In partnership with the Archaeological Society of Southern Florida, the Deering Estate presents a free lecture on the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. Lectures take place in the Visitor Center Theatre at the Deering Estate, 16701 SW 72 Ave. The lecture topic on Thursday, Nov. 10, is “Early Homesteading on Elliott Key.”
Archaeologist Joshua L. Marano will discuss new finds discovered during a reconnaissance survey of the Sweeting Homestead Site. The homestead, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, consists of a series of homes and other structures associated with a late 19th and early 20th Century agricultural enterprise on Elliott Key.
Marfano also will describe Biscayne National Park’s Avocational Archeological Training program, which partners with organizations to facilitate the education and training of both new archeologists as well as avocational archeologists in the research, documentation, and interpretation of shipwrecks. These organizations include East Carolina University, University of Miami, the Florida Public Archaeology Network, and the National Association of Black Scuba Divers Diving with a Purpose program.
Joshua L. Marano MA, RPA, is an Archeologist with Biscayne National Park where his primary responsibilities include conducting scheduled National Park Service condition assessments, creating, completing, and updating state archaeological site files for submittal to the State Historic Preservation Office, and completing archaeological site assessments and reports to fulfill Federal Section 106 (National Historic Preservation Act) and NEPA requirements.
He has worked for the National Park Service since 2012, beginning as a cultural resource management intern. He has worked extensively in maintaining Biscayne’s underwater heritage trail and also archiving submerged cultural resources within Dry Tortugas National Park.
Marano earned his bachelor’s degree in History and a Master of Arts in Maritime History and Underwater Archaeology at East Carolina University. He worked as an archaeological crew chief with the university on several terrestrial and underwater projects. As a full-time archaeological technician with the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, he participated in the study and recovery of the infamous pirate Blackbeard’s ship the Queen Anne’s Revenge.
In recent years at Biscayne National Park, Marano has participated in stabilization efforts on the HMS Fowey shipwreck, conducted an archaeological investigation of the Long Reef Cannon site and contributed to the assessment and inventory of the English China Wreck.
