Monday, July 2, 2012

The Indian Mounds

How protected are the archeological sites known as "Indian Mounds"?

In the Mississippi River flood plain there were Indian mounds that were pushed over and plowed under to level fields for farming.  In early Florida, mounds were dug up, and the shells were ground and chopped to make "gravel" for roads and fill dirt.

 The site now known as the Cristal River Florida State Archeological Site was being dug for fill until the State purchased it, but the scar remains. There is a museum there, and the only petroglyph know to exist in Florida, but several mounds may have been trucked off as fill.

Shell remnants dug out of the midden mound by vandals looking for relics.


The site now known as Weedon Island  Pinellas County Preserve, for which an entire culture of native americans was named, was flattened for an airstrip and movie studio. Mosquito ditching altered the topography as well, but nature is reclaiming some of it through erosion. A great welcome center gives the history, but the mounds, for the most part, are gone. It would have been rows of houses, but the power company bought the tract for a generating station, and donated the ruins area which hosts the park.



Inside Emerson Point (Manatee) County Preserve is a Temple Mound and three midden mounds. The white landowner of the 1800's appreciated the history and nature of the place, so it has not been erased. But it is scared.  He built a house and cistern on top of the Temple Mound. It is a Florida State Archelogical Site today.

 Temple Mound at Emerson Point, with boardwalk.

The indian village where the Spanish landed in modern St. Petersburg is a park. Two over grown indian mounds remain, but they are unpatrolled and unprotected.




Near the tree is a depression dug by vandals into the 400 year old mound.




A Calusa indian mound off of Pinellas Point Drive is a rounded mass used as a bicycle ramp by children. There is a sign, but no respect.


" Your browser is no longer supported by Blogger. Some parts of Blogger will not work and you may experience problems.
If you are having problems, try Google Chrome."

 

I knew "Free" wouldn't last for long on BLOGspot.COM !!!

Sigh.... I guess google has to pay the bills somehow.



No comments:

Post a Comment