SeaCat
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Drought strips cover off centuries-old Lake O secret
Click-2-Listen
By Kelly Wolfe
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 31, 2007
The lake kept its secret as long as the rain fell.
The remains rested in the soft, black muck for hundreds of years - buried beneath the water of Lake Okeechobee.
Other archaeological finds
April 2006: A backhoe operator digs up parts of a fossilized sloth in a pit in an old sugar cane field, a mile east of the Sonny's barbecue restaurant in Clewiston and 38 miles south of Lake Okeechobee.
April 2004: A petrified prehistoric specimen of a blue whale, Earth's largest-ever animal, is discovered buried in fragments at thebottom of a 45-foot-deep rock quarry west of Lion Country Safari.
But the drought tore open the ancient grave, and a local man happened upon it. The bodies have been discovered.
But the mystery is just beginning.
"It's a mixed blessing," State Archaeologist Ryan Wheeler said. "The lower lake levels give us a chance to learn - which is good to know because of demucking projects - but the site was probably better-protected under water."
There are still many unanswered questions about this recently uncovered archaeological site, a menagerie of boats and bodies. Who are these people? Where did they live? Why did they die?
Wheeler said he has issued Palm Beach County a research permit and expects answers to those questions when the county's study is complete. The artifacts at the site will be exposed only as long as the water levels are low, and nothing is expected to be removed, Wheeler said.
In the meantime, he has contacted Indian tribes, hoping to locate descendants.
The archaeologist guessed the remains could date to perhaps the early 16th century - the time of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon.
Wheeler wouldn't say where the site is, fearing vandals would steal or destroy history. Someone - and some storms - already have caused some damage.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is patrolling the area, he said, warning that disturbing the site is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison. And digging is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
The site was discovered about two months ago by a Belle Glade man named Boots Boyer, who got his name clomping around in his daddy's work boots. Boyer, 36, said he's been fishing on Lake Okeechobee for more than three decades.
He said he discovered the site while exploring a clump of trees where the land normally is under water. Boyer said he's run across Indian artifacts from time to time.
"But never this quantity," he said.
He made a series of phone calls, he said. First to the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation, an Everglades restoration group, then the South Florida Water Management District. Boyer was finally directed to a county archaeologist and reported what he saw: Human remains and hand-carved fishing boats.
Since then, Boyer said, he's also been patrolling the area, trying to keep the site safe.
"I donate my time," Boyer said. "The site really means a lot to me. I'm a watchdog."
Boyer said this could be one of the biggest sites ever discovered in South Florida.
"It's hard to say for now," he said.
Wheeler said more study is needed before it's clear how large the discovery is.
Christian Davenport, an archaeologist in Palm Beach County's planning division, said he went to the site last week. It is in an area accessible only by a long march through waist-high muck, he said.
Davenport said the materials found predate the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes' arrival in Florida. He declined to say much more.
Boyer, meanwhile, said he worries folks will come around and destroy the find before the county gets a chance to study it.
"Respect the site," Boyer said. "Let the county do their work. Give the county a chance to protect history."
Cat
Click-2-Listen
By Kelly Wolfe
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 31, 2007
The lake kept its secret as long as the rain fell.
The remains rested in the soft, black muck for hundreds of years - buried beneath the water of Lake Okeechobee.
Other archaeological finds
April 2006: A backhoe operator digs up parts of a fossilized sloth in a pit in an old sugar cane field, a mile east of the Sonny's barbecue restaurant in Clewiston and 38 miles south of Lake Okeechobee.
April 2004: A petrified prehistoric specimen of a blue whale, Earth's largest-ever animal, is discovered buried in fragments at thebottom of a 45-foot-deep rock quarry west of Lion Country Safari.
But the drought tore open the ancient grave, and a local man happened upon it. The bodies have been discovered.
But the mystery is just beginning.
"It's a mixed blessing," State Archaeologist Ryan Wheeler said. "The lower lake levels give us a chance to learn - which is good to know because of demucking projects - but the site was probably better-protected under water."
There are still many unanswered questions about this recently uncovered archaeological site, a menagerie of boats and bodies. Who are these people? Where did they live? Why did they die?
Wheeler said he has issued Palm Beach County a research permit and expects answers to those questions when the county's study is complete. The artifacts at the site will be exposed only as long as the water levels are low, and nothing is expected to be removed, Wheeler said.
In the meantime, he has contacted Indian tribes, hoping to locate descendants.
The archaeologist guessed the remains could date to perhaps the early 16th century - the time of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon.
Wheeler wouldn't say where the site is, fearing vandals would steal or destroy history. Someone - and some storms - already have caused some damage.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is patrolling the area, he said, warning that disturbing the site is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison. And digging is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
The site was discovered about two months ago by a Belle Glade man named Boots Boyer, who got his name clomping around in his daddy's work boots. Boyer, 36, said he's been fishing on Lake Okeechobee for more than three decades.
He said he discovered the site while exploring a clump of trees where the land normally is under water. Boyer said he's run across Indian artifacts from time to time.
"But never this quantity," he said.
He made a series of phone calls, he said. First to the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation, an Everglades restoration group, then the South Florida Water Management District. Boyer was finally directed to a county archaeologist and reported what he saw: Human remains and hand-carved fishing boats.
Since then, Boyer said, he's also been patrolling the area, trying to keep the site safe.
"I donate my time," Boyer said. "The site really means a lot to me. I'm a watchdog."
Boyer said this could be one of the biggest sites ever discovered in South Florida.
"It's hard to say for now," he said.
Wheeler said more study is needed before it's clear how large the discovery is.
Christian Davenport, an archaeologist in Palm Beach County's planning division, said he went to the site last week. It is in an area accessible only by a long march through waist-high muck, he said.
Davenport said the materials found predate the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes' arrival in Florida. He declined to say much more.
Boyer, meanwhile, said he worries folks will come around and destroy the find before the county gets a chance to study it.
"Respect the site," Boyer said. "Let the county do their work. Give the county a chance to protect history."
Cat
