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- MIAMI (Reuters) - Charred
wood fragments suggesting the construction of dugout canoes and carbon-dating
tests on bones and charcoal show that the downtown Miami Circle was probably
the site of a thriving American Indian town, archeologists said Tuesday.
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- Nearly two weeks after starting an extensive survey of
a weedy patch of prime riverfront land in Miami's banking district, archeologists
also said they had found more holes similar to those that form the Circle,
a suspected Indian relic about 2,000 years old.
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- ``It tends to suggest there may be other features similar
to the Miami Circle that are out here,'' Florida archeologist Ryan Wheeler
said.
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- As he spoke, Wheeler stood at the edge of the 2.2-acre
site at the juncture of the Miami River and Biscayne Bay, where the discovery
of the ancient stone formation halted construction of a $100-million condominium.
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- The site flashed to international fame when archeologists
last year found a series of basins and holes, apparently hacked into solid
rock with sticks or Conch shells, forming a perfect circle 38 feet in diameter.
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- Experts theorize the circle was formed by post holes
probably dug by members of the Tequesta tribe as the foundation for a ceremonial
lodge or priest's house centuries ago, before the arrival of Europeans
in Florida.
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- The discovery pitted conservationists and Indian groups,
who consider the site sacred, against developers who were ready to bulldoze
the land to build a glitzy condominium tower and commercial project.
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- Miami-Dade County ultimately stepped in and halted construction
to preserve the circle then worked a deal with the developer to buy the
land for $26.7 million.
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- Work crews using augers have dug about 100 new holes
in a grid pattern across the site during the last two weeks, aiming to
authenticate a theory that the site was a Tequesta Indian village dating
back thousands of years.
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- The holes, dug into a layer of rich black earth called
''midden,'' produced pieces of pottery, bone and shell tools and other
remnants of human life, Wheeler said.
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- ``It's filled with animal bones, it's filled with shells,
mostly the things that are byproducts of people's meals,'' he said.
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- In a six-foot-deep trench near the river bank, workers
unearthed raccoon bones, brownish remains of a sea turtle, a compacted
pile of clam shells probably left over from a feast, and charred wood fragments
likely resulting from the construction of a dugout canoe.
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- ``You can see shell tool marks on them,'' Wheeler said.
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- New carbon-dating tests on bits of charcoal and bone
collagen collected from the circle's holes and from on top of the bedrock
indicate the artifacts average about 1,850 years old and the site may date
back as far as 100 BC, archeologist Bob Carr said.
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- ``We know from the depth of the deposits that occupation
of this site may have begun as early as 500 BC and certainly right up until
the period of Spanish contact,'' Carr said. ``This was a continuously occupied
site.''
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- Experts intend to use ground-penetrating radar within
the next few weeks in an attempt to find other circle-like features beneath
the weeds and dirt.
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- The ultimate preservation of the circle remains uncertain,
Carr said.
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- Florida's government has pledged $15 million toward its
purchase but Miami-Dade County must raise the remaining $11.7 million.
It needs to collect about $2 million in donations within the next four
weeks to meet a Nov. 30 deadline for payment of the initial $20 million
to the developer.
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