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Windover
PRESS
RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION (January, 2002)
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Artifacts
from Windover |
The
world famous Windover Archeological Site in Titusville,
Florida has been donated to Preservation and Education Trust,
Inc. a Brevard County non-profit organization.
On
Friday, January 18, at 10 a.m. a ceremony was held at the
site to honor Jim Swann, the developer/owner who donated
the site and dedicate the property to be preserved for future
generations.
Windover
Archaeological Site is listed on the National Register of
Historic Places and is also designated a National Historic
Landmark.
Preservation
and Education Trust, Inc. intends to preserve the site as
a nature preserve. Within the next year educational panels
describing the archeological significance will be placed
at the site. The burial pond will remain untouched, but
a nature trail will wind though the beautiful canopy of
oaks ending at the adjoining 680-acre Bird Lake Marsh where
Florida Audubon Society has expressed an interest is constructing
a bird watching platform.
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3
Seasons of excavation at Windover began in 1984 |
Preservation
and Education Trust has been working with a consortium of
local organizations to establish a management plan. Among
the groups are the Indian River Anthropological Society,
Indian River Audubon, Florida Native Plant Society, Florida
Trails Association, Windover Farms Homeowners Association,
and Truman Scarborough, District I, County Commissioner.
The
following Statement of Significance from the Florida nomination
to the National Park Service summarizes the site’s
importance: (detailed information can also be found at FSU
Anthropology as well as Historical
Society of North Brevard)
The
significance of the Windover materials, both the excavated
and unexcavated materials, lies in the antiquity, excellent
preservation, and the unusual diversity of materials recovered.
It represents one of the largest collections of human skeletal
material from the time period in the New World, one of he
largest collections of fiber arts in the New World, and
a diverse array of bone, antler and wooden Artifacts. Additionally,
analysis of preserved tissue and bone is providing information
on prehistoric mitochondrial DNA and soluble and stable
proteins. The environmental information derived from pollen
and micro and macro floral analysis is providing information
on time periods extending back to nearly 11,000 B.P.
Contact:
Carole
Pope
321-632-5650
info@petrust.org
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