Emily Chan
During the construction of a new road in 1982, a backhoe operator in Florida dug up an ancient burial site, although he didn’t know it at the time.
When he spotted a pale rock on the ground, he picked it up to examine it and realized the rock was actually a human skull. His accidental discovery triggered a thorough investigation into the area and became one of the most spectacular archaeological projects of the 20th century.
All in all, over 177 human remains dating back 7,000 to 8,000 years ago were unearthed from a peat-bottomed pond known as the Windover Bog.
The corpses were so well-preserved that some of them still even had brain tissue. The Windover archaeological site is among the most significant bog body sites in North America.
When scientists analyzed the DNA from the remains, they found a shared allele in the genome, indicating that the bodies were related.
Most of the bodies were buried on their sides in a flexed position and sunk to a depth of about three feet. Excavations at the bog lasted from 1984 to 1987, resulting in the discovery of 177 individuals who were of all different ages.
Decades after the initial excavations, researchers revealed that the people buried at Windover were from Asia but had migrated to North America.
However, they did not seem to be related to any existing Native American tribe or prehistoric peoples. So, they must’ve either gone extinct or their population was severely reduced before modern humans evolved.
These burials were preserved so well because of the peat at the bog. Peat is made of layers of decomposing organic materials, primarily vegetation. It provides an oxygen-free environment with little to no acidity that allows skeletons to survive for thousands of years.
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