ABSTRACT
Despite the increasing role played by remote sensing (notably LiDAR) in the detection of archaeological sites, pedestrian surveys remain an inescapable method in the study of tropical rainforests. First, they make it possible to validate by visual check the surface anomalies observed by the LiDAR. Second, they provide an exhaustive inventory of archaeological sites because most pre-Columbian archaeological sites do not appear by remote sensing. They allow one to collect artefacts, either on the ground (unearthed by a tree fall or a digging animal) or below the ground through augering or test pits, and a relatively rapid landscape-scale assessment of the presence or absence of human impacts. In this chapter we will discuss the methods and techniques associated with these pedestrian surveys in the neotropics.
