Florida Public Archaeology Network - Central Region

11/22/2024

Thanks to the A. Quinn Jones Museum & Cultural Center for having us yesterday!

10/31/2024

Happy Halloween! The candy-centric holiday we celebrate today looks vastly different than the Celtic festival of Samhain where Halloween has its roots (probably a good thing...)

In 2014 archaeologists from University College Dublin began excavations on the Hill of Ward in Ireland's Boyne Valley--a place associated with Samhain.

Hundreds of years and countless cultural influences separate Halloween in Florida from its great great great great grandparent. Nevertheless, it's cultural DNA lies in these ancient archaeological sites.

Looking for the roots of Halloween in Ireland’s Boyne Valley

10/24/2024

If you’re able to help out this Saturday morning in Archer…see below.

One of many cemeteries KACB has helped keep beautiful is reaching out to garner help for a clean up this coming weekend. Please contact the number listed on the graphic to let BMECRO know if you plan to make it. Our advanced thanks to our volunteers who will show out!

10/21/2024

October 21, 1837 Seminole leaders Coacoochee and Osceola were captured when they were called to attend peace talks at Ft. Peyton near St. Augustine under a white flag of truce.

“Seminole leaders, warriors, and their families gathered at Fort Peyton, seven miles south of St. Augustine, for an intended negotiation. The group had been summoned to that location by General Jesup with the pretense of a peaceful parley. The group approached the fort, under a white flag of truce, and as they proceeded towards the fort, they were surrounded by soldiers and taken as prisoners.” (NPS)

It has been argued by some that this betrayal, called "One of the most disgraceful acts in American military history," turned a number of Americans against the long war being waged against the Seminole & Mikasuki in Florida. Reports of Osceola’s notorious acts of resistance to the violent, forced Indian removal by the US government had made him a legend of near-mythological status in the mind of many Americans. His betrayal by Gen Jesup drew criticism from some northern politicians, and Jesup left Florida not long after.

Coacoochee and twenty others managed to escape imprisonment at Ft. Marion in St. Augustine. Osceola’s declining health made him unable to escape, and he was soon transported to Ft. Moultrie in South Carolina where he passed away shortly after.

Photo credit to State Archives of Florida, source credit to Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum & National Park Service

10/21/2024

We're going to use this to shamelessly plug our History Bike Gainesville Haunted Hogtown tour coming up this Saturday!

Join us for what is one of our favorite events of the year! We'll ride to some of Gainesville's most notoriously spooky spots and share the stories of the haunted history that lies beneath the soil...

Check out our events page for more info!

10/14/2024

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on Nov. 21. Please reach out with any questions.

Due to Hurricane Milton, our Cemetery Resource work has been rescheduled for Thursday, November 21, 2024.

We send our thoughts to our Florida Public Archaeology Network partners at the University of South Florida.

10/14/2024

Guess who just successfully defended their master's thesis?
FPAN Central's very own Nigel Rudolph! If you see him out and about be sure to tell him congrats, maybe buy him a much needed beer

10/10/2024

Helene did a number on the Cedar Key Cemetery. We were able to come together with locals and folks from around the state to support the recovery this century-and-a-half old burial ground and the historic landscape it’s situated in.

10/07/2024

Ohh, a AND ? Thank you Florida Historical Society!
“1763 – On this date, British-held Florida was divided into East Florida and West Florida by Royal Proclamation. The dividing line was the Chattahoochee-Apalachicola River. St. Augustine remained the capital of East Florida, while Pensacola became the capital of West Florida.”

10/7 Today in Florida History from the Florida Historical Society!

1763 – On this date, British-held Florida was divided into East Florida and West Florida by Royal Proclamation. The dividing line was the Chattahoochee-Apalachicola River. St. Augustine remained the capital of East Florida, while Pensacola became the capital of West Florida.

10/02/2024

We are all still reeling from the damage brought by Hurricane Helene. Parts of our coastline saw a 10 foot storm surge, and downed trees and lingering flooding will affect our area for some time. Countless cultural sites were impacted, and we are working to assess as many as we can. Here's where we need your help--

Help us record and monitor sites by becoming a Heritage Monitoring Scout. HMS training is all online, its short, and its free! This training prepares members of the public to monitor cultural sites, including historical cemeteries, structures, and archaeological sites.

More info and next steps can be found at:
https://www.fpan.us/training-courses/hms-florida/

09/23/2024

Hey friends...I will present at the Hogtown Creek Headwaters Nature Center (1500 NW 45th Ave., Gainesville) Sunday, October 6th at 1pm. All are welcome to come out and learn somethin somethin

09/12/2024

In July of 1962, when the House Committee on Science and Astronautics decided that having female astronauts would hurt the space program, Mae Jemison was an almost-six-year-old living in Chicago. On this day thirty years later, Dr. Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space, spending nine days orbiting the Earth aboard the space shuttle Endeavor before returning to Cape Canaveral, Fl.

Pictured is Dr. Jemison's space garment and biofeedback belt, which she wore to measure the way her body responded to microgravity. This cosmic artifact belongs to the Museum of Space and Industry in her hometown of Chicago, but the material record of the space program in Florida is preserved in places like the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum. Archaeologists continually bring more of Florida's history to light--University of South Florida's Center for Digital Heritage students recently excavated a 1950 bumper blockhouse, essentially the "mission control" for Bumper 8, the first rocket successfully launched from Cape Canaveral! (more on that here: https://buff.ly/3ThhABd )

09/09/2024

How many museums are in FPAN Central's nine county region? How many have YOU been to?

We've counted 56 so far, but there are surely plenty that just aren't on our radar. What's your favorite museum or historic site to visit? Let's hear 'em, and we'll start highlighting museum events & exhibits, maybe even plan a museum meetup?

I keep finding myself on the The Old Courthouse Heritage Museum website. They're housed in the Historic Citrus County Courthouse in Inverness, Fl. Right now they've got two really nice online exhibits: Chassahowitzka Springs: Florida’s History Revealed & Making a Way Out of No Way: Black Education in Citrus County. They've also got an amazing amount of their archives digitized and available online!

Check out the Chassahowitzka exhibit here: https://buff.ly/3z7mh9K

09/04/2024

This Sunday we'll be at Gainesville's Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center, Inc. to celebrate the unveiling of their Florida Historical Marker! We hope to see some of you out there showing support for this remarkable historic place in our community and the people who have worked to preserve the legacy of this storied building.

https://buff.ly/3ARWItM

09/03/2024

Another season of Moon Over the Mounds is upon us! Y'all really don't want to miss these moonlit tours of the mound complex within the Crystal River Archaeological State Park. The tickets sell out quickly, so reserve your spot now!

Nighttime guided tour into the history of this Pre-Columbian Ceremonial Site. Led by experienced interpreters.