Tulane Takes Leading Role in $10M Global Archaeology Mapping Initiative

Tulane University’s Middle American Research Institute (MARI) is a lead partner in the LidArc Initiative, a five-year, $10 million project funded by the Hitz Foundation to expand high-resolution lidar mapping in challenging regions. Led by Global Digital Heritage and archaeologist Herbert Maschner, the initiative uses airborne lidar to reveal ancient buildings, roadways and settlements hidden beneath forests, allowing archaeologists to analyze landscapes in minutes instead of years.

“This initiative is truly game-changing,” said Marcello A. Canuto, professor of anthropology in the Tulane School of Liberal Arts and director of MARI, which received more than $1.25 million through the initiative — making it one of the more significant archaeology research grants awarded to MARI in recent times. “The ability to systematically deploy lidar at this scale allows us to see ancient landscapes with a level of clarity and coverage that was unimaginable just a few years ago.”

Tulane will lead two of the largest campaigns in the initiative in Costa Rica and Peru’s western Amazon, reinforcing its long-standing commitment to archaeological research in underexplored, challenging regions of Latin America.

In Costa Rica, MARI is partnering with John Hoopes of the University of Kansas and Silvia Salgado of the University of Costa Rica to survey over 1,000 square kilometers, including jade-working centers at Línea Vieja, Guayabo de Turrialba, gold settlements of the Osa Peninsula, the Río San Juan corridor and Santa Rosa Peninsula.

In Peru, MARI and Tulane archaeologist Jason Nesbitt will map the Ecuador–Peru borderlands, the Huallaga-Marañón confluence and the Ucayali River basin near Pucallpa, regions expected to yield major insights into early lowland civilizations through lidar’s ability to uncover pre-Hispanic structures beneath the rainforest.

“The first surveys will take place in Costa Rica and the Peruvian Amazon in the next two years in collaboration with colleagues working in those countries,” said Tulane research professor and National Geographic explorer Francisco Estrada-Belli. “I am especially excited about mapping in the Amazon forest, where entire civilizations might be waiting to be discovered.”

LidArc will also map sites in Italy, Malawi, South Africa, Central America, the Amazon and smaller projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jordan, Spain, Albania and southern Africa, using drone-mounted lidar to reach remote areas.

“LidArc represents a major step toward leveling the playing field in archaeological research,” Maschner said. “By expanding access to advanced technologies like lidar, we’re enabling scholars and communities around the world to rediscover and protect their cultural heritage. We’re excited to support Tulane in opening new chapters of human history.”