Cutler Fossil Site facts for kids

The Cutler Fossil Site is a really cool place near Palmetto Bay, Florida, south of Miami. It's a special kind of hole in the ground called a sinkhole. Scientists have found amazing things here, like bones from ancient animals that lived during the Pleistocene Ice Age. They also found bones and tools from early humans, including Paleo-Indians and people from the Archaic period. This site helps us learn a lot about what Florida was like thousands of years ago.

Discovering the Ancient Site

The Cutler Fossil Site was first found by accident in 1979. Some people were looking for wood to make knife handles. They found some very hard pieces and showed them to an archaeologist. The archaeologist realized they were fossilized horse teeth!

Protecting the Site

The discovery was kept quiet at first. This was so archaeologists could plan a proper dig. But before they could start, someone dug illegally in the sinkhole. This person took fossils and tools and messed up the site. Luckily, most of the stolen items were later found and returned.

The land where the sinkhole is located was part of the Charles Deering Estate. The estate owners didn't want the site to be called "historically significant." This label would have protected the area from new buildings. Eventually, Miami-Dade County bought the site. Now, it's a protected part of the Charles Deering Estate Park.

Exploring the Sinkhole

The Cutler Fossil Site is on the Miami Rock Ridge. This ridge is made of a type of rock called karstitic limestone. The site is about 5 metres (16 ft) above today's sea level. It's also a couple of kilometers from Biscayne Bay.

Thousands of years ago, during the late Pleistocene, the area was much higher. It was about 100 metres (330 ft) or more above sea level. The ocean was also many kilometers away. The sinkhole itself is about 8 metres (26 ft) by 10 metres (33 ft) wide. Before digging started, the bottom of the sinkhole was about 7 feet (2.1 m) below the ground around it. Scientists have found that the fossil layer goes at least 4 metres (13 ft) deep. It even goes below the water level!

The Dig Begins

Archaeologists dug at the Cutler Fossil Site in 1985 and 1986. The owners of the Deering Estate helped pay for the work. Robert S. Carr led the excavation. He got help from the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy and the Florida Museum of Natural History.

They set up a grid of 32 squares, each 1 meter by 1 meter. They dug each square until they reached the water level. This was about 6 feet (1.8 m) below the original surface. First, they had to remove soil that had been recently disturbed. This disturbed soil was up to 2 feet (0.61 m) deep. After removing it, they could start their careful excavation.

Ancient Animal Discoveries

Thousands of fossil bones were found in the sinkhole. These bones tell us about many different animals that lived long ago.

Types of Animals Found

• Mammals: 47 different kinds, including 16 that are now extinct. Three others no longer live in Florida.
• Birds: 51 different kinds, with seven that are extinct.
• Reptiles: Nine different kinds.
• Amphibians: Seven different kinds.
• Fish: Five different kinds.

What the Animals Tell Us

The mix of animals found suggests what the area was like in the late Pleistocene. The sinkhole probably held water for part of the year. It was also near different types of environments. These included hardwood hammocks, pinelands, marshes, grasslands, and the sea coast.

Ice Age Giants

Many large Ice Age animals, known as Pleistocene megafauna, were found here. These include:

• Tapirs
• Horses
• Columbian mammoth
• American mastodon
• Camels (Paleolama and Hemiauchenia)
• Bison antiquus (an ancient bison)
• Dire wolf
• Spectacled bears (Tremarctos floridanus and Tremarctos ornatus)
• Florida (or American) lion (Panthera atrox)
• A saber-toothed cat (Smilodon fatalis)
• Jaguar

Ancient Birds

Birds found include an extinct caracara (Milvago reardi) and an extinct hawk-eagle (Spizaetus grinnelli). The California condor was also found here.

A Den for Predators

The sinkhole was likely used as a den by dire wolves and jaguars. Scientists found bones from 42 individual dire wolves. Most of these were young wolves.

Human Traces and Tools

Scientists also found human bones, teeth, and tools at the sinkhole. These were found in the same layers as the bones of Ice Age animals. This suggests that humans lived at the site around the same time as these ancient animals.

Evidence of Human Activity

Just finding bones close together doesn't prove humans and animals lived at the same time. So, scientists looked for signs that humans had changed the animal bones. They found about 800 burned bones and bone pieces. It's unlikely that natural fires happened in the sinkhole. This means the burned bones were probably from human activity.

Most of the burned bones were from animals that still live in Florida today. But some were from extinct animals. These included a mammoth, an extinct armadillo (Dasypus bellus), a paleolama, and a horse. Some burned bones were also from either a coyote or a domestic dog. Coyotes only returned to Florida in the last 100 years.

Ancient Tools

Tools were found in the same layers as the burned bones. These included shells from the ocean that were shaped into tools. Many stone tools were also found. Some tools were made from local limestone. Others were made from chert, a type of rock brought from central Florida quarries.

The stone spear points found at the site are very old. They are called Bolen Beveled, Dalton, and Greenbriar points. These types of points date back to 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.

Human Remains

Bones and teeth from at least five different people were found in the Cutler sinkhole. Some of these people seem to have been buried. Three were adults, including an older male and a presumed female. One was a child, about three or four years old.

Some of the human bones were also burned. This raises the possibility of cremation or even cannibalism. Scientists also found what they believe are ancient campfires, or "hearths," from the Paleo-Indian period. These hearths were found at the same level as the Paleo-Indian tools.

Scientists used Radiocarbon dating on charcoal from two of these hearths. The results showed a date of about 10,875 years ago (9320 BCE). This helps us understand just how long ago people were living at the Cutler Fossil Site.