Manuel Cesar Macuja Elizalde

Manuel Cesar "Mac" Macuja Elizalde was born and raised in Manila, Philippines. He earned a B.A. in Anthropology and Classics from Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY in 2023. At Skidmore, he specialized in Roman history, completing a thesis project on the application of Geographic Informations Systems (GIS) to the study of "Romanization" in Britain. Looking to transfer his archaeological interests to his home country, his current research is aimed at decentralizing and complicating the traditionally Manila-centric narratives of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade.

More broadly, Mac is interested in the sea as a cultural space, approaching the sea through the study of interregional maritime trade routes and warfare, particularly piracy and raiding. He is an FAA Part 107-certified Drone Pilot and in training as an AAUS Scientific Diver, interested in underwater archaeological methodology and the application of GIS in underwater contexts. 

Mac has been an excavator at archaeological sites in the United States and in the Philippines, as well as a GIS analyst on projects focused on Central America and the United States. 

Denton Homesite, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY

Bicol Archaeological Project (BAP) PEMSEA Field School, Camarines Sur, Philippines. 

Justin Dunnavant 

Stephen Acabado