| Ref ID: | 37984 |
|---|---|
| Ref Type: | Journal Article |
| Authors: | Liu, Chong Bai, Xinyao Qiu, Yijia Fu, Lin Li, Zhe |
| Title: | Detecting burial-mound microtopography beneath subtropical evergreen forest: a UAV LiDAR survey at Badantingzhishan, northern Fujian, southeast China |
| Date: | June 2026 |
| Source: | Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.106035 |
| Abstract: |
Dense subtropical evergreen forests severely limit archaeological visibility by obscuring low-relief mortuary features and restricting pedestrian access. Northern Fujian, a key cultural interaction zone in southeast China, remains underexplored in terms of its forested burial landscapes. This study evaluates UAV LiDAR for detecting burial-mound microtopography at Badantingzhishan in the Nanpu River basin. Seven UAV missions were conducted to test flight height, flight-line orientation, sensor pitch and scan mode, with each dataset processed independently to generate bare-earth digital elevation models. Among the parameters tested, flight height exerted the strongest control on archaeological visibility. The hillshade visualization derived from the bare-earth DEM of the 30 m above ground level (AGL) mission produced the clearest expression of mound-and-pit morphology but posed greater operational and safety constraints in steep forested terrain. The 50 m AGL mission provided the best balance between visibility and survey efficiency, identifying 84 candidate burial-related anomalies, most expressed as paired mound-and-pit features, compared with 14 mounded burials recorded in pedestrian survey. Coordinate-guided field assessment supported the LiDAR interpretation, with surface morphology, artefacts, and probe-confirmed anthropogenic mound deposits providing converging evidence. Excavation of one selected tomb demonstrated that a LiDAR-derived positive relief corresponds to a constructed burial mound, while adjacent depressions represent looting pits and associated secondary deposits. The tomb is preliminarily dated to the late Warring States period. The results demonstrate that UAV LiDAR provides an effective, site-calibrated approach for extending survey coverage and revealing forest-obscured mortuary landscapes in subtropical evergreen forest environments of northern Fujian. |
| Volume: | 75 |
| Page Start: | 1 |
| Page End: | 13 |