PO Box 25883 Sarasota FL 34277

A CHAPTER OF THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Archaeology: A Non-Renewable Resource
Preservation by Education and Legislation

In September 1986 several people who had taken classes in Florida Archaeology at Manatee Community College and Sarasota County Technical Institute were inspired to develop an organization dedicated to the preservation of Florida's historical and archaeological heritage. The specific purpose was to help “teach the public that archaeology is a nonrenewable resource and that its preservation must be enforced by education and legislation.”

The limestone, shells and sandy soil so important to Florida archaeology inspired one of the founding members, Don Ocker, to propose the name of our group. We “sift through layers of time” to discover and preserve our heritage.

With a grant from the State, Time Sifters members designed a brochure that explained Florida statutes 872.02 – 872.05, Florida's Unmarked Burial Law. This brochure was distributed to developers, contractors and interested individuals throughout Florida. It was updated and reissued for Florida Archaeology Week, October 1993, and Florida Archaeology Month, March 2001.

Time Sifters obtained another grant from the State to fund the writing of a brochure about archaeological preservation, Protecting the Past for the Future. It was distributed throughout Florida and reissued for Florida Archaeology Week, October 1993, and Florida Archaeology Week, February 1995. For these and other projects Time Sifters received Golden Gavel Awards from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in September 1989 and September 1991.

Time Sifters is a member of the Sarasota Coalition for Historic Preservation and worked with the Sarasota County Department of Historical Resources in its successful effort to obtain a preservation ordinance.

In 2001 and 2002 Time Sifters was the sponsor for the "Trail of the Lost Tribes on Florida’s Gulf Coast," a network of twenty-two public, private and educational organizations and archaeological sites that received grants from the Florida Humanities Council, Visit Florida, and the Duckwall Foundation. The Trail organized Walking in the Footsteps of the Ancients, a series of presentations by archaeologists in five Gulf Coast communities in 2002, and produced a brochure that promotes responsible cultural tourism.

Members of Time Sifters have presented seminars and conferences about archaeology and the preservation of our historical heritage to adult educational and service groups and to school classes. They have assisted at excavations of the Archaic Period shell midden at Historic Spanish Point in Osprey, Florida (Gulf Coast Heritage Association, Inc.) and at Little Salt Spring in central Sarasota County (University of Miami).

Time Sifters volunteers also have worked at Historic Spanish Point on the exhibit Window to the Past, and have assisted the Sarasota County Department of Historical Resources in organizing exhibits and events for Florida Archaeology Month.

 

MEETINGS

Time Sifters general meetings are at 7:00 PM the third Wednesday of the month from September through May (except December) at the Jack J. Geldbart Auditorium, Selby Public Library, 1331 First Street, Sarasota. The Board of Directors meets at 7:00 PM the second Wednesday of the month from August through May at 240 South Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota.

 

MEMBERSHIP

Individual: $20            Family: $30
Sustaining: $35         Student: $10

Make checks payable to Time Sifters, Inc. and mail to

Time Sifters
PO Box 25642
Sarasota FL 34883

or pay at meetings.

 

OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President: William Korp

Vice-President: Cornelia Futor

Secretary: Evelyn Mangie

Treasurer: Jack Brown

Directors:

Richard Andrews
Robert Bopp
Mary Edda Gamson
John Jaffer
Dr. Patrice A. McGrath
Joe Booth, Honorary
Marion Almy, Ex Officio

Representative to the Florida Anthropological Society: Richard Andrews

Representative to the Sarasota Coalition for Historic Preservation: Nathalie McCulloch

Advisor: Daniel Hughes, Sarasota County Archaeologist