Little Salt Spring

Vue d'ensemble

Little salt spring, once thought to be a freshwater pond, is a sinkhole similar to Yucatan cenotes. Hundreds of burials dating from 5,200 to 6,800 years ago have been found in the slough.In the 1970s the overturned shell of an extinct giant land tortoise was found on the 27 meter ledge. A wooden stake had been driven between the carapace and the plastron, and there is evidence of a fire under the tortoise. It appears that the tortoise had been cooked in its shell. The radiocarbon date for the wooden stake was 12,030 years ago, and for a bone from the tortoise, 13,450 years ago. Large numbers of human bones have been recovered from the spring itself, but were not collected under controlled conditions.

Sarasota County Green Map
updated 09/2015 by Sarasota County Green Map