The archeology lab in the Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex is filled with hundreds of boxes of wood from the buildings of the ancient Maya civilization, representing years of work by LSU alumna and Professor Heather McKillop and her research team.
Together, McKillop, Elizabeth Sills from the University of Texas at Tyler and a team of students mapped over 4,000 wooden posts from more than 70 saltwork sites. These sites were the foundations of buildings preserved below the seafloor in the shallow coastal lagoons of Belize. McKillop said LSU has evidence of the only wooden buildings from the ancient Maya civilization.
At the end of their research trip in June 2023, McKillop told Sills she wanted to excavate Site 71, called Jay-yi Nah, which wasn’t a part of their original plan. They excavated the site, and McKillop stayed in town after everyone had left because their findings perplexed her.
McKillop explained different sites in the lagoon had superior artifacts and more advanced technologies than those found at Jay-yi Nah despite being very close to the other sites.
“These people had really crappy material; the pottery is different from other sites, they don’t have any trade goods, there are no little figurine whistles, no stamp decorations. They didn’t have any really nice things,” McKillop said about Site 71.
However, McKillop said it all became clear after receiving the radiocarbon dating of a wooden post sample from Jay-yi Nah, which signaled the site was from the Early Classical period, around 250-600 A.D. This became the only Early Classical site McKillop’s team had ever excavated, and it explained why the site’s artifacts were less advanced than those at other sites.
Jay-yi Nah was a bit farther out in the lagoon than other sites, hinting that the sea level may have risen. By the late classical period – from 650-800 A.D. – the people at Jay-yi Nah probably decided to move further back.
LSU students have made an enormous contribution to McKillop’s research as well. There are six undergraduates and two graduate students who work in the lab, most of whom just started this fall.
To identify or date the wood fragments, they first need to desalinate them, leaving them in water for two weeks. The students are responsible for changing the water and keeping it fresh so the wood doesn’t deteriorate. Without this process, the salt in the objects would come to the surface, expanding and cracking the object.

Jalayne Allison, a junior studying anthropology, dries the wood using tin foil and an oven, leaving it for weeks to dry out and archive for future use. Graduate student Sarah Miller said she supervises undergraduate student workers and works in the Wood Identification Lab for Mayan Archeology. Miller uses a microscope to identify wood species based on their unique structures.
McKillop said that student workers who work hard and prove themselves can be invited on their Belize trip to be an even more significant part of the research. Students are given extra space to study in the lab, personal places to store their belongings and are even paid to take swimming lessons, which will benefit them during their time in Belize.
“We have a safe place here.” McKillop said. “Safe from politics, safe from the outside world.”
McKillop said she stays in touch with many former students who worked on the project with her. On her first trip back to the site, she even invited students who could not go to Belize during the COVID-19 pandemic.
LSU’s research has also greatly influenced the community in Belize. McKillop and the team stay with a host family on a remote organic chocolate farm, where they are the only people living in the area. The nearest town is Punta Gorda, and McKillop said her team always tries to support the community by eating out at restaurants and buying groceries locally.
The team began creating exhibits for the community in 2012 after receiving a site preservation grant from the Archaeological Institute of America to protect this significant archaeological site.
“The community is very much vested in what we do and what we find,” McKillop said.
An exhibit is also located at the Rangers station near their excavations. It was purposely placed there so boat drivers could be hired to take people to the station, ultimately helping community members make more money.
McKillop said there are many sites they have yet to be able to excavate, but she plans to return to Belize in the spring during a sabbatical. Her graduate students, like Miller, have written grant proposals to go as well. McKillop said she would also take two or three undergraduates, like Allison, who have proven themselves hard workers who love what they do.