1214 Geopotential theory and determination (0903)
DE: 5109 Magnetic and electrical properties (0925)
SC: Near-Surface Geophysics [NS]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly