Hurricanes Play Role In Archaeology

Education - Discover Volusia

September 6, 1992|By Dana Ste. Claire Sentinel Correspondent

Discover Volusia Miami folks may find this hard to believe, but Hurricane Andrew was tame compared with some storms that have rolled across Florida. One of the most powerful on record was packing winds of 200 to 250 mph when it plowed into the west coast on Sept. 25, 1848, changing the shape of Tampa Bay. Witnesses said the storm surge traveled miles inland and the winds flattened virgin pine forests.

Fortunately, when the storm struck not many people were living in the Tampa area. What is now a large city was little more than a small town surrounding Fort Brooke, a military outpost at the mouth of the Hillsborough River. Most of the fort and its occupants were carried away and never found.

An earlier hurricane in the late 1400s probably followed the same path as Andrew. It buried a highly complex prehistoric village on Marco Island that is now one of the most spectacular archaeological sites in North America.

Just before the arrival of Columbus in the New World, the storm swept across the lower west coast of Florida, leveling everything in its path. The winds and flooding sealed the village in rich muck like a time capsule. The mostly wooden objects are rarely found today because they decompose rapidly in the harsh Florida climate.

The organic soil on which the prehistoric village was built was instrumental in preserving the delicate objects for centuries. Later, these artifacts at what would be called the Key Marco site would become know as part of the richest archaeological finds in history.

It was accidentally unearthed in 1895 by a vegetable gardener who dug up ancient twine and wooden artifacts by the dozens.

Realizing the importance of his discovery, the gardener contacted museum curator Frank Cushing, who organized an excavation of the site, which was called the Court of the Pile Dwellers, referring to nearby shell mounds. Cushing unearthed a spectacular array of wooden art objects and textiles, all made by the prehistoric ancestors of the Calusa Indi-ans.

The most striking objects are several elaborately carved masks and animal figures including a famous meticulously carved Egyptian-like cat. Other celebrated pieces include a howling wolf mask and deer head with detachable ears and paint intact.

The decorated figures and masks represent some of the finest Native American art objects ever discovered. Unfortunately, many turned to dust in museums where they were stored nearly a century ago. Back then, curators lacked today's technology for preserving fragile artifacts.

Although most of the objects have disappeared, early drawings and photographs document the entire collection, which numbers in the thousands.

Storms like Hurricane Andrew may have buried some of Volusia County's prehistoric treasures. A large owl totem recovered from the St. Johns River near Hontoon Island in 1955 probably was blown over from its riverbank perch into the water. There, it was preserved in the river bottom muck. This same muck has preserved countless dugout canoes and wooden objects throughout the county for future archaeologists.

A little bit of Miami also may have been preserved by Hurricane Andrew for future scientists. Let's hope they find something good.

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