Dr.
Heather McKillop,
the Doris Z. Stone Professor of Latin American Studies at Louisiana
State University will give two talks on underwater archaeology of Maya
sites in Belize. Dr. McKillop is author of several books, including
The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives and
In Search of Maya Sea Traders.
In her midday talk she observes that since wood
normally decays in the tropical landscape of the Maya area, the stunning
preservation of wooden posts and artifacts in a peat bog below the seafloor in
Paynes Creek National Park, Belize, provides new information about Classic Maya
buildings and life-ways. Dr. McKillop
established the Digital Imaging and Visualization in Archaeology (DIVA) Lab at
Louisiana State University. In the spring of 2011 her team set up a remote lab in their
jungle field camp in Belize, where they did 3D scans of artifacts and returned
them for storage at the underwater sites. In this presentation, she highlights
use of a 3D laser scanner and 3D printer. She notes
that digital images are critical to preserving a record of deteriorating
artifacts, and digital images and 3D prints that create plastic replicas of the
artifact, are also important for teaching, displays, study, and an effort for
the local people to protect the underwater Maya sites by investing in them
through tourism.
Describing the topic of her evening talk, Dr.
McKillop
relates, “While walking in a shallow lagoon in southern Belize in search
of 'briquetage'—broken pots used to boil brine over fires to make
salt—we made an
accidental discovery that has transformed our knowledge of the ancient
Maya. We
found wooden posts and artifacts—including the only reported ancient
Maya canoe
paddle—perfectly preserved in a peat bog below the sea floor...In
this presentation, I summarize the discovery and mapping of some 4000
wooden
posts between 2005 and 2009, as well as the ongoing field research
excavating 'Ancient Maya Wooden Architecture and the Salt Industry.'”
What: “Underwater Maya: 3D Digital Imaging and Site
Preservation”
When: March 1
(Thursday) 2012
Where: 12:45 p.m. Wilson Hall 168, UAHuntsville
What: “Underwater
Maya: Discovery, Mapping and Excavating in a Peat Bog Below the Sea Floor, Belize”
When: 7:30 p.m. March 1 (Thursday) 2012
Where: Wilson Hall
Theatre, UAHuntsville
Please come and bring a friend!
