In 2013 The Old Ice Age Sites Committee partnered with Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute of Erie, Pennsylvania, to begin the excavation project at the Vero Man site. They brought years of expertise, experience, and a level of excavation work to Indian River County that were unprecedented. They began excavation in 2014, also providing analysis of all findings, and continued for two seasons.

In 2016 our project continued for a third season with a new partner, Florida Atlantic University (FAU), who begins oversight of excavation and analysis by FAU’s Harbor Branch and Department of Anthropology. Our original Principal Investigator Dr. James Adovasio and on site lead archaeologist Dr. Andy Hemmings remain in their positions as we begin a new season of work

Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six-county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of three signature themes – marine and coastal issues, biotechnology and contemporary societal challenges – which provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.

The Department of Anthropology at Florida Atlantic University teaches and conducts research in cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, and archaeology. The Department offers both Bachelors and Masters degrees. The faculty conduct field research in Central America, South America, North America, South Asia, and Central Africa. Their specialties range from medical anthropology to primatology.

 Founded in 1971, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University is a research community of marine scientists, engineers, educators and other professionals focused on Ocean Science for a Better World. The institute drives innovation in ocean engineering, at-sea operations, drug discovery and biotechnology from the oceans, coastal ecology and conservation, marine mammal research and conservation, aquaculture, ocean observing systems and marine education. For more information, visit www.fau.edu/hboi.

 New Partnership - Team Members

Dr. James Adovasio, world renowned

paleo-archaeologist, is Principal Investigator at the Vero Site.

Dr. James M. Adovasio

 

Dr. Andy Hemmings

 

Dr. Andy Hemmings, Florida

paleo-archaeologist, received his Ph.D.

from the University of Florida, and is

lead Archaeologist at the Vero Site

 

Dr. Cli­fford T. Brown

 

Dr. Clifford T. Brown, Associate

Professor in FAU's Anthropology

Department, is an archaeologist

trained at Yale and Tulane Universities.

He specializes in prehistory of Mexico

and Central America and is a scienti‑c

advisor at the Vero Site.

 

Dr. Gregory O’Corry-Crowe

 

Dr. Gregory O’Corry-Crowe, Research

Professor and lead for FAU's Harbor

Branch Population Biology and

Behavioral Ecology program. His lab

houses the ancient DNA laboratory

and this sophisticated technology is

being used to analyze animal bones

from the Vero Site.

 

Dr. Megan Davis

 

Dr. Megan Davis,Florida Atlantic

UniversityHarbor Branch Interim

Executive Director and Research

Professor, heads up the Florida Atlantic University team

performing excavation and analysis, and overseeing

administration of grants for the project.

Additional Team Collaborations

 Dr. Robert Lowery

Dr. Robert Lowery holds a Masters and PhD in Biology
from Florida International University, where he studied human genetic diversity and archaic hominin genetics. He is sampling environmental DNA, (eDNA) from multiple areas at the Old Vero site. Read more about his work on this website under OUR FIRST TWO YEARS