New England Antiquities Research Association

 

Secrets of Past Centuries Emerge from Miami Parking Lot

Reprinted from the Miami Herald

by Martin Merzer

 

 

September 3, 2003

 

The archaeological site in the heart of downtown Miami is beginning to surrender its centuries-old secrets.

On Tuesday alone, scientists digging, combing and filtering soil covered for 50 years by a parking lot found a hand ax fashioned from a conch shell, another small tool called an awl and numerous shards of ancient pottery.

Another significant discovery: South Florida's original residents -- the Tequesta Indians who occupied the site for 2,500 years -- enjoyed bay views as much as the occupants of today's condominiums, hotels and office towers.

Noted archaeologist Bob Carr and his Davie-based team have uncovered post holes just 30 feet from Biscayne Bay's original shoreline, evidence that the Tequesta lived remarkably close to the shore.

''The challenge is in connecting the dots,'' Carr said. ``But it looks like we've found signs, just in this small area, of posts that would support three or four huts. The Tequesta obviously liked to live just within a stroll of their canoes.''

The site -- in the center of the city's commercial district on three parking lots north of the Dupont Plaza Hotel -- served for thousands of years as the tribe's main village.  The Tequesta also are believed responsible for the Miami Circle, the 38-foot-wide stone carving discovered across the Miami River in 1998 by Carr and other archaeologists.

Six-Acre Site

Soon, the parking lots will become the One Miami development of luxury condominiums, stores and offices.  But first, as required by law, the six-acre site must be assessed by archaeologists.

And so, Alison Elgart-Berry, a member of Carr's team, spent much of Tuesday on her hands and knees.

She dug with a small shovel and sometimes with her fingers.  She carefully swept away thin coatings of soil.  She perspired profusely in the mid-summer heat and humidity.

And every now and then, she unearthed a piece of South Florida history.

First, Elgart-Berry found the four-inch-long hand ax, probably used as to carve wood.  Then, a few minutes later, she found a three-inch-long awl -- a pointed tool that makes holes in wood or leather.

Each discovery was carefully removed from the ground, rinsed in a puddle of rainwater, bagged for future examination and display.

''This really gives a purpose to all of this digging,'' said a smiling Elgart-Berry.  ``It shows that there really are valuable things to be found here.''

Previously, the team found an ax made from non-local basalt, a stone tool that presumably found its way here through ancient trade routes.

Basalt Axes

Two basalt axes were found years ago at the Miami Circle in nearly mint condition, apparently placed at the Circle for ceremonial purposes; the ax discovered at this latest site was worn and chipped.

''This clearly was a tool that was used regularly,'' Carr said.

The Tequesta -- hunters and gatherers who worshiped animals and the sun -- thrived in the area until they were driven into exile by 1763 and eventual extinction by European explorers and their descendants.

A burial mound, early Spanish forts, the 19th-century Fort Dallas and the famed Royal Palm Hotel also occupied the site over the years.  Scientists already have found many artifacts from those periods, including a 100-year-old bullet. (Imagine that, a bullet in downtown Miami.)

The developer, MDM Development Group, has been working closely with Carr and has promised to preserve and exhibit everything of interest found on the site.  The archaeological work is scheduled to continue for at least a year.

''We already know we will end up with a terrific collection of exhibits,'' Carr said, ``as well as evidence for many scientific studies.''

 

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