Archaeologists Revisit Early Habitation Site in Florida

Evidence suggesting that humans lived in northwestern Florida more than 14,000 years ago has been re-examined by an international team of scientists, who also conducted an additional excavation. In 1983, stone artifacts and butchered mastodon remains were discovered at the Page-Ladson site, which is thought to have been a watering hole that is now located under 13 feet of sediment at the bottom of the Aucilla River. The sediments were dated to 14,400 years ago, but at the time, critics argued that the artifacts could have been carried to the site and deposited in the ancient sediments by river currents. The new excavation returned to the murky waters of the site and recovered more stone tools and the bones of extinct animals. The new information also suggest that humans and mega-fauna coexisted for at least 2,000 years.