This Friday night, a woman who was ritualistically buried in Brevard County more than 7,000 years ago will be brought back to life.
Using some of the same forensic reconstruction techniques used to identify modern crime victims from skeletal remains, artist Brian Owens has created the Windover Woman sculpture that will be unveiled this weekend.
“This was a fun project,” says Owens. “I usually work in bronze, so this more lifelike silicone material was a new challenge for me.”
Owens had measurements and computer generated images created from scans of a Windover skull to guide his work. The resulting bust sculpture will allow visitors to look into the eyes of a prehistoric Floridian.
In the mid-1980s, nearly 200 remarkably well-preserved human burials together with artifacts from the Archaic Age were discovered near the intersection of I-95 and SR50. The remains were wrapped in the oldest woven cloth found in North America. The anaerobic environment and the Ph balance of the pond cemetery allowed even brain matter to be preserved in 91 of the burials.
“The Windover site is actually the most important burial site in North America,” says Patrisha Meyers, director of the Brevard Museum of History and Natural Science and the Florida Historical Society Archaeological Institute.
“One of the things that make it so significant is the unique type of burial. It’s a pond burial; we don’t see that as often, and this is the most complete population that has been excavated from this period, about 7,000 to 8,000 years ago. They were able to excavate 168 individuals ranging in age from infancy to old age, and because of that, we were able to learn a great deal about these early lifeways.”
The event Friday evening from 6pm to 9pm is a fundraiser for the Brevard Museum of History and Natural Science and the Florida Historical Society Archaeological Institute that is based there.
The $75 VIP ticket includes live Native American music, gourmet food, beer and wine. Attendees will have one-on-one time with Owens, as well as archaeologists who have preserved and studied the Windover materials. They will be the first to see the improved and expanded “People of Windover” exhibition, including the Windover Woman sculpture.
Thanks to a grant from the Florida Humanities Council, the public is invited to the museum at no expense this Saturday to attend the panel discussion “Windover Archaeology: The Next Generation.”
Panelists will include Dr. Rochelle Marrinan, Windover archaeologist and chair of the anthropology department at Florida State University; Dr. Geoffrey Thomas, specialist faculty member in the FSU anthropology department; and Dr. Rachel Wentz, author of the book “Life and Death at Windover: Excavations of a 7,000 Year-Old Pond Cemetery.”
For the past three decades, most of the Windover remains and artifacts have been housed at Florida State University in Tallahassee. During that time, outstanding research has been done that expands our understanding of Archaic Age people.
“It’s really done a good job in terms of interacting faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students, because everyone’s interested in slightly different things,” says Geoffrey Thomas. “The more individuals with different interests that branch out and look at different things, access different diseases, different health statuses, demographics, growth and development, every new study really does broaden the general picture of the whole population.”
DNA testing was in its infancy when the Windover Dig took place, and other technological advancements have been made. Study of the Windover people and artifacts will continue to provide new information about our prehistoric past.
“There are a lot of different kinds of techniques that archaeologists are using these days,” says Rochelle Marrinan. “At the moment, I think the most pressing need is the genetic one. We’re hopeful that there will be new techniques that will allow us to retrieve material that can be genetically used to sequence this population, each individual if possible. That will give us the most information, and also show their relatedness to others in Florida.”
The improved and expanded People of Windover exhibition includes a refreshed recreation of the archaeological dig, a new interactive lab with “hands-on” activities, new interpretative panels, a new video presentation, and the Windover Woman sculpture.
More information about “Windover Weekend” is available at myfloridahistory.org.
The Windover Dig in Titusville, Florida was one of the most important archaeological discoveries in the world.
Nearly 200 ritualistically buried bodies were discovered, wrapped in the oldest woven cloth found in North America. The amazingly well-preserved remains were determined to be between 7,000 and 8,000 years old, making them 3,200 years older than King Tutankhamen and 2,000 years older than the Great Pyramid in Egypt.
The initial discovery of ancient human remains occurred in 1982, during construction of the Windover Farms housing development near the intersection of I-95 and State Road 50. Three archaeological digs were conducted between 1984 and 1986, and the fascinating results of those excavations attracted international attention.
The only comprehensive exhibition exploring the Windover People is at the Brevard Museum of History and Natural Science in Cocoa. The Florida Historical Society Archaeological Institute is in the process of significantly expanding and improving the educational, interactive display.
The Brevard Museum is presenting a “Windover Weekend” November 13 and 14. The exhibit preview Friday evening will include gourmet hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer, live music, and special guests. The exhibit opening will continue on Saturday with a panel discussion called “Windover Archaeology: The Next Generation.” Tickets for all of the activities are available now at www.myfloridahistory.org.
While building upon and refreshing elements of the existing Windover People exhibition, this substantive expansion includes a new, functional archaeology lab for students and visitors to have a hands-on experience, a new video about the Windover Archaeological Dig, and the unveiling of Windover Woman, an artistic interpretation by sculptor Brian Owens based on forensic reconstruction of a Windover skull. You will be able to look into the eyes of a person who lived in Florida more than 7,000 years ago.
“Brian Owens is making great progress on his bust of the Windover Woman, and I feel lucky to have had a few sneak peeks at his work in progress,” says Patty Meyers, director of the Brevard Museum of History and Natural Science, and the Florida Historical Society Archaeological Institute.
“I also recently had the opportunity to visit Florida State University and meet with Drs. Thomas and Marrinan to discuss the loan of Windover artifacts for the exhibit,” says Meyers. “We are still working out the details, but we will be able to share some amazing items with our visitors.”
Visitors to the Brevard Museum over the past few decades will remember that the Windover exhibit features a recreation of the archaeological dig. That portion of the exhibit has been made even more realistic, and a new recreation of an archaeology lab is being added. The lab display is modeled after the area at FSU where work is conducted on the Windover artifacts, from the style of lab table used to the linoleum flooring.
“For every hour an archaeologist spends in the field, approximately five or six hours are spent in the lab,” says Meyers. “With a background in human osteology, I have spent a great many hours in the lab. I am excited to be using this experience to design hands-on activities, which will allow visitors to discover how the secrets of the Windover population were revealed through osteological analysis.”
With only a couple of exceptions, the Windover People were ritualistically buried and placed in the same fetal position, lying on the left side. The heads were pointed west, with their faces to the north. The deceased were wrapped in what archaeologists believe is the oldest existing woven fabric in the world. Several branches were lashed together to form a tripod that held each body submerged underwater, creating a pond cemetery.
The anaerobic environment of the peat bog combined with a remarkably favorable Ph balance in the pond allowed for exceptionally well-preserved burials. Archaeologists discovered that ninety-one of the skulls uncovered contained intact brain matter. The stomach contents of one ancient woman indicated that her last meal consisted of fish and berries. DNA tests on these Archaic Period remains proved that the same families used the site as a burial ground for more than a century.
Experience “The People of Windover” as the improved and expanded exhibition opens at the Brevard Museum of History and Natural Science, 2201 Michigan Avenue, Cocoa.
