Time Sifters Archaeology Society Newsletter June 2019

JUNE-2019 PRESERVATION EDUCATION RESEARCH INSPIRE Dear Member: We are all taking a break over the summer to enjoy Florida and do some traveling. Personally, I’m going to England for a month, Sherry is going to France, Don is heading to Italy, and Steve is going to India. There should be some great photos for the Holiday Party. The newsletter will continue each month to keep you up to date with what is going on in our area. We start up again on September 18th when Dr. David Miano will talk to us about “The Great Pyramid of Giza: Separating Fact From Fiction”. I hope you have a good summer. We are always open for compliments and suggestions. Thank you for being a member of Time Sifters. Darwin “Smitty” Smith, President [email protected] Archaeologists You Should Know Hiram Bingham III Machu Picchu & the Inca Civilization. Hiram Bingham III was born in Manco Capac II, who fought All photos Library of Congress Honolulu, Hawaii, on November 19, against the Spanish conquerors 1875 to Protestant missionaries, in the 1530s. Prospects for locating it On July 24, 1911, Arteaga led Clara Brewster and Hiram Bingham II. were poor: not even the Spanish Bingham to Machu Picchu. They He earned a B.A. degree from Yale conquistadores had discovered it. climbed up to the ruins through a University in 1898, a degree from In Cuzco, Bingham was urged to persistent drizzle of rain. Only the University of California, start his search in the vicinity of Bingham, Arteaga and the interpreter Berkeley in 1900, and his Ph. D. the Urubamba River valley. made the exhausting two hour from Harvard University in 1905. Bingham and his party of seven climb up the mountain to a small He taught history and politics at left Cuzco by mule and on foot to hut occupied by farmers who Harvard. Bingham has been a small settlement called Mandor were growing crops in the area. A considered one of the pioneers of Pampa, near Aguas Calientes, small boy showed them some teaching and research on Latin where a local farmer named buildings close by. They soon American history in the U.S. He Melchor Arteaga, told him that came to what Bingham called “an was not a trained archaeologist there were extensive ruins high unexpected sight, a great flight of but an avid explorer. in the nearby mountains called In 1908, he was a delegate to the Machu Picchu, meaning “Old Continued on page 3 ... First Pan American Scientific Mountain”. Congress at Santiago, Chile. On his way home via Peru, a local prefect convinced him to visit the pre-Columbian city of Choquequirao. As a result of this trip, in July 1911 he organized the 1911 Yale Peruvian Expedition, a Yale archaeological expedition whose main objective was to find Vilcabamba, the secret mountain stronghold refuge of the Inca

Archaeological Consultants, Inc. (ACI) A Homegrown Business Marion Almy, Founding Principal and President; Time Sifters Board Member I like to think of Archaeological widen US 41 (Fowler St.) in light gray soil; they proved to be Consultants, Inc. (ACI) as a downtown Ft. Myers near a historic hexagonal in shape and you home-grown business because marker which stated: “… when guessed it- coffins, or parts of we began at the kitchen table – Fowler Street was cut through, coffins. Through more research my brother, an attorney incorporated the graves [Seminole Wars/Civil and excavation (30 days under a the company (April 1976), and War; 1841 -1868] were moved to big tent) we found and exhumed my husband, an accountant set the civilian cemetery…” Fortunately, parts of 17 individuals and artifacts us up with the tax man and did FDOT was suspicious! Through including military buttons, coffin the books. Today, we have ACI’s on-going contract, we were nails, lead shot, broken grave more than 25 employees working tasked to conduct extensive markers, and belt buckles. from our Sarasota, Tallahassee, archival research and shovel test Clearly, the town’s 1888 efforts and St. Augustine offices. And within the landscaping and to remove cemetery occupants much to my surprise, it turns parking lot which were to be had failed. Today, the exhumed out that archaeology is only a removed. For four days we labored, remains (soldiers - mostly young portion of the cultural resource finding nothing; on the afternoon of men, an infant and possibly two management (CRM) business. Of the 5th day, FDOT brought in young children) are reburied at course, I had no idea we were earth-moving heavy equipment Ft. Barrancas National Cemetery in entering the CRM business, I to ensure there was nothing. As the Pensacola, where some of the thought we would go through life skilled operator skimmed the troops were originally buried. There digging up Florida. In reality, we surface of the exposed ground, is no doubt that due to the large do a lot of architectural history, slowly stains appeared in the size of the cemetery, there are National Register (NR) nominations, more burials. preservation planning, and recording buildings before they are demolished for newer and bigger things. We work for developers, the FDOT, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Forest Service, NASA, HUD, cell tower companies, oil companies, as well as cities and counties. Federal laws trickle down to state, county and local regulations which require surveys before highways, bridges, cell towers, offices, and houses can be built. Everyone needs us, but nobody wants to pay us – until they discover they can’t get their permits unless the State Historic Preservation Officer says the project will not harm or destroy any archaeological sites, historic buildings, features, or landscapes that are eligible for listing in the NR. ACI conducts background research, shovel testing, excavations, and writes reports for the SHPO Hexagonal stain with bone and Public interest and media attention were always to review, concur, and issue a metal artifacts present. letter so a project can move forward. Archaeologists excavate multiple So, there is an unlimited burial features amount of work. Companies like ACI are all over the US, and the world. A favorite story: A number of years ago FDOT was going to

Continued from page 1 ... Hiram Bingham III beautifully constructed stone terraces, perhaps a hundred of them, each hundreds of feet long and 10 feet high.” They continued along one of the terraces: “Suddenly I found myself confronted with the walls of ruined houses built of the finest quality of Inca stonework.” The ruins were overgrown by trees, bamboo thickets and tangles of vines and covered with moss, but the white granite walls were “carefully cut and exquisitely fitted together” and the scene “fairly took my breath away.” Bingham returned to Peru in All Photos Library of Congress 1912, 1914 and 1915 with the support of Yale and the National of Vitcos and Espíritu Pampa, a In 1922, Bingham entered politics Geographic Society. In 1912 Bingham larger ruin that was thoroughly and was elected lieutenant governor of led the expedition that excavated excavated in 1964 by the American Connecticut (1922–24). After Machu Picchu, and he returned archaeologist Gene Savoy. winning the governorship in 1924, he there in 1915. He became Archaeologists today believe this resigned to fill a vacancy in the convinced that Machu Picchu was site to be Vilcabamba. Bingham’s U.S. Senate. He was reelected to a Vilcabamba, and it wasn’t until work was the key catalyst for the full term in 1926, after which he the mid-20th century that his archaeological investigation of devoted himself to business interests. claim was seriously disputed. He sites in the Andes and South On June 6, 1956, Bingham died was fascinated by the mystery and America. at his Washington, D.C. home. He magic of the place, with the great Bingham’s publications on South is interred at Arlington National snowy peaks looming above it. America include Inca Land Cemetery in Virginia. Returning in succeeding years he (1922), Machu Picchu, a Citadel Sources … Wikipedia, Encyclopedia took thousands of objects to the of the Incas (1930), and Lost City Britannica, History Today.com. United States for study and of the Incas (1948). safekeeping. Peru has long sought the return of these artifacts, including mummies, ceramics and bones that Bingham had excavated and exported from the Machu Picchu site. On September 14, 2007, an agreement was made between Yale University and the Peruvian government for the return of 4,000 of the objects. On April 12, 2008, the Peruvian government stated that it had revised previous estimates of artifacts to 40,000. Bingham’s additional work in the All photos Smitty Smith region revealed the important sites Officers: Board of Directors Copyright © 2019 Darwin \"Smitty\" Smith, President Time SiftersArchaeologySociety,Inc., Sherry Svekis, Vice President Directors: Evelyn Mangie All rights reserved. TBA, Secretary Marion Almy Don Nelson We send newsletters to people Laura Harrison, Treasurer Dorothy Cascio who have attended or expressed Karen Jensen, Membership Steven Derfler interestin our lecturesand given us their email address.

Membership Speakers & Events Calendar Lifetime: $350 Unless noted, all will be held at 6:00 PM Individual: $25 Selby Library, 1331 First St., Sarasota 34236 Family: $35 Student: $10 September 18 The Great Pyramid of Giza: Separating Fact from Fiction. Pay online at: Dr. David Miano WWW.TimeSifters.org Or mail checks to: October 16 Time Sifters, Inc. The Cow Cavalry: Florida Food for the Confederacy. PO Box 5283 Lindsey Morrison Sarasota, FL. 34277 November 20 Preserving a Lost WWII Battlefield off of North Carolina Dave Alberg January 22, 2020 Archaeology Year in Review: A look at what was talked about in 2019. Smitty Smith Time Sifters Archaeology Society P. O. Box 5283, Sarasota, FL 34277