Unique Environment, Amateur Sleuths Make Fla. An Archaeology Prize

December 1, 1999

GAINESVILLE — Ancient swamp things abound in Florida to give rare looks at the way people lived thousands of years ago, and ordinary folks are helping to uncover them, says a retired University of Florida professor.

Wooden tools, canoes and even human brains found in some state wetlands are so well-preserved that they offer glimpses into prehistoric life found at few places on Earth, said Barbara Purdy, a UF emeritus anthropology professor.

“Probably one of the most important areas of the world in terms of wetlands archaeology is Florida,” Purdy said. “It’s comparable to Switzerland and the bog bodies of northern Europe that everyone always hears about. Human brain tissue more than 7,000 years old, for example, was recovered from the famous Windover site near Titusville in the 1980s.”

The wooden bowls and canoes used by Florida’s residents as early as 6,000 years ago have survived the ages because they settled in the highly organic soil and water around ponds, which preserved the wood from bacteria that could attack it, she said.

Purdy, who has written two books on wetland archaeology and excavated numerous Florida wetland sites, is organizing an international wetlands conference at UF. The event, to be held today through Sunday in the J. Wayne Reitz Union, will include speakers from 21 countries addressing such topics as shipwrecks, bog bodies and cenotes, or sinkholes, of sacrifice.

Amateur sleuths are essential in the preservation of Florida’s deep past because many relics are found by them instead of by trained archaeologists such as Purdy, she said.

For instance, a peat-mining operator has agreed to donate two large mortars he found in Clay County to the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus for an exhibit on wetlands artifacts that is part of the conference.

The mortars, about 2,400 and 3,000 years old, were recovered about 20 years ago by Ollie Stricklin of McCrae, along with 19 prehistoric canoes. At the time, museum staff members made molds of the mortars to preserve them. Recently, when they asked Stricklin to loan the mortars for the upcoming exhibit, he offered to donate them permanently.

“Most archaeology depends on land owners and land clearers, but often they’re so afraid that the government is going to take something away from them that they don’t bother to cooperate,” Purdy said. “Ollie has been a gem that way.

“Because so much of Florida is being destroyed by development, we need people like him and we need people like the owners of the Windover site,” she said. “There are horror stories of others who really don’t care. They can’t see any reason to save a few old sticks and bones.”

In the early 80s, when dragline operators hit some underground objects embedded in the black peat, Stricklin called UF. Purdy and divers came to the site and unearthed eight canoes, a discovery that would be Stricklin’s largest.

“I always felt badly because regardless of how careful we tried to be I knew I was destroying history,” Stricklin said. “But it was very exciting stuff. I’d ask Dr. Purdy questions about what it was and who owned it.”

Some 200 prehistoric canoes have been found so far in Florida, the world’s record, Purdy said. “Unfortunately, they’re sort of like Florida’s stepchild because they’re so big and they’re not particularly beautiful,” she said. “And despite all the information you can get from them, trying to find a facility big enough to preserve them is a little bit awkward.”

Canoes and other wooden objects must be kept wet because once they are removed from soil and water and allowed to dry out, they literally fall apart, she said.

Amateur archaeologists who unearth objects and call the museum to have them identified are referred to registrar Elise LeCompte, who cares for the anthropology division’s collections. “I get a lot of calls about projectile points and pot shards because people often find that stuff in their back yard or the woods,” she said.