The archaeological heritage of South America is facing increasing threats due to the expansion of agricultural activities, such as cattle ranching and industrial-scale soy cultivation, infrastructure expansion, illegal wood harvesting in the main forests, and the current fire emergency plaguing the Amazon and other biomes<\/a> of the continent.<\/p>\n It is clear that the threat to the natural environment goes hand in hand with the damage to the archaeological heritage \u2013 with biomes such as the Amazon facing accelerated deforestation over the last years<\/strong>, as documented by remote sensing real-time monitoring. Inevitably, this leads to significant heritage loss, including archaeological sites that have never been properly recorded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Documenting such pre-Columbian sites, in addition to finding new sites and increasing knowledge about their distribution and significance, are critical steps in preserving the cultural heritage and in changing attitudes towards its destruction, which are core aims of the Arcadia Fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n In MAPHSA Project<\/a>, we will work among seven institutions from four different countries to document the archaeological heritage of about 3.5 million km2 of endangered forest and savanna biomes across Brazil and Colombia<\/strong>. This will be accomplished by a combination of archival work, remote sensing, machine learning, and ground survey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n GIAP<\/a> (ICAC)\u2019s <\/span>partnership<\/span>, <\/span>led<\/span> by<\/span> Prof. <\/span><\/span>H\u00e8ctor A. Orengo<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong>, <\/span>will<\/span> include<\/span> the<\/span> development<\/span> of <\/span>algorithms<\/span> that<\/span> will<\/span> allow<\/span> the<\/span> remote<\/span> detection<\/span> of <\/span>archaeological<\/span> features<\/span> under<\/span> the<\/span> rainforest<\/span> cover, <\/span>mainly<\/span> through<\/span> satellite<\/span> imagery<\/span>, <\/span>machine<\/span> learning,<\/span> and<\/span> artificial <\/span>intelligence<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Stay<\/span> tuned<\/span> to <\/span>our<\/span> channels<\/span> and<\/span> <\/span>MAPHSA’s website<\/span><\/span><\/a> to <\/span>follow<\/span> the<\/span> latest<\/span> news<\/span><\/span>!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n University Pompeu Fabra<\/a> – Research Group CaSEs<\/a>; USP<\/a>; Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, INPE<\/a>; Universidad del Magdalena<\/a>; Instituto Colombiano de Antropolog\u00eda e Historia, ICANH<\/a>; University of Leiden<\/a>; Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology, ICAC-CERCA<\/a> – GIAP<\/a> Research Group.<\/p>\n Funding<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Arcadia Fund<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. It supports charities and scholarly institutions that preserve cultural heritage and the environment. Arcadia also supports projects that promote open access and all of its awards are granted on the condition that any materials produced are made available for free online.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/icac.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/areas-covered-by-maphsa-SouthAmerica-1-697x1024.png\")
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Partners of the MAPHSA Project<\/h5>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/icac.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Logos-partners-project-MAPHSA.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/icac.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Arcadia-Fund_logo.png\"){kind=logo}
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\nAbout the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICAC-CERCA)<\/h5>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/icac.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CERCA-MARCA-A-ENG-400x157.jpg\")
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