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October 18, 2002
MIAMI -- Indian ruins recovered from a downtown Miami construction site will go on public display for the first time today, nearly four years after they were first discovered.
The exhibit at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida features more than 100 artifacts found near the mouth of the Miami River in November 1998. Archaeologists think the artifacts are 2,000 years old and indicate the area was used by Tequesta Indians, possibly as a trading post.
"Only a small group of archaeologists got to be out there, and it was never really open to the general public," said Jorge Zamanillo, a curator at the museum and an archaeologist who worked the site. "A lot of people have seen pictures of it, but now they can understand what it means."
The area, known as the Miami Circle, is a 38-foot circle that Tequestas are thought to have carved into the limestone. It was found during a pre-development examination by archaeologists, on ground that was supposed to be the site of an apartment building.
"It's one of the best records of what life was like in Biscayne Bay before the Spanish arrived," said Irv Quitmyer, a zooarchaeologist at the University of Florida who has studied the site.
The exhibit, called "First Arrivals," includes samples of pottery, cutting devices, hair pins and other materials used by the now-extinct civilization. One of the highlighted artifacts is a large turtle shell, which may indicate the area was used for ceremonial purposes.