Paintings by Theodore Morris www.floridalosttribes.com

The archaeological record of Sarasota County spans some 14,000 years.  Virtually every stage of North American human occupation is represented in Sarasota County’s archaeological record.  

The earliest people of Sarasota County lived in a time marked by the presence of now extinct megafauna, cooler temperatures, and lowered sea level.  Population density was very low and life expectancy was short.  With environmental warming and rising sea levels, it appears that population density increased and a distinct coastal adaptation developed here. With more people came greater need for social controls and by the time of contact with European explorers, the culture of the area was highly structured.

The period immediately following European contact is relatively sketchy, not just in Sarasota County, but throughout the southeast.  European diseases, brought by explorers ravaged the native populations resulting in inadvertent genocide and social collapse.  The following years witnessed the reconstitution of society from the few surviving Native Americans of Florida, displaced Native groups from the Atlantic coastal plain, escaped African slaves and Cuban fishermen.  This amalgamated society evolved into what we now identify as the Seminole Culture. 

As the Florida territory was open for white settlers, the Seminoles were steadily pushed southward.  The subsequent years witnessed the establishment of the turpentine and lumber industries, the construction of the railroads, the agricultural boom, and the settlement associated with these economic stimuli.  Technically, the archaeological record encompasses anything 50 years of age or older.  In Sarasota County, however, cultural resources this recent, typically consist of structures still standing.

Slide Shows: 

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  The Prehistory of Sarasota County as told through Archaeology

Web Sites of Interest: 

 Florida Division of Historical Resources

  Florida Public Archaeology Network

 Southeastern Center for Archaeological Research 

For information on legislation affecting historic resources in the county see the Historic Preservation Chapter of the Sarasota County Code at the Web site of the Municipal Code Corporation.

The center invites anyone interested in the archaeological record of the county to visit our exhibit at the History Center Museum.

Researchers are welcome at the center by appointment 941-861-5000.