[blam]

"I grew up in Florida, and I can't recall ever being taught that large grazing animals once roamed the state. In fact, modern day Florida really has nothing that resembles large dry ground grasslands, so it's hard to understand what a bison could have survived on, especially in the Vero Beach area."

Have you heard of these?

Bye, Bye Beringia (8,000 Year Old Site In Florida)

"At Windover, more ancient human remains were discovered than the total of all others found previously in the New World, and they were the oldest. "

BTW, I spent last weekend in Vero Beach.

[zeestephen]

Thanks, blam.

That's a very interesting link.

I scanned a Wiki article about the Windover site.

There are four other known peat bog burial sites in Florida, but none as old Windover.

The dead would be wrapped in a plant based textile, then long stakes would be driven through the garment and into the peat, securing the dead to the bottom of the pond.

According to Wiki, there is a very common Native American belief that the spirits of the dead cannot pass through water. I guess that means the spirits are trapped in the pond?

Do you still have Eckerd Drug Stores in Florida? The Windover site was being developed by Jack Eckerd when the first bones were discovered. Eckerd immediately moved the road he was building and gave the site, plus a lot of pumping equipment, to the archaeologists. I thought that was pretty cool.