Education is about discovery, and FAU researchers have been invited by the Old Vero Ice Age Site Committee to be a partner in one of the biggest discoveries of all time: the Old Vero Man archaeological project, which is producing evidence that human beings lived in Florida 14,000 years ago, during the Late Pleistocene era – some 8,000 years earlier than they were previously believed to have migrated to North America. Work has been under way at the site for the past two years under the direction of renowned archaeologists Drs. James M. Adovasio and Andy Hemmings. They are joining FAU to continue their work in collaboration with colleagues in the Department of Anthropology and the ancient DNA lab in FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute.

The Old Vero Man site has been in existence for more than 100 years, ever since a construction crew unearthed fossilized bones while digging a canal in 1913. In the absence of a way to positively date the bones, archaeologists of the day argued about their probable age. Today’s technology holds the key to unlocking that secret and providing new information about the lives of the first Floridians. We’re very proud that FAU is taking a leadership role in this important partnership project. The 2016 dig will start on Feb. 3 and be in operation through early May.