In her midday talk she observes that since woodnormally decays in the tropical landscape of the Maya area, the stunningpreservation of wooden posts and artifacts in a peat bog below the seafloor inPaynes Creek National Park, Belize, provides new information about Classic Mayabuildings and life-ways. Dr. McKillopestablished the Digital Imaging and Visualization in Archaeology (DIVA) Lab atLouisiana State University. In the spring of 2011 her team set up a remote lab in theirjungle field camp in Belize, where they did 3D scans of artifacts and returnedthem for storage at the underwater sites. In this presentation, she highlightsuse of a 3D laser scanner and 3D printer. She notesthat digital images are critical to preserving a record of deterioratingartifacts, and digital images and 3D prints that create plastic replicas of theartifact, are also important for teaching, displays, study, and an effort forthe local people to protect the underwater Maya sites by investing in themthrough tourism.
Describing the topic of her evening talk, Dr. McKilloprelates, “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 anaccidental discovery that has transformed our knowledge of the ancient Maya. Wefound wooden posts and artifacts—including the only reported ancient Maya canoepaddle—perfectly preserved in a peat bog below the sea floor...Inthis presentation, I summarize the discovery and mapping of some 4000 woodenposts 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 SitePreservation”
When: March 1(Thursday) 2012
Where: 12:45 p.m. Wilson Hall 168, UAHuntsville
What: “UnderwaterMaya: Discovery, Mapping and Excavating in a Peat Bog Below the Sea Floor, Belize”
When: 7:30 p.m. March 1 (Thursday) 2012
Where: Wilson HallTheatre, UAHuntsville
Please come and bring a friend!
Please come and bring a friend!
