Archaeology
Assistant Professor
Piccolo 117
336.758.5469
maclelj@wfu.edu
Jessica MacLellan is an archaeologist and Assistant Professor of Anthropology. She is interested in ritual, household archaeology, ceramics, and the development of complex societies in Mesoamerica and lower Central America. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in 2019.
Since 2012, Dr. MacLellan has investigated early households at the Maya site of Ceibal, in Guatemala, as part of the Ceibal-Petexbatún Archaeological Project. She focuses on the role of domestic and supra-household rituals in early Maya society. That research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Society for American Archaeology, and others. As of 2021, Dr. MacLellan is also investigating pre-Hispanic archaeological sites in the Azuero Peninsula of Panama, with colleagues at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
In addition to her research, Dr. MacLellan is committed to undergraduate teaching and archaeological public outreach.
More information can be found on her personal website: jessicamaclellan.com
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Publications
2022 MacLellan, J., and V. Castillo. “Between the Patio Group and the Plaza: Round Platforms as Stages for Supra-Household Rituals in Early Maya Society.” Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 66:101417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2022.101417
2020 MacLellan, J., M. Burham, and M.B. Méndez Bauer. “Community Engagement around the Maya Archaeological Site of Ceibal, Guatemala.” Heritage 3(3):637-648. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage3030036
2020 Sharpe, A., T. Inomata, D. Triadan, M. Burham, J. MacLellan, J. Munson, and F. Pinzón. “The Maya Preclassic to Classic Transition Observed Through Faunal Trends from Ceibal, Guatemala.” PLoS ONE 15(4): e0230892. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230892
2020 Burham, M., T. Inomata, D. Triadan, and J. MacLellan. “Ritual Practice, Urbanization, and Sociopolitical Organization at Preclassic Ceibal, Guatemala.” In Approaches to Monumental Landscapes of the Ancient Maya (Houk et al., Eds.): 61-84. University Press of Florida.
2019 MacLellan, Jessica. “Preclassic Maya Caches in Residential Contexts: Variation and Transformation in Deposition Practices at Ceibal.” Antiquity 93(371):1249-1265. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2019.129
2019 MacLellan, Jessica. “Preclassic Maya Houses and Rituals: Excavations at the Karinel Group, Ceibal.” Latin American Antiquity 30(2):415-421.http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/laq.2019.15
2017 Aoyama, K., T. Inomata, D. Triadan, F. Pinzón, J.M. Palomo, J. MacLellan, and A. Sharpe. “Early Maya Ritual Practices and Craft Production: Late Middle Preclassic Ritual Deposits Containing Obsidian Artifacts at Ceibal, Guatemala.” Journal of Field Archaeology 42(5):408-422. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2017.1355769
2017 Triadan, D., V. Castillo, T. Inomata, J.M. Palomo, M.B. Méndez, M. Cortave, J. MacLellan, M. Burham, and E. Ponciano. “Social Transformations in a Middle Preclassic Community: Elite Residential Complexes at Ceibal.” Ancient Mesoamerica 28(1):233-264. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536117000074
2017 Inomata, T., D. Triadan, J. MacLellan, M. Burham, K. Aoyama, J.M. Palomo, H. Yonenobu, F. Pinzón, and H. Nasu. “High-Precision Radiocarbon Dating of Political Collapse and Dynastic Origins at the Maya Site of Ceibal, Guatemala.” PNAS 114(6):1293-1298. http://www.pnas.org/content/114/6/1293
2017 MacLellan, Jessica. “Trowels and Tribulations: Lessons Learned During Five Years of Fieldwork in Guatemala.” Arizona Anthropologist 27:62-68. https://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/arizanthro/article/id/551/2016 MacLellan, J., M.A. Cordero, and E. Mejía. “Vida diaria y ritual al principio de la civilización maya: Investigaciones en el Grupo Karinel, Ceibal.” In XXIX Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2015, Vol. 1, edited by B. Arroyo, pp. 251-261. Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Instituto de Antropología e Historia, and Asociación Tikal, Guatemala City. http://www.asociaciontikal.com/test-page/simposio-29-2015/20-vida-diaria-y-ritual-al-principio-de-la-civilizacion-maya-investigaciones-en-el-grupo-karinel-ceibal/
2015 Inomata, T., J. MacLellan, and M. Burham. “The Construction of Public and Domestic Spheres in the Preclassic Maya Lowlands.” American Anthropologist 117(3):519-534. https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.12285
2015 Inomata, T., J. MacLellan, D. Triadan, J. Munson, M. Burham, K. Aoyama, H. Nasu, F. Pinzón, and H. Yonenobu. “The Development of Sedentary Communities in the Maya Lowlands: Co-Existing Mobile Groups and Public Ceremonies at Ceibal, Guatemala.” PNAS 112(14):4268-4273. http://www.pnas.org/content/112/14/4268
2014 Burham, M., and J. MacLellan. “Thinking Outside the Plaza: Ritual Practices in Preclassic Maya Residential Groups at Ceibal, Guatemala.” Antiquity 88(340): Project Gallery. http://journal.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/burham340
2014 MacLellan, Jessica. “Espacios y Rituales Domésticos del Periodo Preclásico en Ceibal.” In XXVII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2013, Vol. 2, edited by B. Arroyo, pp. 725-732. Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Instituto de Antropología e Historia, and Asociación Tikal, Guatemala City. http://www.asociaciontikal.com/simposio-27-ano-2013-2/058-espacios-y-rituales-domesticos-del-periodo-preclasico-en-ceibal-jessica-maclellan-simposio-27-2013/
2013 MacLellan, J., and M. Burham. “Práctica Ceremonial y Doméstica en la Periferia de Ceibal.” In XXVI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2012, Vol. 2, edited by B. Arroyo, pp. 961-976. Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Instituto de Antropología e Historia, and Asociación Tikal, Guatemala City. http://www.asociaciontikal.com/simposio-26-ano-2012-2/080-practica-ceremonial-y-domestica-en-la-periferia-de-ceibal-jessica-maclellan-y-melissa-burham-simposio-26-2012/
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Teaching and Student Engagement
Teaching
- ANT 112 – Introduction to Archaeology
- ANT 385 – Special Problems Seminar: Ritual and Religion in the Past and Present