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'Old Vero' Dig Unearths Answers to Centuries-old Questions

Photo: Andy Hemming
Researchers at the Old Vero site

The oldest human remains in North America were found  in South Florida at the Old Vero dig site near modern-day Vero Beach. This winter, researchers are undertaking their fourth excavation to answer a century-old mystery: just how old are the site's earliest finds?

Those items are a treasure trove of Ice Age animals, human remains, and artifacts. The latest findings include 13,000-year-old prehistoric bison bones and a portion of a giant Ice Age armadillo whose closest genetic relative is the pink fairy armadillo.
 

Friday at 1 p.m. on Gulf Coast Live, OVIASC archeologist Andy Hemmings joins the show to discuss the site's history, ice-age animals and new discoveries as they researchers dig into some of the most promising land at the site.
 

Also joining the program is Sara Ayers-Rigsby, the Southwest Regional Director of the Florida Public Archeology Network, to explain the Old Vero site's connections to Clovis points and other ancient history in Southwest Florida.

Matthew Smith is a reporter and producer of WGCU’s Gulf Coast Live.
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