Road construction uncovers 2,000-year-old Native American skeleton in S. Florida
The female Tequesta Indian was found just before Christmas in Davie, an area once part of the Everglades. The woman was thought to have been between 20 and 30 years old when she died.
By Sasha Goldstein
Courtesy Archaeological and Historical Conservancy, Inc
Workers show the location along Pine Island Road, where archaeologists discovered the body of a 2,000 year old skeleton just before Christmas. Handout photo provided by: the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy, Inc
Skeletal remains found under a Florida highway are at least 2,000 years
old, archaeologists say of the well-preserved bones of a native woman
found in Davie.
The incredible find came as construction crews dug a trench for a new water main on Pine Island Road before Christmas.
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“To find a complete burial like this is pretty rare,” Ryan Franklin,
of the Florida Archaeological and Historical Conservancy, told the
Daily News. “We first found a toe bone, then followed it up into a foot
and a leg and it just kept going from there. The whole skeleton was
there with very little disturbance.”
The well-preserved remains were surrounded by some other artifacts, giving history buffs in Florida an exciting look at what life was like in the late Archaic period. The area where the remains were found was actually once part of the Pine Islands, a portion of the Florida Everglades, Franklin, the conservancy’s PaleoArcheologist Collections Manager, told the News. The woman measured 5-feet tall and was believed to be between 20 and 30 years old.
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It’s unclear from the remains how the woman, thought to be a Tequesta Indian died, he said.
“Everyone was fully aware that there was this possibility,” Franklin said Friday. “Remains were found nearby in the late 1980s, so this is basically from the same site.”
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The find halted construction work for three weeks as archaeologists
removed the remains for study. Images were not shown to the public out
of respect, and the remains will be re-interred at a secret burial
ground donated by the local Miccosukee and Seminole Indian tribes, WPLG-TV reported.
“Thousands of cars have passed over this every month, so it gives you an idea that even under a modern highway, there could be some archeological gem,” conservancy director Bob Carr told the TV station.
The incredible find came as construction crews dug a trench for a new water main on Pine Island Road before Christmas.
RELATED: ENGLISH COLONISTS IN JAMESTOWN WERE CANNIBALS: SCIENTISTS
WPLG
Crews found the skeleton shortly after digging into Pine Island Road in Davie just before Christmas.
The well-preserved remains were surrounded by some other artifacts, giving history buffs in Florida an exciting look at what life was like in the late Archaic period. The area where the remains were found was actually once part of the Pine Islands, a portion of the Florida Everglades, Franklin, the conservancy’s PaleoArcheologist Collections Manager, told the News. The woman measured 5-feet tall and was believed to be between 20 and 30 years old.
WPLG
The archaeology crew found other artifacts near the preserved skeleton, including a tool made from deer bone.
“Everyone was fully aware that there was this possibility,” Franklin said Friday. “Remains were found nearby in the late 1980s, so this is basically from the same site.”
RELATED: MASSIVE SUBMERGED STRUCTURE STUMPS ARCHAEOLOGISTS
Courtesy Archaeological and Historical Conservancy
The unique find was well preserved despite the building of a major roadway above the burial ground.
“Thousands of cars have passed over this every month, so it gives you an idea that even under a modern highway, there could be some archeological gem,” conservancy director Bob Carr told the TV station.