Heather McKillop
Thomas & Lillian Landrum Alumni Professor
Education
Ph.D., University of California-Santa Barbara, 1987
Research
I carry out archaeological field research on ancient Maya salt works flooded by sea-level rise and use 3D technology to preserve a record of the salt-waterlogged pottery and wood. The research has been funded by National Science Foundation grants since 2005. My current NSF is a collaborative, linked grant with 蜜桃APP PhD grad E. Cory Sills, now an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Tyler, 鈥淟abor Relations in a Traditional Complex Society.鈥� I started the DIVA Lab (Digital Imaging and Visualization in Archaeology) in 2010 with a LA Board of Regents grant. I have expanded 3D imaging and 3D printing, including exhibits featuring 3D printed replicas of artifacts from the Underwater Maya project funded by a Site Preservation Grant from the Archaeological Institute of America. We hosted the 4th International Congress on the Anthropology of Salt at 蜜桃APP October 12-17, 2022.
Book Publications
- Paul N. Eubanks, Ashley A. Dumas, Heather McKillop, and Marius Alexianu (editors). 2025. Meridians of Salt: Global Perspectives on Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology. Springer.
- McKillop, Heather. Maya Salt Works, 2019. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
- McKillop, Heather. 2006. The Ancient Maya. Norton Publishers, New York
- McKillop, Heather. 2005. In Search of Maya Sea Traders. College Station: Texas A & M University Press
- McKillop, Heather. 2002. Salt, White Gold of the Ancient Maya. Gainesville: University Press of Florida
- McKillop, H. 2002. Precolumbian Jade and Stone Carvings from Costa Rica. Catalog for Exhibition. Baton Rouge: Museum of Art, 蜜桃APP
- McKillop, Heather and Paul F. Healy (editors). 1989. Coastal Maya Trade. Occasional Papers in Anthropology, Dept of Anthropology, Trent University, Canada.
Selected Articles in Journals and Edited Books
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McKillop, Heather and E. Cory Sills. 2026. "The Organization of Classic Maya Salt Production at the Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize. Latin American Antiquity, open access:
- McKillop, Heather and E. Cory Sills. 2025. Ancient Maya Submerged Landscapes and Invisible Architecture at the Ch'ok Ayin Residential Household Group, Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica, 1鈥�22.
- McKillop, Heather and E. Cory Sills. 2025. Changes in Ancient Maya Labour Organization at the Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize. Belizean Studies 19: 277-285.
- McKillop, Heather and E. Cory Sills. 2025. 鈥淢odeling the Economics of Salt Production from Wooden Architecture at the Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize.鈥� In Meridians of Salt: Global Perspectives on Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology, edited by Paul N. Eubanks, Ashley A. Dumas, Heather McKillop, and Marius Alexianu, pp. 473-492. Springer.
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McKillop, Heather and E. Cory Sills. 2025. Earliest Ancient Maya salt production in southern Belize: excavations at Jay-yi Nah. Antiquity 99:187-202.
- McKillop, Heather. 2024. 鈥淭he Ancient Maya of the Caribbean Coast: A View from Wild Cane Cay, Belize.鈥� In El Mar Caribe: The American Mediterranean, edited by Victoria Lyell, pp. 169-185. Mayer Center Symposium XIX, Denver Art Museum, Denver.
- McKillop, Heather. 2024. 鈥淎pocalypto and the Ancient Maya: To Entertain or to Educate?鈥� In A Critical Companion to Mel Gibson, edited by Adam Barkman and Antonio Sanna, pp. 213-231. Lexington books, Rowan & Littlefield, Laham, MD.
- McKillop, Heather. 2024. 鈥溾�� Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 19:484-504.
- Cher Foster, Heather McKillop, and E. Cory Sills. 2024. 鈥淗uman-Environmental interactions at Ta鈥檃b Nuk Na, a submerged Maya salt works site in Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica, 135:388-400.
- McKillop, Heather and E. Cory Sills. 2023. "B.鈥� Ancient Mesoamerica 34: 24-46.
- McKillop, Heather and E. Cory Sills. 2022. Household salt production by the Late Classic
Maya: underwater excavations at Ta'ab Nuk Na. Antiquity 96: 1232- 1250. DOI:
McKillop, Heather. 2022. Empowering undergrads in 3D Digital Imaging, In Digital Heritage and Practice in Archaeology. Edited by Ethan Watrall and Lynn Goldstein, University Press of Florida.
McKillop, Heather. 2021. Salt as a commodity or money in the Classic Maya economy. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 62
McKillop, Heather.2021. Conclusion: The Quest for Salt, in Salt in Eastern North American and the Caribbean, edited by Ashley A. Dumas and Paul N. Eubanks, pp. 164-174. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.
McKillop, Heather, George Harlow, April Sievert, C.Wayne Smith, and Michael C. Wiemann. 2019. 鈥淒emystifying Jadeite: Underwater Maya Discovery at Ek Way Nal, Belize.鈥� Antiquity 93 368: 502鈥�518.
Watson, Rachel and Heather McKillop. 2019. 鈥淎 Filtered Past: Interpreting Salt Production and Trade Models from Two Remnant Brine-Enrichment Mounds at the Ancient Maya Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize. Journal of Field Archaeology 44:1:40-51.
McKillop, Heather and Kazuo Aoyama. 2018. 鈥淪alt and marine products in the Classic Maya economy from use-wear study of stone tools.鈥� Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115:10948-10952.
McKillop, Heather. 2005 鈥淔inds in Belize Document Late Classic Maya Salt Making and Canoe Transport.鈥� Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102: 5630-5634.
Courses Taught
- Introduction to Archaeology
- Ancient Maya in the Media
- 3D Digital Scanning
- Advanced 3D Archaeology
- Mesoamerican Archaeology Seminar
PhD Graduates
- Cheryl Foster (PhD Geography & Anthropology, May 2024)
鈥淗uman-Environmental Interactions in Coastal Belize: Insights into Sea-Level Rise and Ancient
Maya Activities at the Paynes Creek Salt Works鈥� - Hollie Lincoln (PhD Anthropology, May 2023)
鈥淎nalysis of Imported and Local Chert from the Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize Using 3D
Technology and Traditional Methods鈥� - Valerie Feathers (PhD Geography & Anthropology, May 2017)
鈥淗uman-Environmental Interactions: Sea-Level Rise and Marine Resource Use at Eleanor Betty,
an Underwater Maya Salt Work, Belize.鈥� - Victoria Harrington (PhD Geography & Anthropology, May 2017)
鈥淒igital Osteology: 3D Surface Scanning the Ox Coxae鈥� - Areerut Patnukao (PhD Geography & Anthropology, May 2017)
鈥淕IS Analysis of Dvaravati Dharmacakras and the Rise of Buddism in Thailand鈥� - Rachel Watson (PhD Geography & Anthropology, Aug 2015)
鈥淓xcavations and Interpretation of Two Ancient Maya Salt-Work Mounds, Paynes Creek
National Park, Toledo District, Belize鈥� - Elizabeth Cory Sills (PhD Geography, May 2013)
鈥淯nderwater Excavations of Two Ancient Maya Salt Works, Paynes Creek National Park, Belize鈥� - Mark Robinson (PhD Geography, May 2013)
鈥淪eeing the Forest and the Trees: Ancient Maya Wood Selection and Forest Exploitation
at the Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize鈥� - Bretton Somers (PhD Geography, May 2007)
鈥淪patial Analysis of the Preserved Wooden Architectural Remains of Eight Late Classic Salt
Works in Punta Ycacos Lagoon, Toledo District, Belize鈥� - Virginia Ochoa (PhD Geography, May 2004)
鈥淧laces to Live: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Modern Maya Houses in Yucatan, Mexico鈥� - Terance Winemiller (PhD Geography, May 2003)
鈥淲ater Resource Management by the Ancient Maya of Yucatan, Mexico鈥� - Cyndi Nance (PhD Geography, May 1999)
鈥淕one But Not Forgotten: A GIS Approach to Cemetery Abandonment in Southeastern
Louisiana from an Archaeological and Geographical Perspective鈥�