Aucilla Research Institute
Contributor
The Aucilla Research Institute has been recently awarded two 2020 Hurricane Michael relief grants, subgrants of the Department of the Interior National Park Service, to be administered by the Florida Division of Historical Resources of the Department of State and reviewed by the Seminole Tribe of Florida through their Tribal Historic Preservation Office.
The grants were issued to carry out archaeological assessments, boundary delineation, damage mitigation (where possible) and nominations or updates to the National Register of Historic Places. The first grant addresses archaeological sites in Wakulla County in Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park. The second grant focuses on sites in Taylor County in the Big Bend Wildlife Management Area. The sites associated with these projects include a major Woodland Mound complex, smaller Woodland and Mississippian coastal and riverine midden-mounds, and a Civil War saltworks site.
These site surveys and assessment projects will be led by archaeologists with the Aucilla Research Institute headquartered in Monticello, Florida. The sites will be defined and delimited through subsurface testing, remote sensing, and GIS mapping. Screening sediments in areas of erosion and around tree-fall disturbances caused by Hurricane Michael likewise will be conducted. Site analysis will include radiometric dating, ground penetrating radar, and magnetometer and gradiometer evaluations.
As sea level rises, the threats of coastal erosion increase. GIS mapping will facilitate subsequent site monitoring for on-going site preservation. The project will allow archaeologists and other researchers to better understand the impacts of storms like Hurricane Michael had on archaeological resources, as well as learn more about the prehistoric and historic peoples that once occupied these areas of northeastern Gulf in Florida.
You must be logged in to post a comment.