[Aztlan] Institute of Maya Studies November Lecture

[michael ruggeri]

November 19, 8:00-9:30 PM
Institute of Maya Studies Lecture

“Underwater Archaeology: A Lost City of Belize” with Dr. Heather  
McKillop

Dr. McKillop will discuss the discovery and investigation of a  
massive ancient Maya salt industry including wooden structures  
preserved in a peat bog below the sea floor in southern Belize. Posts  
and beams of wooden buildings had been untouched for 1,300 years due  
to sea-level rise that had protected them and hidden them from modern  
view, until McKillop’s project.

In McKillop’s own words, “The findings challenge the long-distance  
import of salt from the north coast of the Yucatán and indicate there  
was a large industry for the production, storage and distribution of  
salt – white gold of the ancient Maya. I will discuss our innovative  
methods for searching underwater, the types of wooden structures and  
salt production we have found, and the implications of our findings  
for our understanding of ancient Maya architecture in general and  
specifically the ancient Maya salt industry.”

Heather McKillop is the William G. Haag Professor of Archaeology in  
the Dept. of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State  
University, Baton Rouge. She earned her B.Sc. and M.A. in  
Anthropology at Trent University (Canada) and her Ph.D. at the  
University of California, Santa Barbara. She has published many  
articles and books on her research and funding has come from the  
National Geographic Society, National Science Foundation, and FAMSI  
(Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies).

Institute of Maya Studies at the Miami Science Museum,
3280 South Miami Avenue, across from Vizcaya;
Maya Hotline: 305-235-1192;
http://mayastudies.org

Mike Ruggeri