#florida archaeology

[pardomagus]

Pierced shark teeth recovered from the Miami Circle Site in Miami, Florida. Now on display at the History Miami Museum, Miami, Florida.

[burningvelvet]

"Am I a joke to you?"

[crowtoed]

Someone please give Emmrich (and Mourn Watch Rook) a pair of these for Rivain. Tropical sun is not remotely fucking around. (Painting of a Gentleman, 1807, by John Wesley Jarvis)

[baebeylik]

Frog stuck in amber. 99 million years ago.

Credit: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/amber-fossils-oldest-frogs-tropical-forests/

[the1beardedgent]

Ancient canoe in Tallahassee Lake Munson sludge revealed Florida history

Archaeology

[kinsey3furry300]

Needs an extra arrow coming of "who owns Florida" and if the answer if "the United Kingdom" the map dates to between 1763 and 1783, the the Crown colonies of East and west Florida, one of which (west Florida) then broke away from Spain and tried to join the USA, so if the Republic of Florida is there its 1817.

If the answer to who owns Florida is "Nazis" the map is unfortunately fully up to date.

Guide to Figuring out the Age of an Undated World Map.

[tiny-gay-kyle]

if zombies were real, would they eat the brains of the 9000 year old bog bodies in florida? would it be like an aging cheese type of thing?

[ancientburialgrounds]

Windover Archeological Site - Wikipedia

Windover is a muck pond where skeletal remains of 168 individuals were found buried in the peat at the bottom of the pond. The skeletons were well preserved because of the peat.

The remains found included bones of males and females of all ages from infants to about 60 years, a total of 168 individuals.

Children and teenagers were buried with more grave goods than were adults, indicating the high value placed on children. Skeletons included one of a male aged about 15 who had spina bifida. All of his bones were found to have been fragile. One of his feet was missing and the stump of his lower leg had healed. As his spinal condition almost certainly meant the boy was paralyzed below the waist, this find was important for assessing the society's commitment to ensuring his survival for 15 years in a hunter-gatherer community.[13][14]

What touches me about this one is the continuity and the care and love put into the burials. The bodies were wrapped in woven cloth, grave goods buried with them. Children were buried with special reverence. These people showed great tenderness to their loved ones.

[ncfcatalyst]

An interview with new Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology Frederick Pirone

Prior to the start of the 2023-2024 academic year, New College saw an increase in the amount of full-time faculty members that parted ways with the school. As of Aug. 18, out of 90 faculty members, 38 have resigned, retired or taken leave. Some have left with the intention of returning following an extended sabbatical, others have no such plans. Nevertheless, with such an increase in teaching…

[alfredo-mercado-jaguarcillo-v]

Trekking a El Mirador. Parte 9: La Florida y final del recorrido

Es posible salir de Wakná por dos vías, una es regresando por el mismo sendero de entrada y la otra es cortar un poco de camino y llegar a la brecha principal en un punto más adelante. Ronald y Fabián nos estaban esperando con las mulas en la primera entrada, por lo que Antonio nos pidió a Jorge, Leonardo y a mí que fuéramos con ellos y camináramos hasta el cruce de un arroyo, mientras él cortaba camino con los demás. Nos reuniríamos en el cruce de un arroyo seco.

No tuvimos problemas para encontrar el punto, y ahí nos reunimos de nuevo con todo el grupo por última vez en todo el camino. Nuevamente Jorge apretó el paso y se repitió el patrón que seguimos a Wakná, aunque ahora únicamente quedábamos al frente él, Leonardo y yo, y por ratos cortos nos alcanzaba Thomas y Nath.

Después de un buen rato de caminata, ya pasando las 2 de la tarde, comenzábamos a tener hambre, por lo que fue una bendición llegar a un claro con un pequeño toldo de plástico que es usado como punto de descanso. Ahí estaban nuestras dos cocineras, Gaby y Pily, ya esperándonos. Nos prepararon unos burritos que nos supieron a gloria, como toda la comida que ellas preparaban.

Este fue el último descanso que tomamos, solamente esperamos a Antonio, que llegó con un segundo grupo cuando nosotros ya habíamos terminado de comer. Jorge le pidió que nos dejara adelantarnos hasta el campamento de La Florida, la meta final del día, y que nos diera indicaciones para llegar hasta ahí. Nos indicó que solo había una intersección y que más adelante podíamos encontrarnos con Gaby y Pily, que llegarían hasta allá en mula y seguramente nos alcanzarían. Solamente Jorge, Leonardo, Nath, Thomas y Erik, además de mí, teníamos el suficiente ánimo y fuerza para hacer el intento de llegar hasta la Florida antes del anochecer. No sabíamos la distancia total desde Nakbé, había datos que decían que eran 32 km, pero la verdad la tenía Carlos, quien afirmaba desde el inicio que serían 37.

Erik nos pidió bajar un poco el fuerte ritmo que traíamos anteriormente para poder seguirnos el paso, aunque esa disminución fue mínima. Nuevamente él y Leonardo resultaban sorprendentes, ya que incluso Valeria, quien lucía entera, ya se había quedado atrás.

Fue en las tres horas siguientes que agradecí profundamente haber entrenado tanto para realizar el recorrido. El sendero era sumamente ondulante, rodeaba muchos árboles caídos y estaba lleno de subidas y bajadas. Ya no hicimos más que algunas breves pausas y por ello logramos llegar con luz de día a la esperada intersección, la cual estaba muy bien señalizada y conducía a un camino mucho más grande, pero que tenía las peores condiciones porque nos encontramos con un extenso "pantano" que aún tenía bastante agua por tramos. Estuvimos haciendo zigzag en senderos abiertos a machetazos en los costados del camino principal y consideramos que, después de tanta caminata, pasar por ahí teniendo que guardar el equilibrio y con mucho riesgo de torceduras, ese tramo era una tortura.

En algún momento Jorge se desvió más hacia un costado y salimos a un camino que se bifurcaba, me pareció que acabaríamos dando vueltas en círculo y Jorge se adelantó un poco para ver si estábamos en el rumbo correcto. Por suerte ahí se encontró con nuestras cocineras y pudimos continuar directo hacia el campamento de La Florida, arribando ahí justo cuando el sol comenzaba a ponerse. Logramos nuestro cometido y quedamos muy satisfechos.

El cansancio físico ya se había hecho presente y nos acomodamos como mejor pudimos en espera de que llegaran los demás y se montara el campamento, mis pequeñas ampollas habían crecido un poco y eran más una molestia que un problema. Nos dieron algo de fruta, lo que calmó nuestra hambre por un buen rato.

Imaginábamos a varios de nuestros compañeros sufriendo en la oscuridad, por lo que nos sorprendió bastante que solamente una hora y media después que nosotros arribaran todos a La Florida. Se habían organizado muy bien para aplicar el mismo sistema de avisos de obstáculos que utilizamos de noche en el regreso de La Muralla; Adriana había subido a la mula y Eduardo hizo un último esfuerzo a pesar de sus pies lastimados. Valeria nuevamente tomó el papel de enfermera y curó el pie de Eduardo, sus uñas rotas ya estaban negras y el dedo pequeño se había convertido en una ampolla gigante. A pesar de ello, afirmaba que eso no era nada comparado con las llagas que le salieron en su primer trekking del Mirador y en la selva Lacandona, rumbo al sitio de Miguel Ángel Fernández.

Al final cenamos por grupos, en este campamento solo había una mesa pequeña donde no cabíamos todos, yo fui uno de los últimos en sentarse y después me fui a dormir.

Desperté observando un pájaro carpintero imperial directamente sobre mi tienda, estaba buscando insectos dentro del tronco de un árbol alto. Al poco rato se le unió otro más y estuvieron algunos minutos saltando de una rama a otra y picoteando la madera. El desayuno fue también por grupos y yo aproveché para subirme a un árbol de Anona, una fruta cuya pulpa se parece un poco a la de la Guanábana. Además de ella, en todos los senderos encontramos muchos chicozapotes, los cuales también probamos.

Nuestro último recorrido arqueológico fue por el pequeño sitio de La Florida, que tiene una única estructura parcialmente excavada. Es un conjunto habitacional con varios cuartos separados por una sección central más alta que se ve como un montículo pero que tiene en su interior un par de pasillos abovedados. Antes de llegar ahí vimos una gran Ceiba, árbol sagrado maya.

Luego de la breve visita, emprendimos la última marcha del trekking. únicamente nos separaban 10 km de Carmelita, el mismo punto de inicio del recorrido, ya 6 días antes. Este camino tenía muchas secciones del ya conocido y odiado "pantano", por lo que no fue tan fácil como se esperaría. Los últimos 2 km fueron también complicados porque cruzamos por campos donde habían montículos, pero ahí no había vegetación alta que cubriera del sol y el calor era sumamente intenso.

Llegamos todos juntos hasta la entrada de Carmelita, aunque estábamos en el extremo contrario de un aeródromo, al otro lado estaba el comedor, donde pasaríamos a comer. Estábamos caminando con calma cuando Jorge empezó a correr y me retó a que lo alcanzara. Una última vez comprobaba la efectividad de mi entrenamiento, porque no pudo aguantar por mucho tiempo y terminé llegando primero que él, con bastante diferencia, la cual se acortó porque no quise seguir corriendo con todas mis fuerzas. Era un gran contraste con otros recorridos de antaño, donde Jorge siempre tuvo mejor condición que yo.

Nos arrepentimos de haber corrido, en vez de quedar enteros, habíamos gastado muchas energías bajo el sol, pero quedamos aliviados después de comer y al encontrarnos con una buena ración de carne roja, la cual extrañábamos desde el pequeño pedazo de puerco que nos tocó en el Mirador.

Fuimos al centro de visitantes a firmar la pared y celebrar el éxito de la expedición y después de ello abordamos una camioneta que nos llevó hasta Flores. Ahí había mucho alboroto por la semana santa, por lo que nos tuvieron que dejar en el centro comercial que está junto a la entrada al puente que lleva a la isla. Los demás tuvieron que caminar bastante y nos despedimos definitivamente de varios de ellos, pero Adriana y yo tuvimos suerte de que el hotel en el que nos quedaríamos las siguientes dos noches estaba solo a un par de cuadras de ahí y nos retiramos a descansar. Esa noche cenamos con Eduardo, Mónica, Leonardo, Ernesto y Valeria.

[pardomagus]

Artifacts recovered from the Miami Circle site now on display at the History Miami Museum in Miami, Florida.

[magicaguajiro]

Resources for Cuban and Caribbean Folk Magic 🇨🇺

Disclaimer: Cubans are not a monolith so when we say ‘Cuban Folk Magic’ its like saying ‘American Folk Magic’ in the sense that it is a BROAD term that includes multiple different cultural threads and traditions. Start by researching your ancestors and where they were from as a jumping off point.

Also, many of these resources are not Cuban themselves, but they either share the same practices or are academic or general sources. I have made it clear when a source isn’t Cuban. For this reason, I have expanded it to be the Cuban AND Caribbean Folk Magic List.

The List

Creators:

Irka Mateo - Taino - Insta 🇩🇴

Religion.Ancestral.Taino - Insta 🇵🇷

Sancista Brujo Luis - Espiritismo/Taino-Youtube | Blog 🇵🇷

OkaniLuna - Brujería/Taino - Youtube🇩🇴

Juliet Diaz - Brujería/Taino/Author - Instagram 🇨🇺

Sancista 7 Espadas - Espiritismo - Insta 🇵🇷

Odofemi - Regla de Ocha - Tumblr 🇺🇸

Eve the Medium - ATR/Espiritismo - Youtube 🇩🇴

Yeyeo Botanica - ATR/Espiritismo- youtube 🇺🇸

Botanica Candles & More - Great Podcast!! - youtube 🇨🇺 🇺🇸

Connecting w/ Guides and Goals by Adunola - youtube 🇺🇸

Hatuey Museum of Archaeology, Baracoa, Cuba - Taíno archaeologists photos and blog - Link

Florida Memory - Photos and Articles on Folk History of Florida and surrounding areas - Link

Articles

San Lazaro - Wikipedia - Novena - Yeyeo Botanica

Caridad del Cobre - Wikipedia

Orisha and Palo Herbs Directory- Website

Ewe (Herbs) Photo Guide - Website

Pueblo Originario Taino Section - Website

Taino and Agua Dulce essay by Jorge Estevez - Link

Memoir of Florida’s Indigenous People by Hernando Escalante de Fontaneda - Link

Tacachale: Essays on Indigenous Floridians by Milanich and Proctor - Link

Huellas Indigenas en Cuba - Taino Spirituality in Cuban Folk Magic Article - Link

Juracán: The Sacred Meteorology of Swamp and Storm by Jazmin Calderon Torres

Books:

Taino Library* - Amazing resource for books of all kinds, many books about Taino and Caribbean Spiritualities, Folklores and Songs! Multiple books on Cuban Myths and Folktales! Highly recommend - Website 🇵🇷

Espiritismo by Hector Silva🇩🇴

A Year in White by C Lynn Carr

The Modern Art of Brujería by Lou Florez(VERY BASIC just as a general introduction to what alot of modern Folk Practices look like)

American Brujeria by J. Allen Cross 🇲🇽🇺🇸

El Monte by Lydia Carbera 🇨🇺

Palmetto Country by Stetson Kennedy - Link

Movies and Videos:

Cecilia (1982) - Youtube

Las Profecias de Amanda - Youtube

Susie Jim Billie, Medicine Woman Interview - Link

Proyecto Cuba Indigena - Link

Miguel Sague, Taíno Spirituality - Link

**This list will grow as I find more resources that are reliable enough to share. If you have recommendations or would like to be added, please reach out.

Luz y Progreso 🕯️

(I also have included a Research Guide below the Cut!)

Guide to researching based on your ancestry:

If your family has African roots, you can seek Ocha/Lukumi, Palo, Arara, Cuban Vodou and other African Traditional Religions and Practices. Please approach elders within these respective practices to further your connection to them, rather than using books to create a practice for yourself. These are ancient, community based and are lifelong commitments, not just trendy powerful spells for you to get what you want.

If your family has indigenous roots, research Taino spirituality and modern practices , but also know that there were other tribes in the western and centeral parts of Cuba, with their own languages and traditions you can still learn about like the Guanahatabey. You may also consider joining a Yukayeke, but this isn’t required. Reconnecting and decolonizing is a separate and important topic that is not inherently witchcraft or folk magick-y… HOWEVER, researching and informing yourself with these practices can help you to see their influence within modern folk practices.

If your family has Asian roots, research the buddhist cults and folk practices throughout Cuba! Believe it or not, we also have people of Middle Eastern descent in Cuba who brought with them their own Hindu and Arabic Folk Traditions, which can be found throughout Cuba and the Caribbean as a whole.

If your family has Spanish roots, research some open practices like Espiritismo and Folk Catholicism! Look into the Patron Saints of Cuba, La Virgen de La Caridad del Cobre and San Lazaro. These also tie in to many of the other cultures who were forced to adopt certain elements to ensure survival of their traditions! You can also look into Brujería. Much like modern witchcraft, modern brujería has been commodified to hell and back, but there is still some great knowledge and power to be found there.

The fact of the matter is, that most of us can fit ourselves into two or more of these categories, and this crossover is where Folk Magic is often born. Its also important to note, in alot of these traditions you shouldn’t learn or share certain things at certain times, so some sources who share too much about Ocha and other ATRs should be avoided. Also, I can’t stress how important it is to talk to your family! Ask them about folklore or legends and stories! Also research history and folkore of the specific areas in Cuba your family is from. A-lot of folk magic is incorporated into stories.

Bendiciones, good luck on your Journey!🦎🐊

[michiko-museum]

Original publishing date, February 13, 2023.

TL;DR a LOT of people are frustrated with the City of Miami for not really keeping up with historic preservation or protection of historic and archaeological sites. This particular site has turned out to be very significant for many, many reasons, and even qualifies to be nominated for the National Register of Historic Places, but neither Miami for the company developing the site care.

The real estate developers are technically not doing anything illegal and are cooperating, but also don't give a shit about any of the findings and are covering it up. Except that they are getting into illegal territory now, because they're getting into the realm where certain laws and regulations deem that better protection of the site need to be done. The City of Miami isn't enforcing any local, state, or federal laws and continues to do nothing (except help cover up what's happening, they are doing that). They are even ignoring their own city's legislation; this is apparently standard practice, which is disappointing but not surprising because Florida. Also human remains were found at the site which adds more and more layers to "how many laws are the developers and the city going to ignore?".

While it's a local custom in Florida to twerk at federal law from across the street, when even the local wealthy Homeowners Association says that the city is purposefully acting in bad faith and should be protecting the archaeological site, you know that things are getting serious.

The site is nestled within Brickell’s modern high-rises on the south bank of the Miami River, near the intersection of Brickell Avenue and Southeast 5th Street.

Developers are working to build three towers at the site, including the Baccarat Residences.

Artifacts and fossils dating back thousands of years, discovered at the site, of are providing a glimpse into an ancient civilization that once lived along the river.

The Tequesta people were believed to be among the first peoples to live in the area.

“There is a very important ceramic phase of this site so there is pottery, broken pieces of pottery, there are stone tools, arrow heads, projectile points,” Will Pestle, a bioarchaeologist and University of Miami professor who has visited the site, said. “(There are) abundant animal remains, deer and fish, but there are also remains of sharks. There’s remains of giant sea turtles, remains of whales, remains of an extinct kind of seal, the West Indian monk seal.”

Another article here.

[useless-catalanfacts]

Was curious if you have any interesting information on L’Hospitalet de Llobregat?

I moved about a year ago, and I am about to sign up for my first Catalan class with the CNL soon. Since I do not speak Catalan yet and have limited Spanish, a lot of information I come across for my new home is not accessible to me.

Thank you in advance, and for you write on here in general. It is a great resource.

Thank you! And best wishes for the course with CNL, I hope you enjoy it!

L'Hospitalet de Llobregat is the 2nd most populated city in Catalonia and has the most densely-populated neighbourhood in all of Europe (Torrassa and Collblanc neighbourhoods). I'll shorten it to L'H from now on.

There's archaeological evidence of population in what nowadays in L'H since the Paleolithic (hunter-gatherer communities in the Prehistory), Ancient Iberian (the indigenous people who lived here before the Roman invasion), and the Roman era.

Ancient Roman head of Medusa known as "Medusa de Provençana", found in an excavation next to the Santa Eulàlia de Provençana church in L'H. Nowadays it's exhibited in the Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya, Barcelona.

The origin of the city as we know it now dates back to the Middle Ages. It originated as two entities: the older Provençana (which we have written records of since around the year 900, and was found around Sta Eulàlia de Provençana) and the later Hospital de la Torre Blanca ("Hospital of the White Tower", from around the year 1100, what is now barri del Centre). The second one was a hospital not in our modern sense of a place to take care of the ill, it was a house for helping poor and homeless people, probably founded by the Knights Hospitaller. It grew in population and ended up becoming more important than Provençana, and eventually the name that designated the whole area was changed from Provençana to L'Hospitalet (meaning "The Little Hospital" in Catalan).

But throughout all of these centuries, L'H was a very rural town with a small population (as an example, it had about 900 inhabitants in the year 1815). The population grew when an irrigation canal was built that allowed the fields to be way more productive, reaching 5,000 inhabitants around the year 1900. But the population boom came in the 1960s and 1970s, during the Francoist dictatorship, when many immigrants from different rural parts of Spain moved to the big cities to work in the industry. That's when the areas around Barcelona were quickly built up in these massive apartment blocks to make the "bedroom cities" from where the newly-arrived workers commuted to work every day. The population boom was so huge that it explains why L'H is the 2nd biggest city in Catalonia and so densely populated.

Carrer de la Florida in 1956 vs 2024. (L'H city archive / Google Maps).

Carrer de la Renclusa, 84, in 1955 vs 2024. (L'H city archive / Google Maps).

Carrer de la Mina, 19, in 1956 vs 2024. (L'H city archive / Google Maps).

Avinguda del Torrent, 78, in 1956 vs 2024. (L'H city archive / Google Maps).

These "bedroom cities" had been built so quickly, that they didn't have any services. The inhabitants had to fight for all the services they have, which created a strong sense of pride that still continues nowadays.

As another note, one of the most famous maquis (anti-Francoism guerrilla fighters) was from L'H: Quico Sabaté. You can read about him on Wikipedia here. Another famous person from L'H is Ferran Adrià, one of the most famous chefs in the whole world.

I hope this was interesting, and I hope you can make the most of the Catalan classes, it will surely help you understand the country more and get better perspectives for a job.

[southwest-pottery-bracket]

Some Maps

To get a sense of the locations I'll be talking about.

This map from the University of Florida displays the general extent of Southwestern "culture areas" of the past ~2000 years, mapping four major cultural traditions defined by suites of similar architecture and artifacts. It's important to note that, 1000 or 800 or 600 years ago, it's unlikely that people from the marked regions would have considered themselves All The Same People; rather, this is an archaeological designation of material culture similarities that represents likelihood that people were operating from a similar cultural logic.

Here's a different one, by Catherine Gilman and Kathleen Bader:

Is Sinagua its own distinct cultural group, or does it represent the place where the borders and the styles and the logics of Hohokam, Pueblo, Mogollon, and Patayan cultural trends overlapped and intermixed? Should "Salado" be considered a culture in its own right? (In my dissertation I treat the answer as No Not Really!) Should the Trincheras tradition be treated as a distinct cultural group, or a subset of Hohokam, and where is that boundary? How big was the Casas Grandes sphere of influence?

These give a good sense of the distributions of various pottery traditions, the spheres of cultural influence, and the difficulty of defining cultural boundaries of the past.

This map by Matthew Peeples shows ceramic typological regions - that is, areas that were making similar ceramic types, with similar clays, technologies, and decorative methods.

And, to put it in perspective, the modern locations of Pueblos, tribal nations, Indian Communities, and other reservations:

It can very quickly get difficult to picture where everything is in relation to each other, so I hope these maps will serve as a useful reference!

[lorienn-art]

Heyy!!

So I was feeling a bit down lately and I haven't got much time to draw so I made something more simple than usual 🫣

Few days ago I bought shikishi boards to try drawing on them (and also because I absolutely love the vibe they create on a piece) — it was also the chance for me to dig up my alcohol markers (that I probably last used in 2018 or 2017 lmfao)

I'm not a huge alcohol marker fan ngl (especially because of the alcohol odour — like I have no idea how 14 y.o me could deal with it cuz 22 y.o me DEFINITELY CANNOT) but it kinda made me feel nostalgic to use them again

Also even if alcohol markers aren't a medium I'm used to anymore (I'm not fully satisfied with the way I coloured this little sketch), I'm still happy with what I made (yes smug Florida Woman again lmao — which is also kinda a redraw of one of the first Florida Woman drawings I've ever made, I guess you can find it if you decide to lead some archaeological research on my account jsjsjsjs)

As always, thank you for your support 🙏💖