Gulf Archaeology Research Institute

10/29/2026

Marion County residents! Vote yes to fund our wonderful local parks!

10/12/2026

Gulf Archaeology Presents! 👨‍🏫 Take a look at our upcoming class on the Seminole Wars.

This fall, experience the history of Florida as you never have before. Let Gary Ellis, Director Emeritus of Gulf Archaeology Research Institute, take you on a historical trip to the era of the Seminole Wars, one of the longest and costliest wars in the history of the United States.

Learn what recent archaeological excavations and insights have revealed about the causes, conduct, and effects of the conflict, focusing on the origins of the war and the realities of how the historical record matches up to the archaeological record.

Thursdays, October 22, 29 & November 5
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
St. Martins Marsh Aquatic Preserve
3266 N Sailboat Ave, Crystal River

$85 for all three sessions. Registration required; space is limited.
Register: tinyurl.com/gari-hist2
Questions: [email protected]

09/28/2026

Confused about El Niño? GARI can help! 🌦️

This summer brought record quiet in the Atlantic — as of late September, not a single hurricane has formed in the basin. The reason? A very strong El Niño already in progress, producing the wind shear that tears tropical systems apart before they can develop. But don't get too comfortable. GARI Contributing Scientist and retired Air Force meteorologist Ken Nash explains why the same El Niño that protected us from hurricanes this summer is likely to bring significant rainfall and flooding to west central Florida this fall — and what to watch for as we move into winter. Download Ken's full Summer Summary and Fall 2026 Weather Outlook via the link below.

09/23/2026

GARI is out in the community this Friday! 🏛️

GARI Director Emeritus, Gary Ellis, presents "The Origins of the Seminole Wars: Two Perspectives on Expectations and Outcomes at the Ocala Elks Lodge," examining one of Florida's most consequential historical conflicts through an anthropological lens.

This event is open to Elks members only, 🫎 but it's a great example of the kind of community outreach GARI loves to do. We're always happy to bring Florida history and archaeology to schools, civic organizations, clubs, and community groups throughout the region. If you'd like to have us come to you, reach out — we'd love to talk. 🏺

09/17/2026

How refined! 🤵‍♂️ Can you believe soldiers used these fancy dishes on the frontier in Florida?

Refined earthenwares are ceramics whose paste consist of highly milled clay with few inclusions and often with a measure of kaolin clay to provide a smooth textured clay base that will readily conform to a precise mold. Often called “China,” they are uniform in appearance and when fired at high temperatures produce plates, bowls, cups or platters of consistent quality suitable for fine decoration. 🥣🍽️ The officers and men stationed at Fort King had access to high quality refined earthenwares either from home or from trading posts or itinerant traders. Much of the “China” at Fort King was English in origin and had a variety of surface patterns such as “Chinoiserie,” red, blue, black, and pink/purple transfer prints on whitewares, and shell and scalloped edged whitewares and pearlwares, striped or banded pearlwares, and mocha wares. 🍶 City of Ocala - Government Fort King Heritage Foundation

08/27/2026

Did you know that even a shallow well is this many deep? 😲😲😲

Each of these 8 pipes is 21 feet long, for a total depth of 168 feet below the surface. Talk about ground disturbing events! These trained professionals are in the process of "abandoning" this well, which requires removing these pipes and filling the hole with hole plug and concrete.

Let this serve as your friendly reminder that whenever ground is disturbed in a State or Federal Park or a historic site, a qualified archaeologist must be consulted to make sure any cultural or historical material is preserved. 🪏

08/20/2026

Thanks for the promotion of the book. All the authors deserve a huge round of applause.

The latest edition of our quarterly newsletter, The Foundation Report, is out now. Would you like to receive our newsletters? Visit www.seminolewars.org to learn more about how you can join and help support our organization. Thank you!

08/18/2026

Not every project goes according to plan — and that's as true today as it was thousands of years ago. 🤦‍♀️

This is an unfinished biface point or tool, made from Hawthorn group chert. The maker probably got about halfway through when this large fossil inclusion at the base of the point ruined his project. That kind of flaw makes knapping unpredictable and risky. Whoever was making this made a decision to give up and move on.

Further analysis may reveal wear patterns suggesting the tool was used anyway: unfinished, imperfect, but functional enough. Sometimes you work with what you have. 🔨

Thousands of years later, we're still finding evidence of prehistoric peoples' crafting and making skills. On the good days and the bad.

Florida State Parks CPPI Watson Construction Company

08/13/2026

How do you figure out the shape of a desperate last stand from 1835? The ground still knows.🪏🕵️‍♂️

GARI founder Gary Ellis does exactly that in his chapter of This Land, These Men: Soldiers, Seminoles and Dade's Battle of 1835 in History and Memory — examining the archaeology of Dade Battlefield State Park, including what the soil and shot distribution reveal about the shape of the soldiers' final defensive breastwork. The archaeology is still ongoing, and still answering questions nearly 190 years later.

Gary's chapter is one of eight in this landmark volume — 14 years in the making📆, 540 pages📖, covering every angle of the battle that opened the Second Seminole War: eyewitness accounts, Seminole perspectives, the fate of individual survivors, and the park's own complex modern history. Frank Laumer, who devoted his life to this researching this battle, contributed his final chapter before his passing in 2019.

A remarkable book, and we're proud to have Gary's work in it. Available on Amazon — link in comments.