Discover history at Byrd Hammock
By Dr. Judy Bense
September 22, 2025 at 7:22 AM CDT
In the thick coastal woodlands south of Tallahassee lie the remains of an ancient Native American village and mounds.
Nestled within a hardwood hammock and close to the marshy Gulf coast, is the Byrd Hammock site. There are two artificial rings of discarded shells and other debris — a couple hundred feet across - on which people lived for over 1,000 years between 100 BC and 1,000 AD. Each of the rings was built and occupied during two periods that archaeologists have named Swift Creek and Weeden Island. The rings were raised living platforms containing the remains of everyday life such as broken pottery, bone tools, and food remains, especially shells. Associated with each ring is an artificial mound of sand that was a raised cemetery for the elite who were buried there.
(480x759, AR: 0.6324110671936759)
I am especially attached to the Byrd Hammock site because as a young graduate archaeology student at Florida State University, I tested and mapped the northern ring for my Master’s Thesis. Today, it is protected and open to the public.
Unearthing Florida is a project of WUWF Public Media, the Florida Public Archaeology Network(FPAN), and its founder, Dr. Judith Bense, since 1998. FPAN's Michael Thomin is a contributor to the program. WUWF's Sandra Averhart is the executive producer.
Nestled within a hardwood hammock and close to the marshy Gulf coast, is the Byrd Hammock site. There are two artificial rings of discarded shells and other debris — a couple hundred feet across - on which people lived for over 1,000 years between 100 BC and 1,000 AD. Each of the rings was built and occupied during two periods that archaeologists have named Swift Creek and Weeden Island. The rings were raised living platforms containing the remains of everyday life such as broken pottery, bone tools, and food remains, especially shells. Associated with each ring is an artificial mound of sand that was a raised cemetery for the elite who were buried there.
(480x759, AR: 0.6324110671936759)
I am especially attached to the Byrd Hammock site because as a young graduate archaeology student at Florida State University, I tested and mapped the northern ring for my Master’s Thesis. Today, it is protected and open to the public.
Unearthing Florida is a project of WUWF Public Media, the Florida Public Archaeology Network(FPAN), and its founder, Dr. Judith Bense, since 1998. FPAN's Michael Thomin is a contributor to the program. WUWF's Sandra Averhart is the executive producer.