Excavating the Key West Turtle Kraals

From before recorded history, until the 1970s, the people of Key West, Florida utilized sea turtles for food and economic gain. Sea turtles were used for their meat, their eggs, and in some cases their shell, but it was the fat of the Green turtle in particular that was the most desired. This greenish, gelatinous substance served as the base for a soup that was renowned the world over. The turtling business became one of the uniquely defining characteristics of the islands culture. In April of 2000, the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum organized an archaeological rescue effort to save materials being dredged from the turtle kraals at Key West. A team of museum staff and volunteers dug through and screened the mud and muck to recover 1000s of objects relating to the turtle kraals and cannery. These objects have since been cleaned and interpreted. They can be seen today at the Key West Turtle Museum.
See www.melfisher.org for more details.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Sea turtles
• archaeology
• Key West
• Florida
• Mel Fisher
• museum
• fishing
• history