The state approved funding to excavate the pond in 1984. The work was carried out under the direction of Glen Doran and David Dickel of Florida State University. The buried bones were or deeper beneath the surface of the peat at the bottom of the pond, under 3 to of water. Researchers used a network of 160 wells around the pond to lower the water table enough to permit excavation of the peat. The workers used shovels and hand tools to remove the peat until the level of the burials was reached. One of the lead archaeologists compared excavating the peat to trying to dig chocolate mousse under water. Only half of the pond was excavated, with the remainder left undisturbed for future investigation.