FF5 has been busy with fieldwork this summer. Our focus has been on advancing our research initiatives in Apalachee Bay, Florida, where the peninsula meets the panhandle at the Big Bend of Florida. This summer, we’ve been engaged in fieldwork on Ocholocknee Shoals, south of Wakulla County on the west side of Apalachee Bay.
We partnered with the Aucilla Research Institute (ARI) in Monticello, Florida, and the Georgia-Florida Aerial Search Team (G-FAST), located in Lamont, Florida. ARI is focused on cultural resource research and educational initiatives in the Big Bend. G-FAST provides logistical support; they also provide natural disaster and search-and-rescue support across the entire Gulf region. Both groups are tightly connected to local communities in the region, which is important to us at FF5 as researchers. Our research is meant to benefit our scientific community, but also serve the communities where these sites are located. This is the best way to promote shared collaboration and stewardship of these sites.
Ocholocknee Shoals
This is an example of a site where modern community collaboration and stewardship can meet research goals. Ocholocknee Shoals was proposed as a site for renewed survey by Dr. George Cole of ARI several years ago. Dr. Cole has spent his entire career advancing the discipline all across Florida and other regions. Dr. Cole has previously done a bathymetric LiDAR survey on the eastern side of Apalachee Bay on the paleochannels of the Aucilla and Econfina Rivers, which are both archaeological and geological hot spots.
The LiDAR data his team obtained mapped both areas to a scale that had never been achieved before. When Dr. Cole discovered that this site, currently a popular swimming and fishing area in the Bay, had not been mapped since the nineteenth century, his interest was piqued. One grant application to the state of Florida later, and the study was in collaboration with FF5, G-FAST, and ARI.
LIDAR scanning
LiDAR, or Light Detection And Ranging, uses laser scanning to create high-resolution maps of whatever is being scanned. With terrain, it can make maps, usually in the form of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), with an accuracy of around 4 inches. Scanning beneath the water can be done with specialized lasers designed to cope with light interference in the water column. This type of LiDAR, called bathymetric LiDAR, isn’t as accurate as terrestrial LiDAR, and it can’t penetrate deeper than about 50 feet. However, Ocholocknee Shoals is shallow, less than 30 feet deep, and it lies in a portion of the Bay that tends to have clear water. It’s a great study area, in other words, for a bathymetric LiDAR survey.
Dr. Cole didn’t want to this study to rely solely on the LiDAR scanning, however. For this site, that meant a diver survey at various locations across the shoals. By the time the LiDAR survey was done, FF5 had coordinated with Dr. Cole, ARI, G-FAST, and the LiDAR scanning company to develop a plan for this phase of the project. The objectives were threefold. First, we needed to characterize the seabed – is it sandy, is there eel grass present, how deep is it, and how coarse or fine are the sediments? Second, what is the geology of each target area like – are rocky outcrops present, or flowing freshwater springs for example? Third, is there any submerged pre-contact archaeology present at these sites?
offshore excursion
The FF5 team went offshore along with ARI divers and G-FAST crews to test multiple areas on the shoals from May to June 2022. Out of two rounds of fieldwork, we managed to get 6 days in the water offshore. We assessed about seven different areas across the shoals in depths ranging from 6 to 25 feet and observed multiple different kinds of marine environments.
We didn’t see any evidence for rock outcrops or spring outflow points in these areas. Marine life was relatively abundant, including one very cool sea turtle sighting. We detected one paleochannel feature that runs from north to south along the eastern portion of the shoals. Unlike the paleochannels on the east side that tend to contain archaeological deposits, this channel was infilled with fine sands and overgrown with eel grass. Any archaeological remains that might have been present alongside this channel are now buried. This is good news considering that this part of the shoals is between 6 and around 15 feet deep and could be impacted by modern activities that could potentially damage archaeological deposits.
deeper targets
We moved to the western side of the shoals and into deeper waters. These new areas were around 20 feet deep and contained less eel grass than previous sites. The sand on the seabed was much coarser, as well. It contained a lot of shell hash (broken-up shell), and rocky outcrops dotted the seabed. Observing the outcrops, we detected that they were composed of both St. Mark’s limestone, typical bedrock for this part of Florida, and harder material that sounded like chert. Chert was highly valued by First Americans for crafting high-quality stone tools. Where you find chert in the Big Bend, you tend to find archaeological deposits. This was very, very good news for us.
We conducted an extensive search for flowing freshwater springs at the deeper dive sites. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate any obvious spring vents, which is not surprising given our limited time offshore. Over six days, we logged between six to nine diver hours per day, totaling a maximum of fifty-four diver hours spent on our targets. To put this into perspective, a standard eight-hour survey day with a four-person crew equates to thirty-two person-hours in just one day. Despite not finding an actual spring vent, we did gather indirect evidence suggesting their proximity at two target locations. We detected changes in water temperature and the presence of very fine sediments, which are found where freshwater springs mix with marine environments. These signs indicate that we were close to the targets we were investigating.
fieldwork recap
Overall, the field season was a success by our standards. Conducting underwater surveys and prospecting presents significant challenges. We overcame issues such as poor weather conditions above the water, equipment malfunctions, and limited visibility at depth. We found four distinct seabed environments at various depths and locations, which were not captured in the LiDAR data. This process enriched our dataset with empirical observations and complemented the mapping efforts led by Dr. Cole. We also refined our predictive models to identify areas where we might recover genuine archaeological deposits in future fieldwork. We also enjoyed working alongside our invaluable partners and dear friends from ARI and G-FAST, who help us promote community stewardship of this unique part of the Gulf of Mexico.
Stay tuned for future fieldwork and shenanigans.
JWCH
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