SW069 Archaeologists, Anthropologists Study Remains of the Day at Tampa's old Fort Brooke Site

We recently explored the making of the Fort King Road, which connected Fort King in the north to Fort Brooke at Tampa Bay. In this episode we look at that terminus point, Fort Brooke. Why did the Army select that location? What was its purpose for building Fort Brooke? How important was the fort to the conduct of the Second Seminole War? What remains of the fort today and what was done with the human remains discovered during the cemetery excavation? What does all of this tell us about life at Tampa Bay in the 1830s? 

With us to address these questions is Dr. Robert J. Austin from Cultural Resources Consulting. As part of an archaeological team in the 1980s, Dr. Austin excavated Fort Brooke’s first cemetery, while working for then-Piper Archaeology, now Janus Research, from St. Petersburg.

A professional anthropologist for 40 years, Dr. Austin knows his way around the byzantine labyrinth of federal, state, and local laws and regulations focused on cultural resource heritage. These include Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, and its implementing regulations 36 CFR Part 800, as amended; Section 110 of the Act; the Archaeological Resource Protection Act (ARPA); the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA); and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as well as Chapters 267 and 872 of the Florida Statutes.

Dr. Bob Austin excavated in the portion of the fort that exists today under a downtown Tampa parking garage. Bronze plaque above commemorates that.

Era maps provide some visual representation of the fort's contours and content to aid in excavation.

 

In addition to maps and sketches, some have built three-D models of old Fort Brooke, or, how they imagined the old fort to look.

 

He is an expert on gun flints and barrel wells of the era. In addition to his work at Fort Brooke, Dr. Austin has directed over 700 cultural resource projects, authored over 500 technical reports, published over 40 professional papers, book chapters, and monographs, and has presented his research at numerous professional meetings and public forums. 

Dr. Austin is past President of the Florida Anthropological Society and is past editor of that organization’s journal, The Florida Anthropologist.  He is past President of the Florida Archaeological Council and also served as Vice President of that organization. He is recipient of numerous awards, grants and fellowships since earning his doctorate at the University of Florida in 1983.

 

Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 

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