Though muck cannot be worked by archaeological techniques so indicative in earthen digs, objects normally perishable can be preserved indefinitely if deeply enough embedded to exclude oxygen. This fortuitous circumstance kept intact the many Calusa wood carvings dug up accidentally centuries later by Cushing at Key Marco.

Pumpkin seeds, maize kernels and plant pollen are identifiable after prolonged burial in anaerobic mud. Archaeologists digging recently in the Big Cypress Swamp of south Florida uncovered mineralized human feces dating from 500 B.C.

Garcilaso says the surfaces of some Florida swamps were dry on top; but "once that surface was broken, both horses and riders sank and were drowned without recourse." The perfectly preserved body of a man was dredged up from a Denmark bog where he had been sacrificed two thousand years earlier to the immortality promised by muck. It is not beyond possibility that Soto relics -- even a fully-caparisoned Spanish cavalier -- might someday be dredged up from the swamps and tidal flats of Florida!

Traces of post-and-thatch Indian huts or palisade walls can be detected by careful scraping earth by an archaeologist experienced in evaluating stains. This kind of evidence led to the discovery recently of a pre-Columbian Viking settlement in New Foundland, probably that of Lief Ericson.

Discovery of small Indian village sites in Florida would have little import because they were everywhere. A large one that might correspond to the 600-house town of Ocale visited by Soto might confirm the mid-point of the Spanish march. A geographical "anchor" at any place along Soto's route would point more surely to the beginning.

Unusual amounts of charcoal often are important archaeological clues. The substance is inert and remains identifiable for thousand of years. Nearly all earth contains specks of charcoal left over from countless, natural grass and forest fires. Concentrations of charcoal chunks, however, might be the residue of military camp fires, forges, hearths or village burnings. Soto's base camp, or Narvaez' shipyard, may someday be recognized solely by charcoal remains.

Places of prolonged habitation -- such as villages and military camps -- usually had a dump, or "midden," where garbage and trash was discarded. Large sites also had latrine trenches where objects lost from pockets were resignedly abandoned. These inelegant, but necessary,

features of communal living are treasure troves centuries later for archeologists.

In addition to hard objects easily recognizable, middens are detectable by the relative concentrations of phosphate left in the soil after decomposition of organic material. We could expect to find waste disposal dumps in association with Soto's landing place inasmuch as it was occupied by a large body of soldiers for five months.

Some lucky researcher might stumble on a sealed Spanish pot with a message inside. It was a practice of early explorers to seal directions in pottery receptacles for companions who might follow. These were placed usually in hollow trees or at the bases of prominent trees where those with knowledge of the practice would search.

It will be recalled that Soto's men looked "in the hollows and under the bark of trees" for letters that might have been left at Aute by Narvaez. The Soto narrators do not mention their own leaving of messages for followers, but their search for Narvaez records indicates the practice was well known to them and perhaps used.

Underwater clues of the Soto landing place would be the remains of the ship Santa Ana. Ac-cording to later legal documents, the vessel was scuttled on the coast of Florida. The location is not indicated, but a likely place would be within the Bay of the Holy Spirit itself -- in fairly shallow water adjacent to a navigable channel.

The teredo worm took a swift and fatal toll of wood ships in warm waters. The Santa Ana was in poor shape below the waterline when bought by Soto to transport horses. We can surmise that when the ship had completed its last mission -- well into a difficult bay -- it was simply sailed aground. Then, prudent mariners would remove all rigging and detachable metal. The valuable masts would be unstepped for fleet spares.

All that would remain today of the Santa Ana would be a pile of shell-encrusted ballast stones and, perhaps, the keel smothered underneath. Nevertheless, a ballast pile of foreign rock large enough to suggest a ship of Santa Ana's size would be corroborative evidence.

THE ARCHEOLOGICAL SEARCH

It must be emphasized in the strongest terms possible that buried evidence discovered by untrained researchers should not be disturbed until evaluated by professional archeologists.

More knowledge often can be gleaned from the surrounding earth than from the objects it