Geoarchaeological framework of Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites in the Aucilla River Basin, Northwest Florida, USA

Abstract

The karstic Aucilla River of Northwest Florida is renowned for its well‐preserved late Pleistocene cultural material and Rancholabrean fauna. Much of this material was recovered by avocational SCUBA divers from displaced contexts in mid‐channel sinkholes, but underwater excavations into sediment banks on sink margins have demonstrated that faunal material and early artifacts can be recovered in situ from inundated terrestrial strata that contain dateable organics and microfossils useful for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Underwater environmental data document the transition of Aucilla River localities from isolated spring‐fed ponds into an inter‐connected fluvial system due to rising sea levels and climate amelioration with several major periods of sinkhole infilling during the late Quaternary. Late Pleistocene components on land are largely absent or are undateable; these components, located in a subtropical cypress swamp in shallow clay‐rich soils, tend to be less well‐preserved, but still contain a rich record of human use on the landscape.