UPCOMING SPEAKER PRESENTATION

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11  7:00-8:00 PM EST
How to Throw a Folk Festival in 10 Easy Steps
Dr. Dominick Tartaglia, State Folklorist for Florida and Director of the Florida Folklife Program

Every May, the Florida Folk Festival welcomes thousands of festival goers to White Springs, Florida for one of the nation's longest running celebrations of traditional music and arts. The story of the Florida Folk Festival is also the story of the history of ethnographic fieldwork in Florida and the Florida Folklife Program, housed in the Department of State and Tallahassee. State Folklorist Dom will speak about how he and his partners in other state and private agencies prepare for the Florida Folk Festival, which will chart the history of how Florida became a national powerhouse in studying traditions.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS SPEAKER AND GET ZOOM LINK

THE SEARCH FOR TAMPA BAY'S EARLIEST PEOPLE

AWIARE, in cooperation with the University of South Florida (USF), intends to conduct a multi-year, multi-institutional project to discover archaeological evidence of the earliest occupation of Florida’s west coast from submerged landscapes within Tampa Bay.

HELP US MEET OUR FUNDRAISING GOAL

A $12,500 grant from the Felburn Foundation and $5000 in private donations have brought us well over two-thirds of the way towards our goal of $20,000, which we intend to use to underwrite the first phase of research: to compile existing data related to now-submerged landscapes of Tampa Bay and use these data to identify locations with high preservation potential for intact archaeological deposits and important paleoenvironmental features.   The results of this initial study will lay the foundation for the next phase: to conduct remote sensing surveys and coring of potential site locations, leading, eventually, to the excavation of submerged sites.

We are reaching out to you because you have expressed interest in supporting our mission.  We hope you agree that investigating the earliest human occupation of Florida and its ancient environment is a worthwhile and significant scientific endeavor. 

We hope you will consider a tax-deductible donation to help support “The Search For Tampa Bay’s Earliest People”.

HOW TO DONATE

If you are interested in donating to AWIARE, please use the button below, or mail a check to:
Alliance for Weedon Island Archaeological Research and Education
c/o Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center
1500 Weedon Drive NE
St. Petersburg, FL 33702





NEWS & EVENTS

International Archaeology Day 2025

International Archaeology Day 2025

Pop-Up Exhibits from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Archaeology Talk from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. FREE EVENT, BUT REGISTERING HELPS US PLAN BETTER, REGISTER HERE > Explore a one-day exhibit of pre-Columbian artifacts from the Tampa Bay region and beyond! Archaeologists will illustrate the use of early stone and shell tools and their importance […]

THE SEARCH FOR TAMPA BAY’S EARLIEST PEOPLE

THE SEARCH FOR TAMPA BAY’S EARLIEST PEOPLE

  THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF TAMPA BAY During the 1960s & 1970s, local avocational archaeologists collected Paleoindian (ca. 11,000 years ago) through the Late Archaic (ca. 4500 years ago) artifacts from along the bay shore and from spoil and oyster shell dredged from Tampa Bay.  Marine geologists have shown that a large spring-fed, freshwater lake […]

JUNIOR ARCHAEOLOGY SUMMER CAMP 2024

JUNIOR ARCHAEOLOGY SUMMER CAMP 2024

AWIARE is planning an exciting new archaeology summer camp at Weedon Island Preserve designed for children 7-11 years old who are interested in exploring the past.  The camp is conducted by professional archaeologists and allow kids to experience archaeology first-hand through activities, experiments, hikes, and an excavation. The summer camp is designed for children with […]

Michael Francis Appointed to Florida Historical Commission, Honored by the King of Spain

Michael Francis Appointed to Florida Historical Commission, Honored by the King of Spain

A history professor known for his groundbreaking research and archival work on early Spanish Florida has been appointed to the Florida Historical Commission (FHC) by Governor Ron DeSantis. Michael Francis, the Hough Family Endowed Chair of Florida Studies at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus, was named to the commission along with four […]

HANDS-ON WEEDON

HANDS-ON WEEDON

AWIARE held its first Adult Archaeology Camp February 22 – 26, 2021. Eight participants spent a week of performing archaeological activities that included field and lab experiences at Weedon Island Preserve and informative site visits. The camp enjoyed great weather the entire week. Protocol was in place for Covid-19 restrictions at all times. On Monday, […]

New Radiocarbon Dates

New Radiocarbon Dates

Being able to date archaeological sites and components are critical to documenting cultural and environmental changes through time and, more importantly, how people responded to these changes.  Research supported by the AWIARE/Levett Foundation student grant has contributed new dates for the Tampa Bay region.  University of Florida Ph.D. candidate Trevor Duke, obtained radiocarbon dates from […]

AWIARE/Friends of Weedon Island Grant

AWIARE/Friends of Weedon Island Grant

The AWIARE Student Grants Committee selected Morgan Grieg, USFSP undergraduate student in history, to receive the 2020 AWIARE/FOWI Student Grant.  Morgan will receive $1250.00 to help support an eight-week research trip to Spain to conduct original archival research in Badajoz, Zafra, and Seville on the Hernando de Soto expedition.  Morgan is working under the supervision […]

AWIARE ENDOWMENT FUND

BE A PART
As we continue our quest to become a premiere research facility fostering scientific knowledge of our past requires expansion and growth of our current programs and facilities.

BE AN ADVOCATE 
Become part of a living time capsule.  From an individual donation to an endowment.  Each gift connects people to nature, to history, and to Tampa Bay's legacy.  A gift to the AWIARE Endowment Fund will help achieve our financial goal and support our mission of discovery, research, and education.  All gifts will grow in value through the Pinellas Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization.

See How What You Give Becomes Something We All Can Keep
Endowed funds provide a lasting source of support for AWIARE. Donors may give either outright or defer gifts to establish these funds.

The AWIARE Endowment Fund can be accessed via this QR code
or at pinellascf.org/AWIARE

 

FLORIDA'S WATERY REALMS

The Weedon Island Canoe is featured in a new book by University Press of Florida, Iconography and Wetsite Archaeology of Florida’s Watery Realms. The book includes a chapter written by Phyllis Kolianos and titled, “Wood Preservation Dilemmas of Florida’s Prehistoric Saltwater Sites: Key Marco and Weedon Island” which details the preservation of the canoe. This book edited by Ryan Wheeler and Joanna Ostapkowicz is part of the Ripley P. Bullen series, and explores new discoveries and reexamines existing artifacts to reveal the influential role of water in the daily lives of Florida’s early inhabitants.

To order a copy visit: www.upf.com

SPECIAL VIDEO PRESENTATION

Weedon Island Preserve, at approximately 3,700 acres, is an ecological jewel within an urban landscape on the shores of Old Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Florida. A refuge for native flora and fauna, Weedon Island is also one of Florida's most important cultural resources. Discover the rich human history of the Island that began thousands of years ago and witness how the environment and people support and shaped each other to produce the Preserve we know today.

This production was made possible through the support of the Friends of Weedon Island, an organization dedicated to the continuing education, protection, and preservation of the Weedon Island Preserve.