Arlen F. Chase

Aerial view of Maya civilization ruins at Caracol in Belize, curated by Chase since 1985

Arlen F. Chase (born 1953) is a Mesoamerican archaeologist and Departmental Chair at the University of Central Florida, noted for his work on exploring traces of Mayan civilization using lidar.[1]

Biography

Chase took his BA and PhD in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, and then worked in the University of Pennsylvania's anthropology department. His fieldwork began with Mesoamerican excavations at Holmul and Orange Walk, Belize with the Santa Rita Corozal project, Belize, followed by excavations at Tikal, Copan, Grasshopper Pueblo and Quintana Roo.

Chase moved to the University of Central Florida in 1984. He helped to transform it into one of the top American universities in the study of the Southern Lowland Maya. He and his wife Dr. Diane Zaino Chase have together published many peer reviewed articles and books on the subjects of hieroglyphics, settlement patterns, urbanism and ceramic studies of the Maya.

Since 1984, Chase has conducted many excavations in the Petén region of Belize. From 1985 he has been Co-director of the Maya urban complex of Caracol. Chase developed excavation techniques to explore the history of Caracol from the Preclassic to the Postclassic period of Maya occupation, to reveal the archaeology while preserving the built structures as part of Belize's cultural heritage.

Current research

Further information: Mesoamerica, Maya

Chase teamed with University of Central Florida biologist Dr John Weishampel to obtain a NASA Space Archaeology Program & UCF-UF Space Research Initiative grant to use lidar (light radar) sensors to detect changes in the rainforest canopy, reforestation patterns and modifications to archaeological sites. The lidar system was installed in an aircraft flown over Caracol.[1] The system used laser beams that were projected to the ground, bounced back and were recorded. These recordings produced a detailed three dimension map of both the Forest canopy and the ruins of Caracol.[2] The speed and precision of the system was far superior to traditional ground surveys.[3][4] In a 2013 talk at the University of Minnesota, Arlen and Diane Chase talked about their most recent work at Caracol, including data generated by lidar.[5]

Honors

Bibliography

Articles


Referenced articles

Peer reviewed articles

References

  1. 1 2 Wilford, John Noble (May 10, 2010). "New York Times". Mapping Ancient Civilization, in a Matter of Days. nytimes.com. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  2. http://archive.archaeology.org/1007/etc/caracol.html
  3. Challis, Keith (2011). "Assessing the Preservation of Temperate, Lowland alluvial Sediments Using Airborne Lidar Intensity". Journal of Archaeological Science 38 (2): 301–311. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.09.006.
  4. Chase, Arlen; Diane Chase; John Weishampel (2011). "Airborne LiDAR Archaeology and the Ancient Maya Landscape at Caracol". Journal of Archaeological Science 38 (2): 387–398. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.09.018.
  5. http://ias.umn.edu/

External links

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