Archaeologists Unearth 1,700 Year-Old Canal System Near Lake Okeechobee (Florida)

Sun- Sentinel ^ | 6-6-2002 | Rhonda Miller

[blam]

ORTONA

[blam]

FYI.

[Pharmboy]

Perhaps we should blame these Native Americans for the ecological problems that FLA is having with their water system. They ruined the environment...

[Rodney King]

The pond also has a mysterious astronomical alignment that is found in other Native American sites – it is 20 degrees west of north.

How can a pond be 20 degrees west of north?

[blam]

Thursday, June 06, 2002

Archaeologists say discovery found near Lake Okeechobee

News-Journal wire services

An archaeological find near Lake Okeechobee that will be announced Thursday will reveal more about the lives of ancient Florida Indians, says archaeologist Robert Carr.

The discovery in the Glades County community of Ortona, a former village of the extinct Caloosahatchee Indian tribes, comes after six years of investigations in the area.

Carr, the executive director of the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy, says the find will rival the discovery of the Miami Circle, the mysterious stone Indian ruins in downtown Miami that were found in 1998 when an apartment complex was torn down.

He will announce the discovery at Ortona Indian Mound Park, about 95 miles west of West Palm Beach.

Indians were digging canals hundreds and perhaps thousands of years ago in Ortona, said Jerald T. Milanich, a curator in archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Some canals likely were used for canoe travel between villages and rivers, he said.

In other sites near Lake Okeechobee, archeologists have found canals with complicated lock systems to maneuver canoes up hills, earthen mounds in geometrical shapes and intricate wooden sculptures and masks.

"South Florida Indians were very well adjusted to their environment and lived quite well," said Milanich, who has excavated some of the sites.

In Miami, archaeologists say Tequesta Indians carved a 38-foot circle, known as the Miami Circle, into limestone 2,000 years ago. Scientists believe the site was the base of a large building.

On the Net:

Archaeological and Historical Conservancy, Inc.:
http://www.flarchaeology.org

[Ford Fairlane]

I think it is talking about the axis of the pond.

If you imagine a compass (with N at true north not magnetic), the pond axis would be on a 340 degree axis.

[blam]

"How can a pond be 20 degrees west of north?"

Don't know. FReeper RightWhale will be along shortly, he can tell you.

[Rodney King]

that's what I figured. I was mostly just trying to highlight the bad reporting.

[bmwcyle]

How dare they disturb the mother Earth. That must have been their downfall. (HAHA)

[crystalk]

The long axis of the site is 20 w of N; thus it lines up quite exactly with the long axis of the Florida peninsula itself, showing remarkable geographic knowledge.

[headsonpikes]

Any chads show up in the excavation?

[joesnuffy]

Hey man dont spoil the story...its a round pond and its 20 degrees west of North..."have a little faith"...

[RightWhale]

The pond also has a mysterious astronomical alignment that is found in other Native American sites – it is 20 degrees west of north

The pond is in the shape of the sacred baton, which is to say, a stick. Thus it is longer lengthwise and a narrow in width and points in a direction. Why not true north or why not magnetic north as it is today, who knows. Of course, looking the opposite direction it would point toward the south, and a little to the east [20 degrees] of that. We could guess a lot of possible reasons for the angle, some of them obvious like astronomical signs, and some of them outrageously esoteric. Probably someone used to know even in 1492, but after the American civilization was sacked, there wasn't much left by way of clues.

[Black Agnes]

Good book you should read, entitled 'Armies of Pestilence'. Most of the American civilization was sacked by teeny tiny microbial thingies. The natives were exposed within a 50-100 year timeframe to 4 or 5 microbes it'd taken Europe 2000 years (roughly) to acclimate to. Their population simply couldn't handle the loss of knowledge and expertise. The pitiful numbers of Europeans chasing them did the rest. Sad really. If the civilizations hadn't been so long w/o significant contacts the native cultures might have persisted, or at least given the white man a run for his money.

[truth_seeker]

This must be the definitive set of information, prooving that Florida's voters intended to vote for Gore, give him the victory.

According to the DNC, this district (Canal System precinct) is heavily democrat, and would have voted for Gore, had they not been prevented from voting by discriminatory requirements, implemented by rich Republicans.

In yet another such move, the rich Republicans have established rules, that voters must still be living. "This is unfair," claims the DNC. "In most other states, democrat votes still count, long after the voter is dead."

[RightWhale]

There have been threads on FR about that subject, I don't know if that particular book, but the general idea. I was referring to the theft and destruction of records. There is about one cryptic manuscript left from all of Central America.

[summer]

In a related story -- Archaeological sites preserved by Jeb

[philetus]

I guess next, all Floridians who live along the route of this "canal" will be kicked off their lands as it will be taken for historic purposes.

[ruoflaw]

you forgot me again. :o)

[farmfriend]

ping