SPECIAL SATURDAY NIGHT SPEAKER- Dr. Chris Fisher from CSU

The title of this evening's lecture is:

The Application of LiDAR Scanning for the Documentation of Ancient Cities and Regions.

Dr. Fisher’s research is focused on unraveling the complex relationship that links humans to their past and present environments. This focus of anthropological archaeology is often called landscape archaeology or human ecodynamics. Our CAS-GJ book club is reading "The Lost City of the Monkey God". The book describes work Dr. Fisher has been instrumental in, using advanced remote sensing tools to find jungle covered ruins deep in the wilds of Honduras.

The application of airborne LiDAR for the detection and documentation of archaeological sites in arid and semi-arid regions of the Americas has initiated a ‘paradigm shift’ for Mesoamerican archaeology. Dr. Fisher will discuss results from two archaeological projects in disparate areas of Mesoamerica that have utilized LiDAR to both examine intra-site and extra-site patterning. The first, centered at the site of Angamuco in the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin, Michoacán, used LiDAR as a tool to examine the spatial patterning of individual units of architecture. The second used LiDAR to document the complete settlement pattern of an unexplored valley within the Mosquitia tropical wilderness of Honduras. Both of these studies confirm that value and promise of LiDAR technology.

This event is FREE and open to CAS-GJ members, students faculty and staff at CMU and the general public.

The event is in the public meeting space in CMU's Tomlinson Library (I have not been there so I am excited about seeing this venue). Here is a link to help you find the Tomlinson Library and parking on or near the CMU campus http://www.coloradomesa.edu/campus-info/maps.html

Please allocate enough time to find your way around the campus and get to the venue in time for the 6:30 start.

This is a unique opportunity for CAS-GJ to have back-to-back presentations by major academics: this evening by Dr. Fisher of CSU and this coming Monday, April 9 by Dr. Mark Stiger from Western State Colorado University in Gunnison (https://www.meetup.com/CAS-GJ/events/245124475/). We hope you will share our good fortune to have both these high caliber speakers this month.