People of the Apalachicola Project: May Fieldwork Recap

S. Ayers-Rigsby (left) and N. Grinnan (right) record a scatter of oyster shell refuse at a late 19th-century/early 20th-century sawmill site along the Apalachicola River (photo by M. Thomin).

May 2024 Fieldwork Recap

After an April hiatus, our “People of the Apalachicola: Exploring Cultural Heritage to Support Ecosystem Planning, Management, and Adaptation” project team returned to Apalachicola this May to continue the work of recording and monitoring archaeological sites within the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve (ANERR)! This month was momentous: our team has now visited all the cultural heritage sites on the initial priority site list at least twice. Monitoring these sites multiple times over the course of the project period (January 1-September 30, 2024) allows us to see short-term change. What do we mean when we talk about short-term change? These changes can be as simple as observing how sand is washing away from a particular area of a site; they can also include seeing how vegetation and animal presence vary with the seasons. These observations then provide us with baseline data for better understanding longer-term dynamics, which can include how storms or development may impact archaeological sites, historic cemeteries, and historic structures. To keep you informed, here’s a recap of our work during the month of May: The team coordinated with the Florida Public Archaeology Network’s North Central Region to provide support for the ANERR’s annual Estuaries Day on May 3. We were joined by Sara Ayers-Rigsby, Director of the Florida Public Archaeology Network’s Southeast and Southwest Regions, to assist with fieldwork. We visited the St. Vincent Island National Wildlife Refuge to record a site on St. Vincent Island and to discuss field methods with one of the Refuge’s land managers. The team monitored six sites on the priority list throughout the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve, utilizing photography, photogrammetry (to produce 3D models), and an Arrow Gold RTK GNSS Receiver (for hyper-accurate shoreline measurements.

M. Thomin documents erosion around  a tree’s exposed roots at a site along Apalachicola Bay  (photo by S. Ayers-Rigsby).

With two thirds of our fieldwork done at this point in the project, we have several tasks to begin thinking about in terms of organizing data and producing final reports. One thing we’ll be doing over the next few months is determining which archaeological sites in the project require updates to the State of Florida’s Master Site File database. We also have several new sites that have been identified after reports from community members or that have been found along the way; those will also be recorded and entered into the State’s database. The Florida Master Site File is an important database in terms of inventorying all the State’s many historical resources and ensuring that any planned ground-disturbance activities know about these resources ahead of time. Also coming soon is a video “sneak peek” of the People of the Apalachicola Project, created by the project’s own Mike Thomin. We’ll be sure to share that in our June recap newsletter! We want to give a special thanks to Anita Grove (ANERR) and Megan Lamb (ANERR) for participating in interviews; special thanks also goes to Jeff Dutrow and the Flying Fish for allowing us to use their song “Just Four” in the video.

Do you live in the Apalachicola area? We need your input!

Access the survey here! If you couldn’t make it to one of our Community Conversation workshops or still have more to say, we want to hear from you! This survey will help us understand the ways in which the local community values cultural resources like archaeological sites, historic structures, historic cemeteries, and more. A Qualtrics online survey will collect responses; the survey contains 20 questions and takes only about 15 minutes to complete!

Project Partner Highlight: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)

Michelle Rice Michelle is the District Biologist for the Central District of the Northwest Region of the Wildlife and Habitat Management section of FWC. She oversees Tate's Hell Water Management Area (WMA), Apalachee WMA, Box-R WMA, and the Apalachicola River Wildlife and Environmental Area (WEA).  Michelle has joined us for site visits within the Box-R WMA and the Apalachicola River WEA, providing support for the work we are doing and taking the time to learning our methods for monitoring sites!

Past Events: SciCafe Recordings Now Available!

“Studying Marronage through Underwater Archaeology” by Bria Brooks (UWF) Stream this free virtual program, hosted by the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve, to learn more about project team member Bria Brooks’s research to highlight the stories and legacies of Prospect Bluff’s 19th-century Maroon community. Click here to stream! “‘People of the Apalachicola:’ A Community-Driven Archaeology Project” by Nicole Grinnan (UWF) Stream this free virtual program, hosted by the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve, to learn more about how University of West Florida and the Florida Public Archaeology Network archaeologists are working to record and preserve over 12,000 years of human history in the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve. Click here to stream!

FPAN Project Page

NERRS Science Collaborative Project Page

Contact Us

This work is sponsored by the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERS) Science Collaborative, which supports collaborative research that addresses coastal management problems important to the reserves. The Science Collaborative is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and managed by the University of Michigan Water Center (NA19NOS4190058).

Correction from our March 2024 Recap e-newsletter: project partner Anita Grove (ANERR) formerly served Executive Director for the Apalachicola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.

http://live.oysterradio.com/