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Prehistoric forest discovered off Key West -- on sea bed (under 40 feet of water)
Keynews.com West -- on sea be ^ | Wed., Nov 13, 2002 | Mandy Bolen

Posted on 11/15/2002 4:34:31 PM PST by jimtorr

KEY WEST -- Research divers and marine archaeologists expect to find shells, rocks and remnants of shipwrecks when they excavate areas of the ocean bottom.

But pine cones, tree branches and charred limbs -- thought to be about 8,400 years old -- were an unexpected and intriguing treasure awaiting archaeologist Corey Malcom, who spent much of the summer underwater in search of the remains of the Henrietta Marie, a British slave ship that sank 35 miles off Key West in 1700.

In August, Malcom, who is director of archaeology at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, was joined underwater by George Robb, founder of RPM Nautical Foundation and financial supporter of the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society.

Robb was diving in about 40 feet of water as the search for the remaining cannons and other parts of the Henrietta Marie continued. The divers had previously surveyed various sites with electronic equipment able to locate objects that lie covered in sand on the ocean floor.

1113 pine cone.jpg

Click for larger view.

DYLAN KIBLER/MEL FISHER MARITIME MUSEUM
Divers found prehistoric pine cones along with pieces of yellow pine trees thought to be about 8,400 years old and eventually submerged under the ocean with the end of the last Ice Age.

As RPM and museum divers checked out several "hits" that came from the equipment, they were particularly interested in one that was strong and a bit unusual. Upon first entering the water, nothing but sand was visible to them, so Malcom received permission from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to begin excavating the area. Previous permits only allowed surveying and examination.

Divers cleared a 2-by-3-meter area on the ocean floor and carefully began sifting through a thick mud that replaces sand underneath the water. About 10 inches down, they found a few small, glass beads that led them to believe they were close to more Henrietta Marie ruins, as hundreds of similar glass beads have been found at the main wreck site.

As the divers continued to work, they laid aside black and gray rocks, thinking they could be ballast rocks from the ship, and still hoped for large pieces of the shipwreck.

"Then George Robb found a piece of pine that still smelled like pine," Malcom said, explaining that the workers initially thought the charred wood had been used as firewood on board the ship. "But as we continued to explore, it didn't feel like a shipwreck anymore."

The divers had wandered into a section of prehistoric Florida that had once been dry land during the last Ice Age, Malcom said.

When the Ice Age ended, the ocean levels rose sharply for thousands of years, covering much of the land in seawater and burying pine forests under about five feet of sand and sediment and more than 40 feet of water.

Radiocarbon analysis showed the pine cones and burnt wood to be about 8,400 years old, but the burnt characteristic remained a mystery until it was learned that the black and gray rocks also had been burnt and were identified by sanctuary scientist Harold Hudson as fire-altered limestone.

Hudson's theory was confirmed by geologist Eugene Shinn, leading the researchers to believe that a forest fire had, at some point, swept through the prehistoric forest.

While no signs of humanity were revealed in the initial findings, Malcom is not ruling out the possibility of finding some.

In the meantime, he is hoping to continue to work in cooperation with geologists and paleo-ecologists, who are more familiar with the underwater findings.

Representatives from the sanctuary also are interested in learning more about the land mass that once stretched more than 30 miles away from the shores that are now Florida.

"It's pretty incredible that the sea level rose that much, and definitely leads to some interesting questions that we hope people will pursue," said Dave Score, who works for the sanctuary and often deals with submerged cultural resources.

"Obviously, our focus is on shipwrecks, but I also think our mission was to discover, and we've certainly done that," Malcom said, carefully wrapping a pine cone in a saltwater-soaked paper towel until it could be properly conserved.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Florida; Unclassified
KEYWORDS: archaeology; catastrophism; economic; florida; ggg; globalwarming; godsgravesglyphs; history; keywest; rpmnautical
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To: patton

Just keep in mind that where the article sez, "8,400 years old" it needs to be corrected to "8,405 years old".


61 posted on 03/02/2007 10:48:16 AM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, February 19, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

Actually, it says, "I spend WAY too much time on FR. 7 years..."


62 posted on 03/02/2007 10:50:28 AM PST by patton (Sanctimony frequently reaps its own reward.)
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To: jimtorr
What about stupid people in florida?

This article is facinating to me.....

63 posted on 03/02/2007 10:53:15 AM PST by Fawn (http://www.hartzvictims.org/)
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To: MonroeDNA
Those Prehistoric SUV's led to global warming, the oceans rose, and Oh! The suffering.

After listening to Rush yesterday about cow flatuence...I believe that dinosaur flatuence REALLY left a huge carbon footprint for us....

64 posted on 03/02/2007 10:56:59 AM PST by Fawn (http://www.hartzvictims.org/)
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To: jimtorr

Doesn't this help to prove that a significant and catastrophic global warming occurred..... back when the earth was flat?

Seriously, good article and compared to many, it was refreshing to read.


65 posted on 03/02/2007 12:21:20 PM PST by Gator113
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To: jimtorr

*


66 posted on 03/02/2007 12:23:39 PM PST by Sam Cree (absolute reality)
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To: Fawn; Gator113; Sam Cree

Note, this topic is from 2002.

Far below the Gulf's surface, experts in sub will seek signs of early man in North America
Houston Chronicle | March 2, 2007 | HARVEY RICE
Posted on 03/02/2007 5:08:29 AM EST by Cincinatus' Wife
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1793819/posts


67 posted on 03/02/2007 8:56:54 PM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, February 19, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

Thanks, SC.

That is a daunting task they're taking on with that little sub! It seems like looking for a needle in a haystack. I think there's a fair amount of silt in the GOM too.

Reminiscent of the Aquatic Ape theory, in a way.


68 posted on 03/03/2007 12:11:24 PM PST by Sam Cree (absolute reality)
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To: Sam Cree

:')


69 posted on 03/04/2007 7:22:00 AM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, February 19, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: blam

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are Blam, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
· Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo ·
· History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


70 posted on 03/18/2008 10:39:28 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/______________________Profile updated Saturday, March 1, 2008)
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To: blam

2009 bump.


71 posted on 09/09/2009 10:37:21 PM PDT by blam
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To: blam

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Just updating the GGG and Catastrophism info, not sending a general distribution.
 
Catastrophism
 
· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·
 
To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

·Dogpile · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
· Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google ·
· The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


72 posted on 09/10/2009 2:25:31 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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