COLLINS, DOERING, AND CARR

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INTEGRATED SPATIAL TECHNOLOGIES 163

 

Figure 2. Equipment used for High Definition Documentation Surveys at the Miami and Royal Palm Circle features. A robotic
total station (LEFT) and survey grade GPS equipment (RIGHT) were integrated with three-dimensional laser scanning
equipment (CENTER) for data acquisition. Equipment is shown at the Royal Palm Circle project.

The Miami Circle

The Miami Circle is a feature within the Brickell Point site
(8DA12) that is composed of a series of various sized and
shaped holes carved into the limestone bedrock. A series of 24
semi-rectangular basin-like elements that were cut into the
limestone form the pattern for this circular feature. In addition
to the larger basins there are numerous other round & ovoid
holes, many of which contain smaller secondary holes (Florida
Division of Historical Resources 2004a; Wheeler and Carr
2004). The initial phase of the HDDS project was carried out
on July 22 and 23, 2003, when the team from the University of
South Florida conducted a survey of the Brickell Point site
(8DA12). A primary focus was on the Miami Circle feature,
which was documented by three-dimensional laser scanning.

Researchers have proposed that the Miami Circle represents
the foundation ofa 2,000 year old prehistoric structure, and that
further analysis of the Circle’s holes and basins could reveal
more information about little-known Native American architec-
ture in Florida (Florida Division of Historical Resources 2004a;
Weisman 2000; Wheeler 2000b). The antiquity of the site has

been demonstrated through geophysical analysis. A laminated
patina or duricrust, which forms at an average rate of Imm per
1000 years, coats the limestone facing of the circular holes and
basins associated with the ancient construction (Means and
Scott 2000). Researchers believe the Miami Circle represents
only a portion ofa larger settlement which remains unexcavated
and covered by earth at the Brickell Point site and along the
ancient shorelines of the Biscayne Bay at mouth of the Miami
River (Carr and Ricisak 2000; Florida Division of Historical
Resources 2004a; Weisman et. al. 2000; Wheeler 2000b;
Wheeler and Carr 2004; Widmer 2004). This hypothesis was
supported by recent investigations conducted on the north side
of the Miami River, directly across from the Miami Circle,
where another circle feature, along with human interments, and
prehistoric middens suggest contemporaneity or continuity of
occupation (Florida Division of Historical Resources 2004a;
Widmer 2004; Robert S. Carr, personal communication, 2006).

The Royal Palm Circle

On-going archaeological investigations and analyses by the