National Geographic Funds Research For Earliest Evidence of Humans on Florida's West Coast (7/21/2008)

Little Salt Spring

Scientists Team Up with Florida Aquarium Divers to Excavate Unique Site in North Port

The University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science has been awarded funding from the National Geographic Society, and is working with divers at The Florida Aquarium, to explore a marine archaeological site at Little Salt Spring. The excavation, led by UM Marine Affairs and Policy Associate Professor, Dr. John Gifford, is searching for evidence of human habitation in Florida from 10,000 B.C. or 12,000 years ago.

According to Emily Landis, program officer, National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration, "The research proposed by Dr. Gifford is critical to our understanding of the first Americans. In 1975, hints of a 12,000 Before Present (B.P.) occupation were found on the 27-meter ledge at Little Salt Spring. If these early occupation dates are confirmed by modern excavation and laboratory analytical techniques, it would make Little Salt Spring one of the oldest confirmed pre-Clovis sites in the Americas."

Donated to the University of Miami in 1982, Little Salt Spring was first discovered to be an underwater archeological site in the late 1950s. The anoxic (absence of oxygen) environment at the bottom of the spring does not allow microbes and bacteria to live, so decomposition of organic material deposited there thousands of years ago is greatly reduced. Wooden and other organic tools, as well as animals' soft tissues and bones, are preserved nearly intact in this unique aquatic environment.

"Visiting Little Salt Spring is like walking back in time," said UM President Donna E. Shalala. "This is an extraordinary national treasure, and it is the University of Miami's responsibility to press on, learning more about the origin of civilization in the New World, and find a way to provide the resources to be good stewards of the artifacts we find there."

In 2005, Little Salt Spring principal investigator, Dr. John Gifford, and his graduate students discovered two exceptional Archaic artifacts estimated to be approximately 7,000 years old - a greenstone pendant and another carved stone artifact that appears to be part of a spear-thrower.

"Our research has only begun to scratch the surface of what this site may reveal to us," said Dr. Gifford. "Through The National Geographic Society's generous support, our team will be able to reopen and extend the 1975 excavation trench in which a now-extinct giant tortoise and an associated wooden spear were discovered, in order to take more samples for paleoenvironmental analysis and search for additional artifacts.

Dr. Gifford's experience at this site since 1983, his work as an underwater archaeologist since 1969 with Dr. George Bass in Turkey, and his publication record, make him well qualified to lead the project. He will be joined by divers from The Florida Aquarium who are working with UM Dive Safety Officer, Rick Gomez, in the excavation of Little Salt Spring.

"This project requires highly skilled and trained divers to carefully locate and catalog the treasures that lie in the depths of the spring," said Thom Stork, CEO and President of The Florida Aquarium. "It's a ground-breaking project with significant impact on the conservation of Florida's untold history."

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the University of Miami

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