Sophisticatedly engineered ‘watercourts’ stored live fish, fueling Florida’s Calusa kingdom
The mighty Calusa ruled South Florida for centuries, wielding military power, trading and collecting tribute along routes that sprawled hundreds…Read More
Liz Wing: A portrait in persistence
Elizabeth “Liz” Wing arrived at the University of Florida in the mid-1950s with little more than a suitcase, less than…Read More
Hungry for hutia? Our taste for Bahamas’ ‘most peaceable rodent’ shaped its diversity
The Bahamian hutia, a large Caribbean rodent with a blissed-out disposition, presents a curious case study in how human food…Read More
Study puts the ‘Carib’ in ‘Caribbean,’ boosting credibility of Columbus’ cannibal claims
Christopher Columbus’ accounts of the Caribbean include harrowing descriptions of fierce raiders who abducted women and cannibalized men – stories…Read More
Mission accessible: Florida’s historic Spanish missions go digital
Researchers, educators, students and the curious can explore the history of Florida’s Spanish missions via a new online database. Launched…Read More
Only eat oysters in months with an ‘r’? Rule of thumb is at least 4,000 years old
Foodie tradition dictates only eating wild oysters in months with the letter “r” – from September to April – to…Read More
Ancient bone protein reveals which turtles were on the menu in Florida, Caribbean
Thousands of years ago, the inhabitants of modern-day Florida and the Caribbean feasted on sea turtles, leaving behind bones that…Read More
New data platform illuminates history of humans’ environmental impact
The human environmental footprint is not only deep, but old. Ancient traces of this footprint can be found in animal…Read More
Ancient Caribbean children helped with grocery shopping in A.D. 400
Researchers have long thought that snail and clam shells found at Caribbean archaeological sites were evidence of “starvation food” eaten…Read More
A new look at kinship
The Florida Museum’s Bill Keegan, curator of Caribbean Archaeology, co-authored a paper asking bioarchaeologists to reevaluate traditional assumptions about kinship…Read More