Protection of Native American sites in Florida

Over the years, Florida has faced threats to its indigenous sites from development, looters using bulldozers and heavy machinery, and various environmental factors such as hogs and erosion.

In the 1960s, the advent of scuba diving led to a wave of underwater explorers who quickly realized that Florida's riverbeds were covered with remains of prehistoric megafauna and paleoindian artifacts.

[1] Between 1996 and 2005 the Isolated Finds Program was in place which allowed amateur archaeologists to continue contributing to the archaeological record without fear of violating the newly adopted 1993 Florida Statutes which increased penalties for looting.

The suspension of the program led to decreased participation and reporting of new sites and is widely viewed as the beginning of a great rift in the amateur/professional relationship that has only continued to grow over the last two decades.

Although these bills were controversial at the time and failed, they nevertheless brought increased attention to the importance of bridging the gap between amateurs and professionals in order to work together towards the discovery & protection of Native American sites.

Aside from harboring diseases, killing native plant and animal species, and destroying crops, feral hogs are also a significant threat to indigenous sites in Florida.

[5] The archaeological sites of Florida's indigenous peoples have been disturbed and looted since the arrival of Europeans, however, recent changes have increased the scope and destructiveness of the problem.

Once on the 13.5-acre site, the looters opened up a 15-foot trench through the mound, apparently in the hope of finding the hidden treasure cache of the mythical pirate Jose Gaspar, a fictional figure from Florida folklore.

[6][7] The resulting gash in the mound is still visible decades later, and news coverage of the damage caused by "looters in search of a non-pirate's non-treasure" helped spur the passage of state laws to protect such sites.

[9] Looting remains a major concern among archaeologists, as it is difficult and expensive for the state to reliably protect these sites from people using large machinery to excavate.

The raids focused primarily on small artifact business owners, many of whom had made significant contributions to Florida's understanding of its prehistory during the Isolated Finds Program.

In 1997, in Jefferson County, a woman named M. Shearer was arrested and subsequently convicted on a felony charge of excavating an archaeological site - a violation of Florida Statute Chapter 267.

Three years later a three judge panel in Florida's 1st District Circuit Court of Appeals overturned her conviction ruling that "acting willfully and knowingly is an element of the crime of unlawful excavation of an archaeological site without a permit"[14] and that the judge in the first trial had failed to indicate to the jury that proving mens rea (knowledge of committing a crime) is necessary for returning a Chapter 267 conviction.

[2] Isolated artifacts on submerged lands are those that have been removed from their context and original place of deposition which means they have lost much of their historical and cultural significance.

Of special note is the paleoindian Ryan-Harley site on the lower Wacissa river which was discovered by brothers and amateur archaeologists Harley and Ryan Means in the late 1990s.

Because of these problems, in their May 2005 meeting, Florida Historical Commission member Lex McKeithen made a motion to recommend the suspension of the Isolated Finds Program.

[16] Following the discontinuation of the Isolated Finds Programs, amateur archaeologists have felt largely sidelined and criminalized by the professional archaeological community (just as in 1993 which led to the creation of the IFP).

The bills directed Florida's Department of Historical Resources to implement a replacement program for divers to again legally discover and report isolated artifacts in rivers.

[18] This bone was recovered from a dredge spoil pile left by the U.S. Army Corp and had no other archaeological context, but was nonetheless a major contribution to science.

However, disclosure of this information could have contradicted current law that exempts archaeological sites[21] from public records in order to preserve their cultural and historical value from looting and other destructive behavior.

One major issue facing those who seek to find, excavate, and preserve new sites in modern times is the lack of public interest in the subject.

Advances in technology such as scuba equipment that became widely available in 1968 have the potential to radically change the way we learn about and preserve our past, provided professionals can find a way to restore the relationship with the amateur archaeologist & dive community.

[30] Chapter 872.05 ensures that all human burials be treated with proper respect and dignity regardless of the background of the individual and the location of the site be it on state, submerged, or private lands.