Analyzing Historically Significant Archeological Sites to 1800s Survey Plats of Southeast Florida

Summary

The landscape of southeast Florida has been dramatically altered over the past 150 years due to anthropogenic influences. The earliest, most detailed surveys of this region were conducted by the US Surveyor General Land Office from 1846-1870, with an extended survey and map production caused by the American Civil War. These land plats were surveyed along the township and range to be used as the fundamental legal record for real estate for southeast Florida. However, southeast Florida has been inhabited for thousands of years by pre-historic Native American tribes. Remnants of these cultures have been observed and documented on maps, including the 1800s plats of which none known have been publicly geo-rectified. This research includes geo-rectifying and mosaicking these hand-drawn maps, then digitizing the identified features, including archaeological sites, in ArcGIS. Combining this data with previously identified and documented archaeological sites establishes a clearer image of historical native land use.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage