Titre : The collective faced with big data: shared interpretation and retro-validation of LiDAR data from the El Infiernillo site, Michoacán, Mexico Auteurs : Marion Forest, Laurent Costa, Grégory Pereira, Revue : Digital Archaeology Numéro : Issue 1 Volume : 2 Date : 2018/10/17 DOI : 10.21494/ISTE.OP.2018.0298 ISSN : 2515-7574 Résumé : The acquisition, in 2015, of a high-resolution LiDAR (Light Detection and RAnging) elevation model for the entire geological complex of the Malpaís of Zacapu, West Mexico, has deeply influenced the research methods and general approach to this region of Mesoamerica in recent years. Similar experiments have been conducted in the Pátzcuaro Basin or in the Mayan area, where LiDAR data have also left archaeologists facing methodological and paradigmatic changes: the modus operandi of archaeological work, particularly the field component, has been transformed. Besides the difference in the general research process, the large volume of data available forms a challenge in terms of storage, data management and analysis processes. Specific and adapted strategies and tools thus have to be designed and developed. Finally, tests and retro-analyses have to be run to validate the use of LiDAR data and associated tools in archaeological research. In this article, we focus on two topics, using the case study of the archaeological site of El Infiernillo: first, we present and discuss the potential of methods based on collective “big” data processing (in particular webGIS); and second we test the validity of remotely mapped information by comparing it to data obtained using traditional ground survey methods. Éditeur : ISTE OpenScience