Egmont Key, which has lost half its area to sea-level rise, was the site of a forced relocation of the Seminole people by the U.S. Army. A few more feet of water would flood 16,000 archaeological sites across Florida. JESSICA LEIGH HESTER MIAMI—When Hurricane Irma sprinted toward Miami-Dade County, Jeff Ransom couldn’t sleep. He wasn’t just worried about gusts shattering windows, or sheets of rain drowning the highway—that’s far from unusual near his home in Broward County, where extreme weather verges on routine, and patches of US-1 are regularly submerged. Ransom, the county archaeologist, was preoccupied with an oak tree and its 350-year-old roots. If the tree capsized with enough intensity, he worried, the flailing roots could dislodge human remains. On a blazing blue morning in early November, weeks after the storm, we trek to the site of the Tequesta Native American burial mound that kept Ransom awake. “All night long, I was just thinking about that oak tree flipping...
Today we received news from Madeline, a teacher regarding an interesting project to revamp their class website letting the students help out with adding some of the content. Claire is one of the students involved in this project, and she have been investigating about Native American history. As part of her research, our website shows up. We are glad to hear that our website has been useful for Claire, who shared the information with her class. She also found the graphic we share here about Native American dwellings. The original source is in this link . It is a pleasure to help, and maybe one day Claire and her class can visit us in one of our archaeological projects, and view in person the material evidences of the Native American history.
The Archaeological and Historical Conservancy played a major role in the discovery and preservation of the Miami Circle, providing an opportunity for archaeologists and archaeological technicians to uncover the Circle, and donating over $40,000 to the project cost. We also directed the analysis of over 143,000 objects that were recovered from the Circle, many now featured at an exhibition at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida in Miami. The Miami Circle was discovered in September of 1998 during routine archaeological monitoring on a proposed condominium site at the mouth of the Miami River. Miami Circle Showing Circular Posthole Pattern Then Miami-Dade County Historic Preservation Director Robert Carr supervised the excavation of several test units which revealed basins cut in the bedrock, each filled with black dirt midden. Surveyor Ted Riggs recognized that the basins formed an arc, and hypothesized that it might be part of a circle. In September 1998, a 40 foot diamete...