Digging in Circles: Miami’s Prehistoric Legacy

An Archaeological Institute of America South Florida presentation

Guest speaker: Renowned Archaeologist Robert S. Carr, Dade County’s first archaeologist and later historic preservation director.

Archaeological excavations at Brickell Point in 1998 uncovered a circle of postholes and cut basins into the limestone bedrock measuring 11.2 meters in diameter. Within the floor of the feature were the skeleton of a shark, the cranium of a bottlenosed dolphin, and the shell of a sea turtle – all aligned in an east – west axis. Since that discovery, twelve other circles have been uncovered at the mouth of the Miami River. Radiocarbon dates of AD 200-700 indicate that this complex was a major town and trade center 1500 years before the creation of the City of Miami. These remains are associated with the Tequesta, who, like the Calusa, were a stratified society that did not practice agriculture, and like the people of the Northwest, created a complex society based on maritime resources. The results of excavations at the mouth of the Miami River from 1980 to the present provide a view of a previously little-known site complex that is the southernmost prehistoric trade center in the United States.

Hosted by the Palm Beach Museum of Natural History
This is a free event. Light refreshments will be available.

For more information, contact [rpascucci@pbmnh.org](mailto:rpascucci@pbmnh.org) (561) 729-4246