Systematic artifact collections are most comprehensive for Southwest Florida. There are also important reference collections from elsewhere in South Florida.
Collections included:
- Cushing Collection, comprised of the many items collected by Frank Hamilton Cushing during his 1895-1896 visits to the Southwest Florida coast
- Van Beck Collection excavated from the Marco Midden in the 1960s
- The extensive Fort Center collection, including carved wooden posts, ca. A.D. 400; artifacts collected by John Goggin, on which the major systematic artifact typologies for South Florida are based
- All artifacts, precolumbian and post-contact, that have been excavated since 1983 during the Southwest Florida Project (e.g., Buck Key, Cash Mound, Galt Island, Horr’s Island, Josslyn Island, Useppa Island, Mound Key, and the Pineland Site Complex)
Some artifacts are on exhibit in the Hall of South Florida People and Environments.
Archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, and pedoarchaeological samples are curated in the Florida Museum’s Environmental Archaeology collections.
Carved post with eagle, wood, A.D. 100-300; Fort Center, Glades Co., 5’2in x 14½in x 10in (62355)
Carved crane head, cypress wood, A.D. 850-1000, Pineland, Lee Co. (90-24-1)
Planed conch shell columella, Pineland, Lee Co. (89-7-304)
Whelk shell columella cutting-edged tool, ca. 2600-2400 B.C., Useppa Island, Lee Co. (89-38-148/2)
Sinker, conch shell, A.D. 800-1200, Pineland, Lee Co. (90-2-6/5)
Double-grooved shell columella sinker, Galt Island, Lee Co. (87-72-111)
Hammer, conch shell, A.D. 1100-1300, Horr’s Island, Collier Co. (89-22-175)
Beads, shell, A.D. 50-150, Pineland, Lee Co. (92-24-16)
Net weight, quahog clam shell, 200 B.C.-A.D. 400, Cash Mound, Charlotte Co. (88-1-2)
Cup or saucer, whelk shell, A.D. 750-1500, Upper Matecumbe Key, Monroe Co. (92-37-10)
Spoon or scoop, whelk shell, 200 B.C.-A.D. 400, Cash Mound, Charlotte Co. (88-1-26)
Net mesh gauge, whelk shell, A.D. 900-1100, Josslyn Island, Lee Co. (87-28-15)
Adze, conch shell, date unknown, mound near Opalocka, Dade Co. (84502)
Pounder, whelk shell, 200 B.C.-A.D. 400, Cash Mound, Charlotte Co. (96135)
Hammer, whelk shell, A.D. 800-1350, Pineland, Lee Co. (88-8-278)
Hammer, conch shell, A.D. 800-1350, Chokoloskee Key, Collier Co. (98474)
Cutting-edged tool, whelk shell, A.D. 700-1500, Upper Matecumbe Key, Monroe Co. (98554)
Greenstone celt, date unknown, Pineland site, Lee Co. (96-19-1)
Throat gorge or point, deer bone, A.D. 950-1050, Josslyn Island, Lee Co. (87-28-15)
Perforator, deer bone, A.D. 1270-1330, Pineland, Lee Co. (92-12-3-35/1)
Sinker, groundstone, 200 B.C.-A.D.400, Cash Mound, Charlotte Co. (92-50-1)
Sinker, limestone, A.D. 500-1500, Gordon’s Pass Midden, Collier Co. (91-84-5)
Knife or projectile point, quartzite, 5000-2000 B.C., unnamed midden near Key West, Monroe Co. (93327)
Knife or projectile point, quartzite, date unknown, Palm Beach Co. (14455)
Knife or projectile point, chert, A.D. 500-650, Pineland, Lee Co. (90-13-7/16)
Knife or projectile point, silicified coral, 5500-3000 B.C., Cash Mound, Charlotte Co. (88-1-1)
Chattahoochee Brushed pot, ceramic, Oven Hill, Suwannee River, Dixie Co. (A-2073)
Chattahoochee Brushed pot, ceramic, Oven Hill, Suwannee River, Dixie Co. (A-2073)
Miscellaneous ceramics and beads, ca. 1770-1900, Useppa Island, Lee Co.
Musket butt plate, brass, Spalding’s Lower Store, Putnam Co. (A-3229)
Pin with carved bird design, bone, A.D. 850-1050, Pineland, Lee Co. (95-2-22)
Engraved shell artifact, ca. A.D. 1200-1500, Pineland, Lee Co. (2006-15-109)
Chert hoe or spade, ca. A.D. 1000-1500, Pineland, Lee Co. (2008-26-2).
Knife or projectile point, chert, A.D. 550-700, Pineland, Lee Co. (92-5-2/1)