Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Hundreds of horse fossils have been recovered from the Steinhatchee River site, indicating the area was once an open, grassy area. Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace See link below. |
They were on their usual fossil hunting trip in June of 2022 and weren’t having much luck. They were preparing to move on when Branin looked down and happened to see horse teeth. As they continued looking, they uncovered a hoof core, and then a tapir skull.
Their good feeling swelled to disbelief as the finds continue to rack up — many in pristine condition. “It wasn’t just quantity, it was quality,” Sinibaldi said. “We knew we had an important site, but we didn’t know how important.”...
Before the discovery, there had only been one other Florida site with fossils from this time period.
Three-quarters of the 552 fossils recovered so far from the Steinhatchee River site belong to an early species of the subgroup of living horses that includes the domestic horse and its wild relatives, known as the caballines. “That gives us a good sample size to measure or make comparisons, and it also tells us a little bit about the environment,” said Richard Hulbert, lead author of the paper and retired Florida Museum vertebrate paleontology collections manager...
Branin called Florida a lucky state for his hobby. “We have a permit system that allows people to collect fossils on state-owned lands, unlike a lot of places where there’s more barrier to entry to doing that,” he said...
Here is the link for much more of this article on Florida fossils.
You can occasionally find fossils on Treasure Coast beaches. There are times when there are many and other times when you might see a single example lying on near the water.
Many detectorists like to find shark teeth while detecting. You can find them on many beaches when the conditions are right. You can collect shark teeth in Florida without a permit.
You can find the Florida fossil collecting permit application by using the following link.
Florida Fossil Permit Application – Vertebrate Paleontology Collection
The cost of the permit is only five dollars.
Another option is going on a paid hunt with a permitted fossil . This is a very good option if you are a beginner and want to learn. It will save you a lot of time by going on a hunt with an expert. You will learn a lot. Some of the blog's readers have done this. You will find a lot. Many of those tours go to the Peace River, which is a favorite spot for many Florida fossil hunters.
Here is a link to a site where you can learn about one of several fossil guides.
This giant statue of Jesus sits alone off Florida’s coast. How did it get there?
Here is one of several posts on fossils from treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
And here is a link to a post on the horses brought to America by the Spanish.
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From Sedwick...
Consignments Wanted:
We are just days away from closing the consignment window to our Auction 37 to be held on May 7-9 - and we'd like to host your collectibles coins, currency, and artifacts in this sale!
Contact us by February 26th to learn how we can maximize the return on your rare coins, bank notes, or entire collections in our next major auction.
We are extending the consignment deadline to March 2nd for interested consignors who are attending the Numismata Coin show in Munich, Germany (March 1-2). Email us at office@sedwickcoins.com or WhatsApp us at +1 (407)-975-3325 to arrange a consignment appointment.
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One old post (2010) from treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com that is receiving some recent attention is
the following.
In that post I said, "If you haven't done it lately, check your sweep speed. Put an object on the ground and sweep the coil over it at various speeds until you find the speed that gives the best signal. You can also vary the sweep speed over a buried target to determine the best sweep speed of various targets under various conditions." I think that is an important reminder that is worth repeating.
I'm a big believer in testing with your own metal detector rather than going by the book or what you hear. Test everything with your own equipment and under the conditions where you will hunt.