Testing the waters: a spatial analysis of an engineered water management system at Angamuco, Michoacán, Mexico
Date
2019
Authors
Simpson, Nicholas, author
Fisher, Christopher, advisor
Leisz, Stephen, committee member
Falkowski, Michael, committee member
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Abstract
The prehistoric Purépecha site of Angamuco is located on the eastern edge of the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin in Michoacán, Mexico, the geopolitical core of the Late Postclassic Purépecha Empire. The site is situated on an ancient volcanic lava flow known as a malpais with no nearby sources of perennial surface water to support the large population present. The region's climate is marked by a wet and dry cycle, wherein 80% of the precipitation received by the basin falls between the months of May through August. This thesis attempts to delineate the natural hydrology of the landscape at Angamuco and to identify and quantify the water management system engineered by the inhabitants of the site to retain surface runoff throughout the course of the annual dry season. Using LiDAR data acquired for Angamuco and algorithmic tools in ESRI ArcMap 10.6, the hydrology of the site can be visualized in order to extract and quantify the spatial and volumetric characteristics of the reservoirs at the site. By combining the volumetric reservoir data, hydrologic data, and climatic data for the region, a more dynamic picture of prehistoric water management begins to emerge. The analysis of these datasets provides evidence that the landscape at Angamuco was modified to optimize water retention at specific locations and that the water retention features are of adequate size and volumetric capacity to sustain a large population over the course of the dry season. Additional field research might greatly supplement the data presented here to provide a clearer picture of the complex water management strategies of the prehistoric inhabitants of Angamuco.
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Rights Access
Subject
LiDAR
Purépecha
water management
Pátzcuaro (Mexico)
Angamuco
Tarascan