Fields Maya archaeology Name Heather McKillop | Education Trent University | |
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Institutions Louisiana State University Books The Ancient Maya: Ne, Salt: White Gold of the Ancient M, In Search Of Maya Sea Trad | ||
Heather Irene McKillop is a Canadian-American archaeologist, academic, and Maya scholar, noted in particular for her research into ancient Maya coastal trade routes, seafaring, littoral archaeology, and the long-distance exchange of commodities in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Since the 2004 discovery of ancient Maya wooden architecture and a wooden canoe paddle preserved in a peat bog below the sea floor, McKillop and her team of LSU students and colleagues have been focused on the discovery, mapping, excavation, sediment coring and analyses of the waterlogged remains. She started the DIVA Lab (Digital Imaging and Visualization in Archaeology) in 2008 to make 3D digital images of the waterlogged wood, pottery, and other artifacts from the underwater Maya sites--Paynes Creek Salt Works. As of 2016 McKillop is Thomas and Lillian Landrum Alumni Professor in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University.
