Duncan Hawkins, the lead archaeological consultant, said the findings were "typical of a late Iron Age and early Roman farming settlement".

BBC: Human and animal remains at the site

The Paraiso settlement once supported a farming and fishing community numbering hundreds of people.

BBC: El Paraiso site

That tobacco settlement smacks of tax farming: Companies collect the money and remit it to the states.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

He returned in 1521 and unloaded 200 settlers, 50 horses and farming implements onto Sanibel to establish what would have been the first European settlement in America after the Vikings.

BBC: Florida��s stunning island sanctuary