The State of Florida Paleoindian Studies Early Paleoindian Potentials on the Continental Shelf

Especially given the debate over the timing and means of prehistoric human colonization of the Western Hemisphere, the search for submerged archaeological sites on the sea floor is critical. This chapter reflects on previous chapters in addressing how future researches might find these underwater sites by using methodologies that are both geologically and anthropologically theoretical, including utilizing big data and emerging technologies to examine the sea floor.

Paleoindian Zooarchaeology in Florida

This chapter deals with acquiring food, specifically the animal portion of the diet, in the Paleoindian Period. The authors discuss the historical roots of the sub-field in detail. Locations noted in the chapter include Florida’s Alexon Bison site, the Page-Ladson sites, and Alabama’s Dust Cave. For instance, the zooarchaeological reanalysis of the Jefferson’s ground sloth (Ohio), excavated at the same time as the Old Vero site (Florida), shows clear evidence of butchering.

The Old Vero Site and the Current Paleoindian Landscape of Florida

Dr. C. Andrew Hemmings revisits the historical context for the Old Vero Beach site, famous for its controversial place in early Paleoindian studies in the U.S. This chapter also recounts the study of Early Man in Florida. Beyond this historical perspective, Dr. Hemmings provides a synopsis of the current research conducted at the site under his and James Adavasio’s direction. Important players in the study of early Florida, such as John Kost and Clarence Simpson, are included in the conversation. Together with the new study of Old Vero, Hemmings includes his and others’ research on both the Aucilla River (which this volume has mentioned several times) and the offshore research in the Gulf of Mexico. The Terminal Pleistocene landscape, and its biological and environmental setting, forms the concluding sections of the chapter.

Postdepositional Corrosions in Lithic Items Recovered from Submerged Marine Contexts

Both chemical and mechanical weathering can heavily alter lithic artifacts from prehistoric sites. One interesting finding in the Ray Hole Spring assemblage was the use of a so-called non-traditional tool stone (dolomitized arkosic rock) in place of chert. The Douglas Beach artifact (a lanceolate point) was also a chert object that, like the Ray Hole materials, was heavily corroded. This chapter describes the battery of instrumental techniques—SEM, XRF, XRD and EMPA—that the authors used and discusses the results of these analyses. The authors then propose a protocol for evaluating corroded lithics.

Underwater Archaeology of Paleolandscapes in the Big Bend

Faught’s reflections on his research in the Apalachee Bay/Big Bend areas of Florida provide candid and important insights into what is arguably the first real systematic archaeological study of offshore prehistoric sites. Faught’s systematic surveys, predicated on a theoretical model for site distributions, mimics, to an important degree, the then contemporaneous research conducted off the Texas and Louisiana shores by Sherwood Gagliano, Charles Pearson, et al. One salient difference in these studies was the funding: the Texas-Louisiana research was funded by federal dollars. The results of both studies set standards for offshore prehistoric research. An important historical difference lies in the fact that more recent research, detailed in later chapters of this volume, have built on Faught’s findings while no follow-up studies have occurred for the other seminal work of Gagliano, et al.

Emerging Remote Sensing Methods in Underwater Archaeology

As a critical first step in underwater research, the authors stress the importance of using geophysics for detecting, locating, and determining the extent of archaeological deposits. Magnetometry, multibeam depth sounding, side-scan sonar, sub-bottom profiling, airborne bathymetric LiDAR (ABL), and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) are discussed. The hydrographic GPR case study of stratigraphy and bathymetry took place at the Ryan-Harley site. The ABL case study took place at the Lake George Point Site.

Illicit Digging, Illicit Collecting, and Archaeology

This chapter addresses issue of the illicit digging, collections, and sales of artifacts from archaeological sites, specifically North and Central Florida. The problems with site protection, and sites specifically stewarded by the State, are addressed. The authors discuss both how these problems evolved in and the future trajectory of site preservation of Florida. For many participants of the 2015 First Floridians Conference, site preservation directly influenced their livelihood (if there are no sites or site data, there can be no research). For others, it dictates their cultural legacy (if society does not preserve heritage, it will not exist for posterity). As for the State of Florida, state-owned and managed lands are a legislative imperative (Floridians create laws that govern the protection of sites in state stewardship). State actions such as the Isolated Finds program was discontinued at the recommendation of the Florida Historical Commission (FHC) because of its contribution to illicit collecting and sales.

The Predicate Form

In this chapter, Thulman studies the notching and hafting artifact morphology change in the Southeast coast, the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, and the Ohio Valley. Chronology is key to formal studies, so he examines radiocarbon dates using Bayesian methods to isolate the rate of change in designs. Typology is likewise examined as a key to isolating variation at a regional level. Better typologies are sought using landmark-based geometric morphometrics (LGM). Thulman singles out the abruptness of notching as related to the robust social networking among EA groups. Florida, as part of the “Dalton Phenomenon,” is a curious outlier.

What Does the Future Hold for First Floridian Studies?

This chapter by Jessi Halligan examines the peopling of North America and, in particular, ancient Florida. Florida’s important role in First Americans studies demonstrates the importance and number of “Paleoindian” archaeological sites. Halligan addresses the issue of separating Paleoindian and Early Archaic materials. This point is key because of the continuity of the earliest cultural sequences in the archaeological record for many of Florida’s sites. What is “Paleoindian” and what succeeds it must be clearly delineated. This chapter also examines impacts of present and future analytical techniques (like Bayesian modeling of radiocarbon dates, Optical stimulated luminescence (OSL), LiDAR, geoarchaeology, and ancient DNA) on Paleoindian research. The Paleoindian period is discussed in the chronological context of “Early,” Middle,” and “Late.”

Paleoindian Archaeology in Florida in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

Thulman’s chapter opens this volume and reviews the status of not only Paleoindian but also subsequent temporal Archaeologies in Florida. Because the scholarship in this area is so large, it cannot be reviewed in detail. However, Thulman does provide the reader with a synopsis and a guide to the larger body of scholarship. What this chapter provides instead is a well-deserved focus on the role of water or hydrology writ large (rivers, springs, and drowned coastal plain drainages) and Florida’s early inhabitants. Without the preservation potential of inundated sites, the large number of preserved organic remains would not have been recovered. No other U.S. state has the close relationship of hydrology and the preservation of ancient sites that Florida has. Such finds provide insights into paleolithic cultures that would have otherwise been simply impossible because of the lack of tangible evidence.