Page–Ladson site - Misplaced Pages

Archaeological and paleontological site in Florida, US

Page–Ladson site
Location of Page–Ladson site in Florida
Location	Jefferson and Taylor counties, Florida, United States

The Page–Ladson archaeological and paleontological site (8JE591) is a deep sinkhole in the bed of the karstic Aucilla River (between Jefferson and Taylor counties in the Big Bend region of Florida) that has stratified deposits of late Pleistocene and early Holocene animal bones and human artifacts. The site was the first pre-Clovis site discovered in southeastern North America; radiocarbon evidence suggests that the site dates from 14,200 to 14,550 BP(12,250 to 12,600 BCE). These dates are roughly 1,000 to 1,500 years before the advent of the Clovis culture. Early dates for Page–Ladson challenge theories that humans quickly decimated large game populations in the area once they arrived.

Prehistoric environment

At the height of the last ice age (the Wisconsin glaciation), the sea level was up to 100 meters lower than at present. Much more land was above the water along the coast, which was extended much farther to the west. Most of Florida is a thick limestone platform, with typical Karst topography. As limestone is porous, salt water penetrates the lower part of the Florida platform, and fresh water floats on top of the salt water. With the lowered sea level of the ice age, the fresh water table in Florida also was lowered, leaving most of Florida much drier than it is at present. The only reliable sources of fresh water at elevations that are currently above sea level were sinkholes and the deeper parts of river beds. The Page–Ladson site was one of those watering holes, located in a ravine that is now the bed of the river. Before it was inundated by the Aucilla river, Page–Ladson was a sinkhole containing a small pond within it. Currently, Page–Ladson is about 60 m by 45 m wide and 10 m deep.

The lower part of the Aucilla River (from the Cody Scarp to the Gulf of Mexico) crosses the Woodville Karst Plain, which consists of a thin layer of sand over limestone bedrock. Much of the flow of the Aucilla River has been captured by an underground drainage system created by karst processes. Sections of the river are entirely underground, surfacing for short stretches and then disappearing again. The Page-Ladson site is located in one of the above ground sections, known as Half-Mile Run (although it is closer to one mile long). Other sites on the Aucilla River also are yielding paleontological and archaeological finds, first as part of the long-running Aucilla River Prehistory Project, and, more recently, by the Aucilla Research Institute (https://www.aucillaresearchinstitute.org/), the Center for the Study of the First Americans (https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/csfa/research/#page), and Florida State University (https://sites.google.com/view/jessi-j-halligan/research-projects).

Aucilla River Prehistory Project

Starting in 1959, Dick Ohmes and other scuba divers began retrieving artifacts and Pleistocene animal bones bearing butcher marks from the lower reaches of the Aucilla River. A team led by archaeologist James S. Dunbar and paleontologist S. David Webb began a survey of Half-Mile Run in 1983. A former U.S. Navy Seal, Buddy Page, showed them a site where he had found elephant bones. A 20-inch-deep (510 mm) test pit yielded elephant bones, bone tools, and chips from tool making. Radiocarbon dating of organic material from the pit yielded dates from 13,000 to 11,700 years Before Present. The owners of the land surrounding Half-Mile Run, the Ladson family, granted permission to the team to access and camp along Half-Mile Run. Therefore, the site was named Page–Ladson.

From 1983 until 1997, Dunbar (then with the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research) and Webb (then with the Florida Museum of Natural History at University of Florida) led excavations, collectively termed the Aucilla River Prehistory Project (ARPP). Florida Museum of Natural History published an annual Aucilla River Times newsletter, as well as researchers reporting in scientific periodicals.

As the project progressed, the team developed new methods of recording the stratigraphic placement of all material in an underwater environment. This excavation yielded eight lithic artifacts associated with mastodon butchering. This excavation dated the artifacts to approximately 14,400 BP, confirming that the Page–Ladson site was a Pre-Clovis site and the oldest site east of the Mississippi River.

In 2012, archaeological excavation at Page–Ladson resumed, following Dunbar's discovery of the pre-Clovis component at the site, with the intention of finding the oldest dates for human remains and artifacts at the site. These excavations continued until 2014. This excavation yielded six lithic artifacts (bifaces and flakes) made from local coastal plain chert from layers dating before Clovis. This excavation dated the site to approximately 14,200 to 14,550 BP, reaffirming the earlier dating from the previous excavation. The 2012-2014 excavation was funded by the Center for the Study of First Americans and private grants; led by Jessi Halligan, James Dunbar, and Michael Waters; and included local support such as from Dunbar's Aucilla Research Institute and researchers from additional institutions such as Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Late Pleistocene animals and Paleoindians

The lowest stratum in Page–Ladson dates to the late Pleistocene. It includes mastodon, mammoth, horse, ground sloth, palaeolama bones, and "straw mats" of chopped vegetation (leaves, bark, and wood) of relatively uniform length. The length of the chopped vegetation is consistent with the spacing between cusps on mastodon teeth, and the "straw mats" have been interpreted as equivalent to the layers of trampled elephant dung found around water holes in Africa. Elephant steroids have been identified in the "digesta" deposits at Page–Ladson and Latvis–Simpson (a 32,000-year-old mastodon site farther south in the Aucilla). Some of the bones from this level show apparently human-made cut marks, particularly a complete mastodon tusk. Ivory spear points (often called "foreshafts") are found more frequently in the Aucilla River than from any other sites in North America. Samples from the "straw mat" level have yielded radiocarbon dates from 13,130 +/- 200 to 11,770 +/- 90 years Before Present. The "straw mat" level is covered by a layer of mud that did not contain any bones of extinct animals.

People of the early Archaic period

In 1996, an Early Archaic Bolen habitation level was found. At least three hearths were identified along with various stone points, scrapers, adzes, and gouges that were found, as well as antler points used to press flakes off the stone tools. Three wooden stakes were found upright in the ground, and a cypress log that had been burned on the top side and hollowed out. Radiocarbon dating yielded dates approximately 10,000 years Before Present. The site was well preserved because it had been flooded by a rise in the river level within a hundred years after the site had been occupied.

Evidence of Floridian human and mastodon coexistence

Underwater archaeologists and other researchers reexamining the Page–Ladson site have shown that some Late Pleistocene human populations provisioned themselves with mastodons that were either butchered or scavenged 14,450 years ago (~14,550 cal yr B.P.), about 2,000 years before large mammal extinction. Prior to this determination, evidence of human scavenging or butchering of mastodons was deemed ambiguous.

"The new discoveries at Page–Ladson show that people were living in the Gulf Coast area much earlier than believed, The stone tools and faunal remains at the site show that at 14,550 years ago, people knew how to find game, fresh water and material for making tools. These people were well-adapted to this environment. The site is a slam-dunk pre-Clovis site with unequivocal artifacts, clear stratigraphy and thorough dating" (Phys.org).

Notes

^ Halligan, Jessi J.; Waters, Michael R.; Perrotti, Angelina; Owens, Ivy J.; Feinberg, Joshua M.; Bourne, Mark D.; Fenerty, Brendan; Winsborough, Barbara; Carlson, David; Fisher, Daniel C.; Stafford, Thomas W.; Dunbar, James S. (13 May 2016). "Pre-Clovis occupation 14,550 years ago at the Page–Ladson site, Florida, and the peopling of the Americas". Science Advances. 2 (5): e1600375. Bibcode:2016SciA....2E0375H. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1600375. PMC 4928949. PMID 27386553.
^ Dunbar, James S. (2006). "Paleoindian Archaeology". In S. David Webb (ed.). First Floridians and Last Mastodons: the Page–Ladson Site in the Aucilla River. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. pp. 403–435. ISBN 978-1-4020-4325-3.
^ Brown, Robin C. (1994). Florida's First People: 12,000 Years of Human History. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press. ISBN 1-56164--032-8.
Milanich, Jerald T. (1994). Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1273-2.
Webb, S. David. "Aucilla River Prehistory Project". Florida Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
Donoghue, Joseph E. (2006). "Geography and Geomorphology of the Aucilla River Region". In S. David Webb (ed.). First Floridians and Last Mastodons: The Page–Ladson Site in the Aucilla River. Springer. pp. 31–48. ISBN 978-1-4020-4325-3.
"Aucilla River Times Vol. IX, No. 1". Aucilla River Prehistory Project. Florida Museum of Natural History. Archived from the original on 20 April 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
Webb, S. David and James S. Dunbar (March 1998). "Page/Ladson site update". Aucilla River Times. XI (1). Retrieved 30 November 2011.
"When Did Humans Come to the Americas?". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
"Anthropology Student and Faculty Excavate at Submerged Prehistoric Site". IUP Department of Anthropology. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
"Year in Review 2014". Aucilla Research Institute. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
"Anthropology Student and Faculty Excavate at Submerged Prehistoric Site". Indiana University of Pennsylvania Department of Anthropology. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
Burke, Adam M. (2014). "The Wayne's Sink Site (8Je1508/8Ta280): A PXRF analysis of lithic materials from a submerged quarry in the Aucilla River, Florida". ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
Newsome, Lee A.; Mihlbachler, Matthew C. (2006). "Mastodons (Mammut americanum) Diet Foraging Patterns Based on Analysis of Dung Deposits". In Webb, S. David (ed.). First Floridians and Last Mastodons: The Page–Ladson site in the Aucilla River. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. pp. 267–270. ISBN 978-1-4020-4325-3.
Webb, S. David (March 1998). "The view from the bridge" (PDF). Aucilla River Times. 11 (1).
Dunbar, James S. (1998). "Aucilla River Sites". In Gibbon, Guy E. (ed.). Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia. New York & London: Garland Publishing. pp. 36–37. ISBN 0-8153-0725-X. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
Mihlbachler, Matt. "Mastodon dung (It's a dirty job but.....)". Aucilla River Times (Newsletter of the Aucilla River Prehistory Project). Florida Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
"Aucilla River Paleoindian Site". Archaeology. 50 (2). Archaeological Institute of America: Newsbriefs. March–April 1997. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
Gorman, James (13 May 2016). "Humans and Mastodons Coexisted in Florida, New Evidence Shows". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
Staff (13 May 2016). "New evidence that humans settled in southeastern US far earlier than previously believed". Phys.org. Retrieved 17 May 2016.

References

Brown, Robin C. (1994). Florida's First People: 12,000 Years of Human History. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press. ISBN 1-56164--032-8.
Dunbar, James S. (2006). "Paleoindian Archaeology". In S. David Webb (ed.). First Floridians and Last Mastodons: the Page–Ladson Site in the Aucilla River. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. pp. 403–435. ISBN 978-1-4020-4325-3.
Milanich, Jerald T. (1994). Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1273-2.
Webb, S. David and James S. Dunbar (March 1998). "Page/Ladson site update". Aucilla River Times. XI (1). Retrieved 30 November 2011.
Report of the 1999 Field Operations - PaleoAucilla Prehistory Project - accessed November 30, 2011
Halligan, Jessi; Waters, Michael R.; Perrotti, Angelina; Owens, Ivy J.; Feinberg, Joshua M.; Bourne, Mark D.; Fenerty, Brendan; Winsborough, Barbara; Carlson, David`; Fisher, Daniel C.; Stafford, Thomas W.; Dunbar, James S. (2016). "Pre-Clovis occupation 14,550 years ago at the Page–Ladson site, Florida, and the peopling of the Americas". Science Advances. 2 (5): e1600375. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1600375. PMC 4928949. PMID 27386553.

30°10′13″N 83°57′28″W / 30.1702°N 83.9577°W / 30.1702; -83.9577

v t e Indigenous peoples of Pre-Columbian Florida
Periods Paleoindians Archaic period Post-Archaic period
Archaeological cultures	Alachua Belle Glade Cades Pond Caloosahatchee Clovis Deptford Fort Walton Glades Leon-Jefferson Manasota Mount Taylor Norwood Orange period Paleo-Indians Pensacola Safety Harbor Santa Rosa-Swift Creek St. Johns Suwannee Valley Swift Creek Weeden Island McKeithen North peninsular Gulf coast
Archaeological sites	Apalachee Bay Aqui Esta Burial Mound Bay Pines Bear Lake Mounds Big Heart West Big Mound City Big Mound Key-Boggess Ridge Bird Hammock Blueberry Bowers Bluff Middens Bubba Midden Burns Lake Butcherpen Mound Cayo Pelau Cayson Mound and Village C. J. Ostl Crystal River Cutler Demere Key Devil's Den Cave Dismal Key Douglass Beach Fort Center Fort Walton Mound Galt Island Garden Patch Green Mound Halfway Creek Helen Blazes Hickory Ridge Cemetery Hinson Mounds Horr's Island Indian Fields J&J Hunt Josslyn Island Jungle Prada Key Marco Kimball Island Midden Lake Jackson Mounds Lake Pithlachocco Letchworth-Love Mounds Little Salt Spring Madira Bickel Mound Mark Pardo Shellworks Miami Circle Mill Cove Monroe Lake Mound Key Mount Elizabeth Mount Royal Mount Taylor Mullet Key Myakkahatchee Creek Naval Live Oaks Cemetery Nocoroco Ormond Mound Ortona Prehistoric Village Otis Hare Page-Ladson Persimmon Mound Pierce Pineland Platt Island Plaza Pompano Beach Mound Portavant Mound Porter's Bar Princess Mound River Styx Roberts Island Rock Mound Rookery Mound Ross Hammock Safety Harbor Shark River Slough Shell Bluff Landing Spruce Creek Third Gulf Breeze Thomas Creek Turner River Turtle Mound Twin Mounds Upper Tampa Bay Useppa Island Velda Mound Waddells Mill Pond Wakulla Springs Yent Mound Yon Mound and Village
Human remains	Manasota Key Offshore Melbourne Man Vero man Warm Mineral Springs Windover
Miscellaneous	Beaver Lake point Indigenous peoples of the Everglades region Protection of Native American sites in Florida Shell ring List of shell ring sites#Florida Shell works Simpson point Suwannee point
Related Pre-Columbian era

v t e Pre-Columbian North America
Periods Lithic Archaic Formative Classic Post-Classic
Archaeological cultures	Adena Alachua Ancient Beringian Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) Anishinaabe Avonlea Baytown Belle Glade Buttermilk Creek complex Caborn-Welborn Cades Pond Calf Creek Caloosahatchee Clovis Coles Creek Comondú Deptford Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Walton Fremont Glacial Kame Glades Hohokam Hopewell List of Hopewell sites La Jolla Las Palmas Maritime Archaic Mississippian List of Mississippian sites Mogollon Monongahela Old Cordilleran Oneota Paleo-Arctic Paleo-Indians Patayan Plano Plaquemine Poverty Point Red Ocher Safety Harbor Santa Rosa-Swift Creek St. Johns Steed-Kisker Suwannee Valley Tchefuncte Troyville Weeden Island
Archaeological sites	Angel Mounds Anzick site Bandelier National Monument Bastian Benson Blue Spring Shelter Bluefish Caves The Bluff Point Stoneworks Brewster Cahokia Candelaria Cave Casa Grande Chaco Canyon Coso Rock Art District Crystal River Cuarenta Casas Cueva de la Olla Cutler Eaker El Fin del Mundo El Vallecito Effigy Mounds Etowah Indian Mounds Eva Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Center Fort Juelson Four Mounds Gila Cliff Dwellings Glenwood Grimes Point Helen Blazes Holly Bluff Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Horr's Island Huápoca Key Marco Kimball Village Kincaid Mounds Kolomoki Mounds Lake Jackson Mounds Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site L'Anse aux Meadows Lynch Quarry Site Marksville Marmes Rockshelter Meadowcroft Rockshelter Mesa Verde Moaning Cavern Moorehead Circle Morrison Mounds Moundville Mummy Cave Nodena site Ocmulgee Mounds Old Stone Fort Orwell site Paquime Painted Bluff Parkin Park Pinson Mounds Plum Bayou Mounds Portsmouth Earthworks Poverty Point Pueblo Bonito Rassawek Recapture Canyon River Styx Roberts Island Rock Eagle Rock Hawk Rosenstock Village Russell Cave Salmon Ruins Serpent Mound Sierra de San Francisco Shell ring sites Spiro Mounds Stallings Island SunWatch Taos Pueblo Town Creek Indian Mound Turkey River Mounds Upward Sun River Velda Mound West Oak Forest Earthlodge Wickiup Hill Windover Winterville Wupatki
Human remains	Anzick-1 Arlington Springs Man Buhl Woman Kennewick Man La Brea Woman Leanderthal Lady Melbourne Man Minnesota Woman Peñon woman Spirit Cave mummy Vero man
Miscellaneous	Aridoamerica Ballgame Black drink Ceremonial pipe Chanunpa Chunkey Clovis point Container Revolution Eastern Agricultural Complex Eden point Effigy mound Falcon dancer Folsom point Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Kiva Medicine wheel Metallurgy Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing Mound Builders N.A.G.P.R.A. Norse colonization of North America Oasisamerica Piasa Projectile point Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Stickball Three Sisters agriculture Thunderbird Transoceanic contact Underwater panther Water glyphs
Related Genetic history Pre-Columbian era

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