Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
You undoubtedly already know that this is the 300th anniversary of the 1715 Fleet disaster, but did you know that this is the 100th anniversary of a world-famous land-based discovery made within the boundaries of Indian River County?
In 1915 human bones associated with mammal fossils from the Pleistocene were found in the banks of a canal. Some think those bones, along with other finds at the same site, show that humans were in Florida much earlier than previously thought possible.
Here is one paragraph from the Old Vero Ice Age Sites Committee web site.
Today, the conventional view has it that humans began the trek, on foot or by boat, to North America around 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. This is in part due to the Old Vero Man Site finds. Newer DNA testing is even suggesting a much earlier migration by at least another 10,000 years. This would easily allow for humans in Florida 14,000 years ago. However the controversy on how old the "Vero Man" was does remain. Carbon dating, as a technology, was not available before the 1950’s. The original bones are listed as missing in 1945 while in transit from the Florida Geological Survey in Tallahassee to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. We need new artifacts to test.
So the conventional view is that the indigenous populations are of European descent too. They just beat Columbus by thousands of years.
It seems that the government has a long history of losing important artifacts.
You can visit the Old Vero Ice Age Sites Committee web site by using the following link.
http://www.oviasc.org/Old-Vero-Man-Site-History--Old-Vero-Ice-Age-Sites-Commitee--preserving-and-appropriately-excavating-important-Ice-Age-archaeological-and-paleontological-sites-in-Vero-Beach-and-Indian-River-County.html
Ales Hrdlicka authored a paper that was published as Bulletin 66 of the Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology. The title is Recent Discoveries Attributed to Early Man in America. It was published in 1918.
Below is another illustration from the bulletin.
This is not the only illustration showing the stratigraphy of the site and the location of various finds.
Notice how the several bones were discovered on the boundary between the second and third layer. It is not unusual to make finds on the beach that are on top of a lower layer. There are similarities between layers found at inland sites and on a beach. The main difference is that the top layers on a beach are displaced much more frequently.
The mystery of Vero Man is yet to be resolved to the satisfaction of many. Evidence is being collected and you can be a part of the project. Volunteer opportunities will be available in 2016. You can also tour the site or visit displays. You can learn more about that at the OVIAC web site.
You can read the entire Smithsonian Bulletin 66 online. Only part of it concerns the Vero site, but I think you'll find it very interesting.
It can be found through books.google.com.
---
Columbus is a controversial figure to some. With Columbus day coming tomorrow, below is an excerpt from an article that you might want to read.
I believe that there are two keys to understanding Columbus: his Catholic faith and his courage. Columbus lived in a religious age, but even in his time he was noted for the fervor of his faith. Masses, penances, pilgrimages, retreats, the reading of the Bible, all the aspects of devotion that the Catholic faith offered, Columbus engaged in these things all of his life. Any ship he commanded was scrupulous in religious observances, with the Salve Regina being chanted by the crew each evening at Vespers. As his son Ferdinand noted: “He was so strict in matters of religion that for fasting and saying prayers he might have been taken for a member of a religious order.”
Here is the link.
http://www.catholicstand.com/columbus-catholicism-courage/
---
On the Treasure Coast we're supposed to have a few days of one-foot surf. Then out about a week in the future, the prediction is for up to nine feet.
I'd give that about a 1 percent chance of actually happening, but it would be nice to get a big surf like that, especially if we could get some north/northeast winds at the same time.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
