“Preserving Underwater Maya Finds Using 3D Technology”
with Heather McKillop, Louisiana State University
Of her current work, Heather notes “We started taking 3D-scanners into the field in 2011 because the wood, as soon as you take it out of the water, begins to decay. And the pottery, if you let it dry, since it’s saturated with saltwater, the salt comes to the surface, expands, and exfoliates and destroys everything. So, we keep everything in plastic bags filled with water and then transfer what we’ve found to plastic containers with water.”
We can then print replicas in our lab. Our 3D scans are precise replicas that we can study for research, use in teaching, and share digitally or by 3D prints.”
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Heather McKillop
is the Thomas and Lillian Landrum Alumni Professor in the LSU Department of Geography & Anthropology and founder-director of the LSU DIVA Lab, which stands for Digital Imaging and Visualization in Archaeology. She is best known for her research into ancient Maya coastal trade routes and for her related discoveries of a roughly 1,200-year-old wooden canoe paddle and jadeite scraping tool, both found underwater in a mangrove peat bog below the sea floor in Belize.