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