Black Waters and Foggy Origins: How Florida Can Contribute to the Story of the First Americans

Much recent research has suggested that the first Americans, called Paleoindians, arrived in the New World sometime between 21,000 and 15,000 years ago, before the appearance of the Clovis complex, dated to around 13,000 calendar years ago. For 50 years, dominant paradigms suggested that Clovis people were first in the Americas. Archaeological sites from the Paleoindian (ca. 16,000-11,500 years ago) period are extremely rare and poorly-preserved in most of North America, making it difficult to understand when and how the Americas were colonized and also to understand Paleoindian lifeways. Florida’s Aucilla River basin is the exception. Hundreds of Paleoindian artifacts have been found in submerged sinkholes within this river, including the Page-Ladson site, which contains the remains of mastodon butchery on the edge of a small pond dating to 14,500 years ago, more than a thousand years older than Clovis. This site has profound implications for our understanding of early American origins and lifeways. 

Black Cat Cave is a place Middle Tennessee locals told stories about for generations. It was rumored to have been the place of illicit activities and later family picnics. Little was really known about the cave until 2004, when evidence for ancient Native American activities were discovered buried inches below a twentieth century concrete slab. From 2014-2015 Dr. Peres worked on an assessment, salvage, and data collection project in collaboration with colleagues at Middle Tennessee State University, the City of Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation, and the Tennessee Division of Archaeology. This site, commonly referred to as Black Cat Cave (40RD299), is important to our understanding of how people used natural features on the landscape during the Archaic period of regional prehistory.