With or Without You: Manatees and People in Precolonial Florida

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Culture, Climate, and Connections: Eventful Histories of Human-Environment Relations" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostis) has been described as one of the state’s most famous and iconic animal species. However, the natural history of the Florida manatee is poorly understood. We systematically reviewed the literature for the occurrence of manatee bones from archaeological sites in the state. Our analysis demonstrates that manatees are poorly represented, with reported claims from only around a dozen sites--several of which are problematic owing to poor context, uncertain taxonomic identification, or possible fossilization (suggesting scavenging). We review potential explanations for this pattern but suggest the most likely is simply that manatees rarely extended their range northward from the Caribbean before the modern era. Our study highlights the relevance of archaeology for understanding historical and Anthropocene baselines.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Culture, Climate, and Connections: Eventful Histories of Human-Environment Relations

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51148