WORK IN PROGRESS
Kendal Jackson and Bob Austin have been pulling together archaeological and geological data on Tampa Bay in an effort to develop a predictive model for submerged Indigenous sites in Tampa Bay. The project is being funded by a grant the Felburn foundation and several private donations.
The accompanying map is a preliminary predictive model showing where early artifacts (Paleoindian and Early Archaic, i.e., pre-9000 BP) have been recovered on land adjacent to Tampa Bay. These are primarily spoil deposits from dredging in Tampa Bay during the 1960s. The artifacts from these dredged deposits provide evidence for submerged sites in the bay. Target areas (cross-hatched areas on the map) include submerged landforms offshore of headlands where two drainages converge, submerged peat deposits, shell midden deposits, and areas where chert for tool-making occur.
Kendal is currently taking cores from some of these target areas and we hope to incorporate these data into the final model. The model, map and report will provide the basis for subsequent deep coring and dive-team investigations.