The current climate cycle (regardless of cause) has exposed a canoe,
an old steamship, a dredging barge, etc down in Florida. As lakes
recede in areas where droughts become frequent and extensive,
archeologists will have a lot of opportunities to sift through past
technologies and evidence of pre-Euro civilizations.

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Drought reveals human bones, other finds at Lake Okeechobee's bottom
By MATT SEDENSKY
AP
MIAMI (AP) - A Florida drought that has exposed parts of Lake
Okeechobee 's bottom also has been a boon to archaeologists , exposing
human remains, boats and other finds that could date back hundreds of
years.

Thousands of pieces of pottery, five boats and scores of human bone
fragments have been discovered as the lake - the second-largest
freshwater one in the continental United States, behind Lake Michigan
- reached a historically low level. It is the first time in years some
areas have been exposed, prompting archaeologists to scour the
lakebed.

"Right now, it's just a rush to identify things before they go back
under water," said Chris Davenport, the archaeologist for Palm Beach
County.

The state has alerted the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes of the bones,
but no decision has been made on their fate. No studies have been done
on the human remains, but State Archaeologist Ryan Wheeler said they
likely were 500 to 1,000 years old, possibly older.

Davenport said an examination of the style of pottery found in the
lakebed might tell more about the tribes who lived in the area than
the bones themselves because the human remains are so fragmented.

The boats include a steam-powered dredge believed to have been used to
dig a canal, a steam ship whose remains are scattered across a mile
and a half, a wooden motorized canoe, an early 1900s catfishing boat
with a large one-cylinder engine and a fifth boat so badly decayed it
is hard to determine its purpose.

Archaeologists have left most of their finds where they were found,
though an anchor, bottles, tools and some pottery have been excavated
from the massive lake, which is at its lowest level since officials
began keeping track in 1932. On Monday, it was about 8.96 feet (2.7
meters) deep, up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) below normal. The drought has
bared a rim around the lake, up to 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) wide at
some points.

Davenport said he considers it a once-in-a-lifetime experience to
examine the dry lakebed, but that with thieves seeking his finds, he
is left yearning for rain.

"I'm hoping that the rains come back," he said. "Once it's covered,
it's protected."