[Aztlan] WORK PROGRESSES AT POSSIBLE PRE-CLOVIS LITTLE SALT SPRING

[michael ruggeri]

FROM THE SUN-HERALD

08/15/07



Discovery made at Little Salt Spring



Little Salt Spring ranks as one of the major archaeological sites in  
the western hemisphere. Even though only 5 percent of the spring has  
been explored, divers have found artifacts dating back 12,000 years ago.



NORTH PORT -- After thousands of years underwater, a handful of North  
Port's history resurfaced in a Ziploc bag.

"They don't call it hardwood for nothin'!" said Steve Koski to John  
Gifford after the two emerged from the Little Salt Spring with a  
radiocarbon sample last week.

Koski, an archaeologist at Little Salt Spring Research Facility, off  
Price Boulevard, mumbled this to his teammate while the two were 40  
feet underwater. But Gifford, research director for Miami University,  
was unable to hear as his knife chiseled away at a piece of wood the  
team believes to be at least 9,000 years old.

Both men spent 30 minutes in the spring Thursday taking two samples  
from a log nearly 3 meters long. One will determine the age of the  
wood and the other the species.

"I don't want to get my hopes up, but I'd love for it to be something  
great, like a totem," Koski said.

Although a totem pole would be impressive in size, Koski has been  
thrilled to find artifacts that fit in the palm of his hand.

Pointing to a wooden stake a little more than a foot in length  
resting in a plastic container filled with spring water, Koski picks  
it up and examines the pointed tip.

"This small wooden stake took 48 minutes to excavate and bring to the  
surface. Its tip was the only thing sticking out of the sandy clay  
sediment. Can you believe it's estimated to be 10,500 years old?" he  
asked. "With this and other findings, we can look at the distribution  
of the stakes identified and perhaps see why they were carved and  
what their function might have been."

However, the most interesting fact is that it was found right in the  
backyard of "our homes," Koski said.

Little Salt Spring is not just another spring in North Port. Not a  
lot of people even know about it or the unique history it contains.  
Koski said this spring is one of the greatest archaeological finds in  
the country.

Located near Heron Creek Middle School, Little Salt Spring is a 250- 
foot-deep sinkhole on 112.5 acres of property owned by the University  
of Miami since 1982. The hourglass-shaped spring was first discovered  
as an archaeological site in 1959 by local divers.

"There is evidence of visitation and occupation from 12,500-6,000  
years ago," Koski said.

Working on the slope of the 78-meter basin-like depression, Koski and  
other University of Miami divers are trying to uncover evidence of  
previous life.

"We have discovered a wide range of preserved organic materials  
including wooden stakes, textile fragments (delite), deer remains and  
bone tools. Because there is no dissolved oxygen in the water,  
bacteria cannot grow and decompose wood and the other organic  
materials, offering unique artifact preservation," Koski said.

In June 2005, Dr. John Gifford of the University of Miami/Rosenstiel  
School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and a group of graduate  
students discovered two Archaic artifacts, estimated to be 7,000  
years old. One was a greenstone pendant and the other was believed to  
be part of a spear-thrower.

Fourteen days out of the year, five to 12 advanced undergraduates and  
graduate students from the University of Miami come to Little Salt  
Spring. Students participate in daily underwater excavation at 20-40  
feet, as well as surface support activities relating to diving.

Last year, Gifford and his colleagues and students also unearthed two  
stakes and brought one of the two to the surface, which they  
estimated was at least 10,000 years old.

"Since 2004, we have found eight wooden stakes and recovered four of  
the eight. We have removed two of them for radiocarbon dating and  
we're leaving the other ones," Koski said. "We take a conservation  
ethic in our work. We wouldn't have the site anymore if we took  
everything we found."

They are also planning an additional excavation on the 27-meter ledge  
to uncover extinct Pleistocene fossil remains and 12,000-year-old  
artifacts that lay there. However, because funding is so limited,  
researchers are able to perform excavations only once or twice a  
year, so only 5 percent of the spring has really been explored.

"This is the most important archaeological site in the United States  
and it's right here in North Port's backyard. This is also the only  
opportunity in the U.S. for college students to do fieldwork in  
prehistoric underwater excavation," Gifford said. "We have so much  
potential to make this site one of the best archaeological  
facilities, but the funding just isn't there. At this point, we don't  
even have the most basic necessities like running water."

For more information on group tours or volunteer opportunities, call  
Steven Koski at 941-423-0835.







Mike Ruggeri's Ancient America and Mesoamerica News and Links
http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/MIKERUGGERISANCIENT/ 
index.html

Mike Ruggeri's Pre-Clovis and Clovis News and Links
http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/MikeRuggerisPre/index.html

Mike Ruggeri's The Ancient Americas Blog
http://web.mac.com/michaelruggeri

Mike Ruggeri's Casas Grandes and Turquoise Road
http://tinyurl.com/3bbhdf

Mike Ruggeri's The Olmec World
http://tinyurl.com/2nknjf

Mike Ruggeri's Teotihuacan; City of the Gods
http://tinyurl.com/2nrs9d

Mike Ruggeri's Mesoamerica after the fall of Teotihuacan
http://tinyurl.com/2xhvwk

Mike Ruggeri's Zapotec World
http://tinyurl.com/2n8ndy

Mike Ruggeri's Ancient West Mexico from the Pre-Classic to the Tarascans
http://tinyurl.com/32uo5m