Training Tomorrow’s Archeologists

ON FORT MYERS BEACH, AN ANCIENT SITE IS BRINGING HISTORY TO LIFE. ONE LAYERED SHELLS SOIL AND CENTURIES OF HUMAN HISTORY DURING FLORIDA PUBLIC ARCHEOLOGY MONTH, THE MOUND HOUSE INVITED GUESTS TO STEP INTO THE SHOES OF ARCHAEOLOGIST DURING A HANDS-ON MOCK DID AS WGCU DOCUMENTARIAN TOM JAMES SHOWS US THIS IS DESIGNED TO EDUCATE THE COMMUNITY ABOUT SOUTHWEST FLORIDA'S EARLIEST INHABITANTS >> MATT ASKED IS 120 YEAR OLD HISTORIC HOUSE MUSEUM SITUATED ON A 2000 YEAR-OLD CALUSA SHELL MOUND. >> THE CALUSA ARE ONE OF THE MANY INDIGENOUS PEOPLE DEADLIFT IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, PARTICULARLY DURING THE PERIOD OF TIME WHERE EUROPEANS FOR STARTED ARRIVING TO THE AMERICAS. >> THE CALUSA WERE A VERY FIERCE TRIBE OF NATIVE AMERICANS WHO DOMINATED ALL OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA ABOUT 2000 YEARS AGO AND THEY SAID THEY SETTLED DIRECTLY ON THIS PIECE OF PROPERTY BETWEEN 400 AD AND 16, 50 AND DEVELOPED A SATELLITE VILLAGE HERE. >> ARCHEOLOGY IS THE STUDY OF THE PAST THAT BY STUDYING THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE LEFT BEHIND A LONG, LONG TIME AGO. >> ARCHEOLOGY IS A VERY IMPORTANT SCIENCE BECAUSE WE WOULDN'T KNOW WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT HISTORY WITHOUT ARCHEOLOGY. WE GET OURSELVES DIRTY AND PULL UP HISTORY EVERY SINGLE DAY FROM THE OBJECTS THAT PEOPLE HAVE LEFT BEHIND FOR US TO FIND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US OBJECTS ACCESS A PUZZLE PIECE TO CREATE A BIGGER PICTURE OF WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR PASS CULTURES. FLORIDA'S PUBLIC ARCHEOLOGY MONTH IS THE MONTH OF MARCH AND WE DECIDED TO HAVE A EXCAVATION AND ARCHIVES PUBLIC EVENTS IN WHICH MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC COULD COME VISIT US TODAY. THEY GOT A A PRESENTATION BY NATALIE WHO IS OUR SOUTHWEST FLORIDA REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE FLORIDA PUBLIC ARCHEOLOGY REALLY IS A PARTLY WE DO NOT HAVE A TIME MACHINE INTO THE PAST. >> BUT WE HAVE SIGNS THAT THE CLOSE ENOUGH, RIGHT? IT IS THE START OF PAST HUMAN BEHAVIOR THROUGH MATERIAL CULTURE, MEATY ANYTHING LEFT BEHIND BY OFF TO GAVE IT TO WEAR ON WHAT ARCHEOLOGY IS. >> AND THEN VISITORS WERE ABLE TO GO UPSTAIRS INTO OUR ARTIFACT PRESERVATION CENTER, WHICH IS THE FIRST AND ONLY PUBLIC ARCHEOLOGY LAB IN ALL OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. NOW AND TAKE A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES IN THE LAB AND FIGURE OUT WHAT WE DO WITH THESE ARTIFACTS FROM THE TIME THEY ARE EXCAVATED ALL THE WAY TO THE TIME THEY ARE PUT UNDER A DISPLAY CASE WITH A FANCY LABEL I THINK YOU. TAKE ONE OF THESE ARTIFACTS OUT OF THAT FACT. BRUSH IT OFF AS BEST AS I CAN. ITS ARTIFACTS WILL THEN GO INTO A SEPARATE THAT A BRAND NEW CLEAN BAGGY LIKE THIS. THEN THEY WERE ABLE TO COME OUT HERE AND TAKE A LOOK AT OUR MOCK DID PITS THAT WE JUST CREATED FOR THE SPECIAL PURPOSE. VISITORS ARE ABLE TO GET THEIR HANDS DIRTY WITH A VERY UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN HOW TO EXCAVATE AND LEARN PROPER EXCAVATION TECHNIQUES, USING TRAVELS, BRUSHES, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO STAB INTO THE EARTH DOWN LIKE THIS. YOU'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO SCRAPE AWAY AT THE LAYERS OF THE DIRT A LITTLE BIT OUT OF CURRENT. IT'S A VERY HANDS-ON OF THE REVIEWS OF THE PARK AND OUR DATA FROM THE AND I HAVE CAN YOU TRY TO BE THEY COME IN >> ISN'T ALL ABOUT TAKING. IT'S MORE ABOUT THE INVESTIGATED. I LEARNED THAT ARCHEOLOGY IS A VERY CAREFUL SCIENCE. AND THAT YOU CAN REALLY LEARN ABOUT YOUR PAST OTHER PEOPLE'S PAST. YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT IT FROM ARCHEOLOGY. >> SO TODAY VISITORS WERE ABLE TO GET AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ARCHEOLOGY AND JUST HOW SPECIAL EXCAVATION REALLY IS AND WHAT IT CAN TELL US ABOUT PAST CULTURES.