PONE-D-21-08331

Lidar detection of humans as geomorphic agents: The past, present and future of the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico

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Reviewers' comments:

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Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The paper is a valuable addition to literature on Teotihuacan by enlarging the previously mapped area by over four times in extent with digital technologies that allow for the identification of a larger range of features, higher precision of the form and location of features, and identification of changes in the anthropogenic landscape over time. The last is primarily how the authors frame the study, in that the new dataset can help to understand the loss of segments of the archaeological record at this globally important site and hopes for conservation efforts in the future. Another interesting facet of the project is its documentation of “path dependence,” sometimes in a literal sense, of the alignments of features of the built environment conforming to the orthogonal layout of the Classic period city. As the authors propose, this could be a way of identifying possible hamlets of that era elsewhere in the Teotihuacan Valley that were overlaid by Aztec period, Colonial, and or contemporary sites. New calculations of cubic meters of construction for the three major temple complexes plus Plaza of the Columns Complex are also very useful contributions to the literature.

I suggest the following minor revisions to the text, which are primarily about wording except for the final point about calculating construction volumes.

The current title is phrased awkwardly, as the Lidar detection is not of humans, rather of remains they created. Rewording to something such as “Humans as Geomorphic Agents: Lidar Detection of the Past, Present, and Future of the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico” makes more sense.

32 Abstract line 1 – remove the dangling participle (humans are the primary geomorphic agents on the landscape, not human-induced artificial ground)

34 Abstract line 2 – change repetition of word landscapes

113 – put the degree sign after 15.5

169 – since the state had collapsed, I would clarify “the legacy of the Teotihuacan’s influence continued both in…”

292 Table 3 and elsewhere – since the term Ciudadela is so problematic—the structure is not actually a citadel—I would suggest writing it out using the Spanish label (Ciudadela) or branding as Feathered Serpent Pyramid Complex, rather than Citadel.

404-406 – One caution in the comparisons between the Moon Pyramid and the PCC (or the entire Ciudadela) is that the first is just calculating the volume of the monument, while the second considers the complex as a whole, including basal platform and structures on top of it. For more precise comparison the Moon Pyramid should also be considered as a complex with the volume of the two attached flanking platforms (6:N5W1 and 22:N5E1) included.

Reviewer #2: There has been little application of LiDAR to archaeological research in the central highlands of Mexico. This research is a valuable application for assessing the utility of this method to detect prehispanic archaeological features. Their finding that the lidar map significantly under-represented features detected through pedestrian archaeological survey. Central Mexico, at least prior, to explosive urban growth adn construction that begin in the mid-twentieth century offered excellent conditions for traditional ground survey. Nonetheless this application of lidar produced valuable results includiing teh need to expand Millon's map of Teotihuacan, seeing how remains of the 2000 year old city have and continue to structure the historic and modern landscape and developing a geospatial data base combining data remote sensing and conventional archaeological survey and mapping.

Recognizing the valuable work of hte researchers, the impact of this research will rest on making their data accessible so that it can be built on by other researchers including Mexican archaeologists responsible for them.

p. 19 The authors should clarify if they consulted Sanders survey data records at Penn State that contain significant information not in the published volumes from excavations and surveys of sites.

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Humans as geomorphic agents: Lidar detection of the past, present and future of the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico

PONE-D-21-08331R1

Dear Dr. Sugiyama,

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Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

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4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

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Reviewer #1: No