From Fontaneda to Archie Carr: Sea Turtle Zooarchaeology and Conservation in Southeast Florida

Summary

This is an abstract from the "*SE Hope for the Future: A Message of Resiliency from Archaeological Sites in South Florida" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In southeast Florida, sea turtles (Chelonioidea) are both a major focus of conservation efforts and a hallmark of local zooarchaeological assemblages. Despite this abundance however, little work to date has been done to connect these archaeological turtle remains to contemporary sea turtle ecology and conservation. In this paper, I both offer a synthesis of regional sea turtle zooarchaeological literature as well as report the preliminary results of three analysis methods trialed with sea turtle long bones recovered from the Stock island Midden (8Mo2). The results of these analyses provide data on both the species and age demographic of turtles targeted by ancient hunters, providing possible insights into both hunting methods and seasonality. Furthermore, such data facilitates direct engagement with modern turtle ecology studies. In doing so, this work seeks to demonstrate both the utility zooarchaeological turtle remains hold to local conservation efforts, as well as the importance of properly curating and studying these invaluable sources of ancient ecological data.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• *SE Hope for the Future: A Message of Resiliency from Archaeological Sites in South Florida   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39074.0