Sinkhole Holds 12,000-Year-Old Clues to Early Americans

What Was Little Salt Spring Years Ago?

A Miami professor, John Gifford, has recently been studying Little Salt Spring in Florida. During early prehistoric times the sinkhole was an oasis in the peninsula that attracted hunters. The entire site covers approximately 111 acres in southern Sarasota County, Fla. The spring itself is about 240 feet in diameter. It all started in 1977 when divers took remains of an extinct tortoise and a sharpen stake to archaeologist. The archaeologists say the stake may have been used by a hunter to kill the animal 12,000 years ago. Again in 1986, Gifford found a skull from an acient burial. Archaeologist say that the spring is filled with a unique anoxic water that preserves many organic materials. Since then, nothing much has been done with the spring until this past July. In July, other archaeologist found another tortoise and remains of a giant sloth. Gifford believes these findings may indicate that Little Salt Spring was an ancient butcher shop before the land was covered by the ocean. Gifford, archaeologists, and drivers will keep looking for other signs and remains in the spring in hope to find clues about Early Americans. If these early dates are confirmed by the labs, it would make Little Salt Spring one of the oldest confirmed pre-Clovis sites in the Americas.” The picture to the left is a sign located near the spring. The sign explains that there are remains of an Indian village dating from 4800 to 3200 BC. For more on these interesting discoveries check out: http://mafweb.rsmas.miami.edu/lss/index.html or http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/090218-florida-early-americans-missions.html.

If the archaeologists keep searching in Little Salt Spring, the community around it will gain money because they will have the archaeologists working, living and buying supplies in the area. Sarasota, Florida will also receive more tourists, therefore a better economy because people will travel to Florida to see the ancient remains and take tours of Little Salt Spring. As the archaelogists continue to discover artifacts, they will be able to more closely date the actual timeframe of the community. From this they may be able to determine how we will be effected in the future by the movement of the ocean and land, i.e. Florida's land erosion. We may be able to determine ways of preventing or slowing the Florida land erosion. Also, the movement of the people long ago may be able to be traced, or did they stay in one place their entire life? It is amazing that the archaeologists were able to find artifacts that were so well preserved. As they continue to study the artifacts they may find answers as to how to preserve human remains better or how to improve our lives. We already know that there are products with sea salt for humans to use on their skin. Could this lead to more intense research into sea salt and the effects it has on aging? Could I end up using products that evolved from this discovery?