Archaeological prospection in Chapingo, Texcoco Region, Mexico

Abstract

A shallow non-destructive geophysical survey was conducted in the archaeological site of Chapingo in the Texcoco Region, Mexico. The survey combines the application of Seismic Refraction Tomography and Magnetometry in order to identify and differentiate geological and archaeological features in the first 10 m of the subsoil. The results and the characteristics of the seismic and the magnetic anomalies depicte features suggesting the presence of structures like a water-well, transit or irrigation channels, dams and mounds or tlatels. A SE-NW oriented riverbed was also identified. Based on the geologic and human histories of the region, we suppose the riverbed dates from the Pre-Historic period, and that the other structural features have a Pre-Hispanic and/or Colonial origin. Our findings exemplify that the combination of geophysical tech-niques is a precise, detailed and high-resolution tool appropriate to solve ar-chaeological and civil engineer problems.