Major archaeological site found off Manasota Key

[ReefGuy]

Rare, 7,000-year-old burial site discovered in Gulf of Mexico off Florida coast

 

[Wookie]

In similar news, USGS did a drilling trip on the Spree to the Florida Middle Grounds about 15 years ago. Breaking through about 20 feet of crust, the remains of a peat bog were discovered, dated at about 20,000 years old. No bones were brought up through the 3 inch hole.

 

[ReefGuy]

The cool thing about this site is that it is very close to shore and probably only in about 15' of water. Very accessible. I have no doubt that the entire shelf off the west coast of Florida is littered with sites like this.

 

[drbill]

I've found Aboriginal kitchen middens off the coast of Catalina at relatively shallow depths (40 fsw). Pretty cool.

 

[BRT]

The cool thing about this site is that it is very close to shore and probably only in about 15' of water. Very accessible. I have no doubt that the entire shelf off the west coast of Florida is littered with sites like this.

So the Florida coast has been sinking before now?

 

[Wookie]

So the Florida coast has been sinking before now?

We did another mission in 1999 where we surveyed the coastline from the last ice age by ROV. 200 feet or so deep. And another in the flower gardens in 2007? With Bob Ballard and NR1. Bob had a program for kids, kids being 16 and 17 year olds.

 

[drbill]

So the Florida coast has been sinking before now?

Most likely post-glacial sea level rise. Floridians can correct me if I'm wrong. That's certainly the case here in California as the land mass I live on is rising... Very slowly (until the Big One finally hits)