TRACKING CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS TO A 19TH CENTURY MINORCAN WELL THROUGH CITIZEN SCIENCE
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 27/11/2020

Climate Change impacts and coastal dynamics are affecting thousands of cultural resources across Florida, USA. Continuous monitoring of these sites has proven the best strategy to record changes, learn more about sites themselves and aid in management decisions. However, the state has lacked a clear method for systematic monitoring. In 2016, the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) started Heritage Monitoring Scouts (HMS Florida) to engage the public in addressing these issues and provide a platform for collecting monitoring information. The citizen science program trains volunteers to monitor sites throughout the state to collect baseline data and document changes at archaeological sites, historic cemeteries, shipwrecks and other historic resources One such site, Shell Bluff Landing (8SJ32), was the focus of a pilot program in partnership with the GTM Research Reserve in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The site contains a dense coastal shell midden with occupation spanning 6,000 years and a coquina stone well built around 1800. The site faces climate change impacts and threats from coastal dynamics that include salt water intrusion, flooding, and, most notably, erosion exacerbated by wave action from the Intracoastal Waterway. Since Shell Bluff Landing was acquired by the State of Florida in the 1980s, land managers employed numerous strategies to manage and track the erosion at the site. However, these efforts have proven largely unsuccessful. Through the HMS Florida pilot program, monitoring efforts have documented changes to the site from two hurricanes as well as routine natural processes over the past year. The site now serves as a training venue for engaging the public in citizen science monitoring and climate change impacts.


Author(s): Miller, Sarah - Murray, Emily Jane (Florida Public Archaeology Network)