Celebrate Florida Archaeology Month with a Dash through the Past

Did you know that Florida Archaeology Month is right around the corner? Every March, an array of programs and events are scheduled to put Floridians and visitors in touch with the rich history and heritage of the Panhandle State, which stretches back over 12,000 years.
  
This year, the Florida Public Archaeology Network and the University of West Florida Historic Trust are hosting Dash Through the Past, a high-speed scavenger hunt set for March 7th from 10 am to 12 pm at 207 East Main Street in downtown Pensacola. Participants will race through a two-mile course in the heart of the city's historic district, using maps to search for hidden treasures and competing for prizes. For more information, view the event details, or email the event organizers at northwest@flpublicarchaeology.org.  

Dash Through the Past is just one of several events planned for the month of March. This year's theme, Innovators of the Archaic, invites participants to discover prehistoric Floridian culture and its connections to the present day. You can find a full list of programs on the Florida Archaeology Month website. 

With this state's rich cultural history, it's a wonder there's just one month dedicated to Florida archaeology. Thousands of years ago, some of the first civilizations to live in Florida hunted mammoth with stone-tipped spears. Rising sea levels, changing environments, and increasing populations were just a few of the challenges they overcame by testing and adapting to new ways of life. 

Curious about Florida's unique past? Enjoy these free articles from Public Archaeology: 

>> Florida's Underwater Archaeological Preserves: Public Participation as an Approach to Submerged Heritage Management

>> Tracing the Roots of Municipal Archaeology in St Augustine, Florida: The Story of How 'The Oldest City' Connected Archaeology, Local Government, and the Public

How do you find a "lost" village?

An article on BBC news today reveals that further details have emerged of the nature of a "lost village" discovered during water main works on the outskirts of Selkirk.

 
The stones, cobbles and artefacts unearthed are thought to date from between the 14th and 16th Centuries. They were found during a Scottish Water project to lay a new water main.
 
Initial studies in late 2012 suggested the findings may have been related to an Anglo-Saxon settlement but it now appears to date from a later period. Investigations by Guard Archaeology uncovered the foundations of stone-built structures, cobbled farmyards and the foundations of walls, buildings and hearths. Artefacts included a decorated stone spindle whorl, medieval pottery and pivot stones, thought to have been used as a hinge for doors on buildings.
 
This discovery was indeed a happy accident that offers great insight into medieval Scotland but what technologies are available for finding habitations deemed "lost"?
 
'LiDAR-aided reconnaissance and reconstruction of lost landscapes: An example of freshwater shell mounds (ca. 7500–500 CAL B.P.) in northeastern Florida' published in a recent issue of Journal of Field Archaeology explores LiDAR datasets from which "high-resolution topographic maps can be generated" and  "are becoming commonplace in archaeological analyses".

"Like any remote sensing technique, LiDAR records only a limited range of phenomena and the data are a snapshot of ground conditions at the time of collection. The temporally specific nature of LiDAR is problematic at sites with postdepositional destruction. This paper presents a method for identifying and recovering lost landscapes by combining LiDAR, archival aerial photographs, historical observations, and fieldwork.

This method was developed to reconstruct thetopography of ancient shell mounds constructed by hunter-gatherers on the St. Johns River in northeastern Florida (ca. 7500–500 CAL B.P.) and altered by modern land use. The reconstructions demonstrate the influence of ancient communities on modern landscapes and can be used as a basis for further analyses of hunter-gatherer land use, social interaction, and cosmology."

However "like any remote sensing technique, LiDAR records only a limited range of phenomena and the data are a snapshot of ground conditions at the time of collection. The temporally specific nature of LiDAR is problematic at sites with postdepositional destruction. This paper presents a method for identifying and recovering lost landscapes by combining LiDAR, archival aerial photographs, historical observations, and fieldwork.

This method was developed to reconstruct the topography of ancient shell mounds constructed by hunter-gatherers on the St. Johns River in northeastern Florida (ca. 7500–500 CAL B.P.) and altered by modern land use. The reconstructions demonstrate the influence of ancient communities on modern landscapes and can be used as a basis for further analyses of hunter-gatherer land use, social interaction, and cosmology."

Read the full article for free >