We’ve feasted on them, built economies around them and in some places nearly erased them from our coasts. Today, 85% of the world’s oyster reefs are gone. Many fisheries are collapsing, and those in Florida are no exception: Many estuaries in the state have lost up to 90% of their oyster reefs. Scientists and conservationists are racing to rebuild sustainable oyster populations, something that Indigenous communities were able to steward for millennia. By looking at ancient oyster populations, archaeologists may be able to guide this restoration in the present.