The State of Florida, the United States Federal government, local governments, and Indigenous tribal governments have particular interests in the protection and preservation of Native American cultural, historic, and sacred sites in Florida. Over the years, Florida has faced threats to its indigenous sites from development, looters using bulldozers and heavy machinery, and various environmental factors such as hogs and erosion. In recent years, the protection of indigenous sites has become a focus in Florida.
In the 1960s, the advent of scuba diving led to a wave of underwater explorers who quickly realized that Florida's riverbeds were covered with remains of prehistoric megafauna and paleoindian artifacts. A collaborative relationship was quickly forged between this group and the Florida Museum of Natural History. Notable divers from this time period include Ben Waller, Hub Chasom, Clarence Simpson, Don Serbousek, and many others. Without the contributions of knowledge, artifacts, and sites by these and many other amateur archaeologists, professional archaeologists would have struggled to unlock the door to Florida's past. The late, esteemed archaeologist Dr. Barbara Purdy wrote in 2005, "We wouldn't know zilch without the contributions of river divers and avocational archaeologists."
In 1983, retired US Navy Seal and recreational diver Buddy Page led paleontologist S. David Webb (then with the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida) and archaeologist James M. Dunbar (then with the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research) to a deep underwater sinkhole site he discovered in the Aucilla River that he believed was scientifically significant (now called the Page-Ladson site).
A test pit at the site confirmed that it contained not only vertebrate fossils, but also evidence of Paleoindian occupation. A project called the "Aucilla River Prehistory Project" was born out of this survey, which ran from 1983 until 1997. This project was led by Dr. Webb and Dr. Dunbar as a collaborative effort between their agencies, amateur river divers and other members of the public. This site became ground zero as far as searching for the secrets to North America's first peoples and is currently dated to around 14,500 years old.
Between 1996 and 2005 the Isolated Finds Program was in place which allowed amateur archaeologists to continue contributing to the archaeological record without fear of violating the newly adopted 1993 Florida Statutes which increased penalties for looting. The suspension of the program led to decreased participation and reporting of new sites and is widely viewed as the beginning of a great rift in the amateur/professional relationship that has only continued to grow over the last two decades.
In 2016, amateur archaeologists introduced bills in both the Senate and the House of Representatives that sought to mend the rift between professionals and amateurs. Although these bills were controversial at the time and failed, they nevertheless brought increased attention to the importance of bridging the gap between amateurs and professionals in order to work together towards the discovery & protection of Native American sites.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, has been largely tasked with protecting Native American sites from criminals using bulldozers to loot and destroy archaeological sites.
Threats from invasive species The invasive feral hog was introduced to Florida first in 1539 by the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. Aside from harboring diseases, killing native plant and animal species, and destroying crops, feral hogs are also a significant threat to indigenous sites in Florida. Feral hogs often root as deep as 20 centimeters in the soft Florida soil with some examples of rooting up to 45 centimeters in Florida. A study on feral hog rooting that involved 293 archaeological sites in Florida found that 90% of the sites had artifacts within the first 20 centimeters of the soil and 85% of sites had artifacts within the first 10 centimeters of the soil, making these sites especially vulnerable to feral hog disturbance. The study gave a conservative estimate that 42% of the sites experienced feral hog disturbance during the time period of study. The study also found that after 18 months the damage from feral hogs was impossible to detect, which would lead archaeologists to believe that the sites had not been disturbed.
Threats from looting The archaeological sites of Florida's indigenous peoples have been disturbed and looted since the arrival of Europeans, however, recent changes have increased the scope and destructiveness of the problem. In the late 1970s looting of sites on state owned lands increased dramatically and spread across the state from the Tampa Bay area north towards the St. Marks River. Entering the 1980s, looting was still on the rise and the market value of illegal artifacts was as well. Looters are generally looking for pottery and stone tools, which they can then sell on the black market.
Looters have used a variety of methods to excavate artifacts, ranging from shovels to bulldozers. In 1978, looters near Charlotte Harbor drove a bulldozer across state lands, down an Indian ridge, through the mangroves and out to Big Mound Key. Once on the 13.5-acre site, the looters opened up a 15-foot trench through the mound, apparently in the hope of finding the hidden treasure cache of the mythical pirate Jose Gaspar, a fictional figure from Florida folklore. The resulting gash in the mound is still visible decades later, and news coverage of the damage caused by "looters in search of a non-pirate's non-treasure" helped spur the passage of state laws to protect such sites. Likewise, in 2022, a Marion county employee used a county-owned bulldozer to dig through an area on county land in search of artifacts, although this was not a recognized site.
Looting remains a major concern among archaeologists, as it is difficult and expensive for the state to reliably protect these sites from people using large machinery to excavate.
Operation Timucua (2013) There are too many archaeological sites in Florida for law enforcement agencies to be able to monitor them and catch looters while they are digging. Carried out by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Operation Timucua was a two-year undercover operation that culminated in raids of 14 individuals' homes during the early hours of February 27, 2013. The raids focused primarily on small artifact business owners, many of whom had made significant contributions to Florida's understanding of its prehistory during the Isolated Finds Program. The stated impetus for Operation Timucua, was to target looters, however, although over 400 felony charges were initially filed against the individuals, no felony convictions were obtained and several individuals saw their charges dropped entirely due to lack of evidence. The operation initially resulted in the seizure of two million dollars' worth of artifacts, however, many were from old or inherited collections and private land, which following a lack of evidence, many of the artifacts were returned to the owners.
Aftermath
Although Operation Timucua has been touted as a success by some, the effects were quite damaging to the professional/amateur relationship that was so pivotal in the 1960s-1990s for discovering information about Florida's first inhabitants.
During an interrogation, one of those arrested reported to his friend, William Barton, that he had been shown his picture by FWC. Paranoid that he would also be targeted by FWC, William Barton took his own life. Another of those arrested suffered a divorce as a result of the raid, and several suffered great financial setbacks. Many wives were also reportedly put in handcuffs during the midnight raid, which FWC also denies.
The operation as a whole cost taxpayers over $200,000, but only netted a handful of no contest pleas and no jail or prison time for any of those arrested.
These actions led to the amateur community further developing a great mistrust of FWC and the professional archaeological community as many of those arrested were known contributors to the greater scientific body.
In 2016, Dr. Purdy recapped her perspective on the raids as a professional archaeologist:
"There is probably nothing that saddens an archaeologist more than to learn that an archaeological site of great scientific potential has been wantonly ravaged by individuals seeking one or two recognizable artifacts that might be sold to the highest bidder leaving all manner of other valuable information lying out of context on the surface.
Archaeologists sit on the highest fence looking at one side and the other. On one side, they see the situation described above. Looking down on the other side, they find individuals who eagerly seek the advice and cooperation of archaeologists. Gradually, some of those on Side 1 move over to Side 2. This will not happen when there is a lack of trust and when a situation occurs such as in 2013 when, without warning of any kind, members of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Division of Law Enforcement made criminals out of our citizens by showing up at the homes of various individuals and demanding to see their artifact collections."
SB 1225 / HB 512 (1988) In 1988 Senator Johnson and Representative Thomas introduced a bill to the Florida legislature that would have prohibited the export of artifacts from archaeological sites within Florida, except pursuant to a permit issued by the Division of Historical Resources of the Department of State. This bill went so far as to include provisions to prohibit sale of artifacts found on private property with the penalty under the bill including that "any person who willfully and knowingly exports an artifact from a Florida archaeological site without a permit from the division shall be assessed an administrative penalty of $10,000."
Although the bill eventually died, many other bills since have also attempted to regulate artifacts held by the general public or their ability to collect them. These attempts have always been quite controversial, gained little traction, and been regarded as a ploy by the state to encroach on the rights of its citizens.
In 2018 during questioning on HB 6041 which sought to limit public involvement in archaeology, in response to a question from Representative Matt Willhite regarding state interference with private property archaeological rights, Representative Cyndi Stevenson stated that "The state of Florida has never had a law that interfered with private property rights in regards to archaeological finds and they are entitled to do with them or allow exploration as they desire.2/26/2018, House Floor Discussion - Florida House of Representatives" Although her statement was technically true, had SB1225 passed 30 years prior, private rights would have in fact been greatly restricted by the State of Florida.
Shearer v. State (2000) In 1997, in Jefferson County, a woman named M. Shearer was arrested and subsequently convicted on a felony charge of excavating an archaeological site - a violation of Florida Statute Chapter 267. Three years later a three judge panel in Florida's 1st District Circuit Court of Appeals overturned her conviction ruling that "acting willfully and knowingly is an element of the crime of unlawful excavation of an archaeological site without a permit" and that the judge in the first trial had failed to indicate to the jury that proving mens rea (knowledge of committing a crime) is necessary for returning a Chapter 267 conviction. This case is an important piece of case law as it means that someone who accidentally disturbs an archaeological site is not guilty under Florida law.
Isolated Finds Program (1996-2005)