Disaster Survey and Documentation of Southwest Florida Archaeological Site Damage from Hurricane Ian

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.

Accelerating shifts in climate and extreme weather events such as hurricanes threaten archaeological sites, especially in coastal regions which contain some of the most vulnerable forms of cultural heritage. As such, coastal archaeological sites provide exemplary locations for 1) the rapid study of storm impacts to archaeological site stability, preservation, and resilience planning, 2) understanding how site managers balance disaster response with post-storm public education and outreach, and 3) the role of archaeological cultural heritage preservation in community recovery. Here we share the results of a disaster survey of four well-preserved Calusa archaeological cultural heritage sites (e.g., Pineland, Mound Key, Estero Island, and Calusa Island) in southwest Florida following Hurricane Ian (2022). Working directly with site managers and local community members, we documented and assessed damage from high winds, tree falls, and storm surge, as well as post-storm looting. Moreover, we documented heritage stakeholder values regarding the role of each site in supporting recovery and (re)defining community resilience following Hurricane Ian. Our results indicate variable types of damage across different sites, management concerns related to recovery and long-term resilience planning, and great value placed on sites as places for community coalescence and reflection in the wake of disaster.

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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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 41670.0