What lies beneath...

SARASOTA - On the surface, it looks like any other south Florida pond, but beneath the waters are discoveries that are re-writing Florida history.

It's called Little Salt Spring, and for archeologists it's been a big find. Now completely submerged, the sinkhole in Sarasota County is a pre-historic archeological site that could prove people were in Florida long before originally thought.

"You can't fan your hand on the bottom without coming up with something that makes you go whoa," said research associate Steven Koski. "Everyday, there's the potential for huge discovery and that's the excitement. That's the adrenaline."

Because of the lack of oxygen deep down below the surface, many artifacts and other finds have been almost perfectly preserved. The result has been archaeological bombshells: like a 12,000-year-old wooden spear. That find showed that man has been in Florida much longer than 9,000 years, which is what researchers previously though.

But Wednesday, the biggest find at Little Salt Spring yet may have emerged: divers pulled something new from the spring, and they are shrouding the item in secrecy, working to verify that what they've found is the real thing.

"That particular item may actually be that one thing that propels us into that next level," according to Koski.

The spring has been the site of excavations for decades, and during that time, thousands of artifacts have been pulled out, all of which the researchers say are important clues to the past.

From the bones of extinct mammals to artifacts like a 9,000-year-old wooden stake, the discoveries paint a picture of a state that looked more like East Africa than South Florida, and they're finding more with every dive.

"This bone is from a juvenile giant ground sloth, maybe only six or eight feet tall," explains Dr. John Gifford, associate professor at The Rosenstiel School at The University of Miami.

"My favorite way of expressing that is saying, it's like a fruit cake. You can't dig a hole anywhere here without finding a lot of material," Gifford adds.

What the archaeologists have found so far may just be the start: in the 20 years they've been diving, they've only excavated about five percent of the site.

"As you can imagine, the deeper you dig the older the material gets generally speaking," Gifford said.

The rest of the answers, they hope, are still submerged, waiting to be unearthed for the first time in more than 10,000 years.

Currently their funding is coming from The National Geographic Society, but this project is over July 31st. Funding has been a major issue in the project over the past couple of decades. Last year, The University of Miami began a major campaign for a research center, labs, classrooms and possibly a museum at the site.

Ultimately, the researchers believe what's found beneath the waters at Little Salt Spring is not just a fascinating glimpse into Florida's past, but also a great asset to the present community.