We have reached the base of Test Unit five.  Over the holidays test unit five was excavated to a depth of 110 CMBD.  The remaining Belle Glade features were documented and consistent with the first four units, an uninterrupted white sand stratum (10YR 7/1) of eolian sand was discovered below the Belle Glade middens.

After removing all Belle Glade features, a 1X1 was placed in the center of the unit and excavated to a depth of 200 CMBD.  This 1X1 contained two amazing pieces of evidence.  First, a Newnan projectile point base and mid-section (proximal and medial) was discovered insitu over 50 CM below the Belle Glade Midden.  This artifact was recovered from the white sand stratum mentioned above and was found lying flat in good context.  Secondly, and just as significant and unexpected as the first discovery, was a series of post molds in association with this pre-ceramic occupation at the site.  These post molds form an arc and four of them were clearly visible in the profile (photographs were taken and soil samples were taken).  These post molds point to an archaic occupation at the Blueberry site and the Newnan point is clear evidence that the site was visited by Archaic people around 5,000 years ago.

This newfound Archaic evidence pushes the timeline back for the site significantly and opens the door to a focused investigation on a sparse but significant Archaic occupation of the Blueberry site.  This discovery will make the Blueberry site one of the oldest sites in Highlands County and in all of south-central Florida.  The story of the site just got a lot longer!