Monday, September 29, 2014

Archaeologist Slated For Museum Free Lecture

LABELLE, FL. -- LaBelle Heritage Museum, through a collaboration with the Clewiston Museum and the Florida Humanities Council, will present archaeologist Katie Smith at LaBelle City Hall's Commission Chambers, 481West Hickpochee Ave. (State Road 80) on Wednesday evening, October 8, at 7 o'clock. 

Ms. Smith, a classically trained archaeologist who studied Ancient Hebrew, Palestinian, and Greco-Roman peoples and their languages as an undergraduate, has broadened her sphere of interest to include the prehistoric Belle Glade Culture that once inhabited Florida's Lake Okeechobee region. Limited information on the Belle Glade created more questions than answers on these prehistoric people. Through modern technology, archaeologists are now starting to fill in some of the missing links as they research these mysterious people that time forgot. Archaeologist Katie Smith will share discoveries from the ongoing research she conducts on the skeletal biology of the Belle Glade people. Her findings are based on the “Belle Glade” skeletal collections held at the Smithsonian Institution.

This presentation, the first of four scheduled for the 2014/2015 Program Year, is made possible by a Florida Humanities Council Neighborhood Grant awarded to the Clewiston Museum who invited LaBelle Heritage Museum to collaborate on this Special 2 Year Speakers Program bringing guest speakers to small communities that otherwise might not have experienced and benefitted from such programs. The remaining three programs, scheduled for November 2014 and January and February 2015, will feature noted area paleontologist Mark Renz, archaeologist Melissa Timo on water traffic on the Caloosahatchee and the Big Lake in earlier times, and story-teller Butch Harrison, who perpetuates the almost lost art of Cracker story-telling.

The public is welcome at these admission-free programs but is asked to arrive early enough to be seated for the 7 o'clock program since the presenters often have some distance to travel at the conclusion of their programs.

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