OCTOBER 8, 2026 7PM EST
Shellworks, Solstices, and Seasonal Gatherings at the Cedar Point North Site
Victoria Hayes, Ph.D. student, University of Florida
Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/CGCoct2026
Located on a barrier island in Jacksonville, the Cedar Point North (CPN) site features a sprawling array of shell mounds, ridges, and arcs dating to the local St. Johns II phase (940-1300 CE). From 2023 to 2025, the University of North Florida, in collaboration with the National Park Service, sampled shell-bearing and non-shell contexts at the site. In light of the recent discovery that several of these complex shellworks were intentionally built to reference specific astronomical events, this presentation explores CPN’s significance at both site and regional scales.
Victoria Hayes is a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida. She received a BA in Anthropology from the University of North Florida in 2024 and her MA from the University of Florida in 2026. Her research centers on the local St. Johns II phase of northeastern Florida.
NOVEMBER 12, 2026 7PM EST
Shelter Through the Storms: Ancient Community and Place on the North Coast of Borikén
Eric Rodriguez-Delgado, PhD Candidate, University of California, San Diego
Zoom link: https://tinyurl.com/CGCnov2026
The North Atlantic is no stranger to the transformative power and destruction brought by hurricanes and other extreme weather events. As global conditions are projected to increase the intensity and frequency of these events, how will our communities navigate this changing world? This lecture approaches this question through the archaeology of Tierras Nuevas, a pre-Columbian ceremonial complex situated on the north-central coast of Borikén.
DECEMBER 10, 2026 7PM EST
Chronology Building and Artifact Analyses to Understand the Earliest Occupants of the Florida Keys
Dr. Traci Ardren, Professor of Anthropology, University of Miami
Zoom link: https://tinyurl.com/CGCASdec2026
Cultural resources in the Florida Keys are experiencing accelerated threats of disturbance and sea level rise, creating an urgent need for greater understanding of these cultural sites. This talk will present the results of a suite of new analyses on materials recovered from four Ancestral (pre-European contact) sites in the Keys. Extensive new carbon 14 dating, ceramic petrography, hydrological research, artifact sourcing and faunal analyses provide a much deeper understanding of cultural developments in the Keys. I will summarize this new research in order to explore the historical ecology of early life in the Keys and situate the occupants of this unique region within the better documented political organization of the Calusa and Tequesta areas.
SEPTEMBER 10, 2026 7PM EST
Assembling an Anthology of Florida Literature; or, all of the stories--none of the evidence!
Dr. Thomas Hallock, English Professor, University of South Florida
In this talk, Thomas Hallock (USF, English) discusses the forthcoming, two-volume anthology of Florida Literature, 1513 to the future, which he is co-editing with Julie Armstrong (USF, English).
Tom is a public-facing scholar who focuses on early Florida and urban environmentalist. In a former life, he co-edited William Bartram's manuscripts. His more recent scholarship includes a Cultural History of the Seminole War