te TS SSS OSS
THE ANIMAL INTERMENTS AT THE MIAMI CIRCLE AT BRICKELL POINT SITE (8DA12)

ALISON A. ELGART

Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, 10501 FGCU Blvd, Fort Myers, FL 33965

E-mail: aelgart@fgcu.edu

 

The 2000-year old Miami Circle (a component of 8DA12),
located on Brickell Point in Miami, derives its name from a
circular feature of holes and basins 38 ft (11.6 m) in diameter,
hewn into the bedrock by the Tequesta Indians or their ances-
tors. It has been suggested that these holes were footings for
posts for a circular structure (e.g., Widmer 2004) dating to 700
B.C to A.D. 200. Among the more unusual features found at
the site were interments of a shark (Carcharinus sp.), a dolphin
cranium (Tursiops truncatus), anda sea turtle carapace (Caretta
carreta) (for a complete faunal analysis of the site, see
Quitmyer and Kennedy 2002). Radiocarbon dating indicates
that these animal remains are from a more recent time period
(ca. A.D. 1330-1680) than the date of the Miami Circle feature
itself. Widmer’s (2004) study concludes that post A.D. 200,
there is no evidence of architectural features at the site, so these
interments may postdate the habitation of the site.

Animal Use in Southern Florida

Brickell Point is located at the confluence of the Miami
River and Biscayne Bay. The bay is located in Eastern Miami-
Dade County, and is a prime habitat for marine life as it is very
shallow. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and mana-
tees (Trichechus manatus) are common, and pilot whales
(Globiocephala macrorhynca) may enter the bay on occasion.
There are seven species of “ground sharks” or carcharhinids
found in Biscayne Bay (Ault et al. 2001).

Prehistoric coastal southern Floridians relied heavily on
marine resources. Fishing was a year-round activity, particu-
larly in lagoons, while cetaceans were hunted in winter and
turtles were hunted in summer. Shark and turtle remains are
common refuse in southern Florida middens, although com-
plete, or nearly complete animals are unusual. In contrast, sea
mammals are not common refuse items, but it is possible that
most of the remains, which include heavy bones, were left on
the beach. It is likely, after examining habitat and swimming
speed, that only a few species of whales and dolphins were
hunted (Larson 1980). Bottlenose dolphins were likely hunted
by the Tequesta, as were manatees, although manatee remains
are rare in Florida sites. Marine mammals may have provided
much needed oil derived from animal fat.

Miami Circle Animal Features
Bottlenose Dolphin Cranium
The remains ofa dolphin cranium (Feature 218) were found

within the Miami Circle feature, on the far eastern side,
approximately two meters west of the Circle’s eastern circum-

ference (Figure 1). The fragments, composed of most of the
cranium without the rostrum and mandible, were located in
between two units, 32 and 33, in the northeast quadrant of the
Miami Circle. The remains were articulated but crushed, with
the interior of the skull oriented superiorly within Level 2, at
1.98-1.86 m (6.5- 6.1 ft) NGVD' in a soil matrix of black dirt
midden surrounded by a ring of gray-white ashy soil. This level
contained faunal bone and shell fragments as well as prehistoric
artifacts such as decorated and undecorated pottery and historic
artifacts. Three prehistoric potsherds were found within 25 cm
of the dolphin bones, but a nineteenth-century copper nail was
recovered in association with the cranial remains and a historic
iron spike was found approximately 6 cm southwest of it.
Fragments of the skull were radiocarbon dated to 690+40 B.P.
(A_D. 1530-1680, 2 sigma calibrated age range), indicating that
the dolphin remains date to the European Contact Period and
that the historic artifacts may have been intrusive to the level.

The bottlenose dolphin skull is about fifty percent complete
(Figures 2 and 3; see Appendix 1 for cranial details). Much of
the vault of the skull is present, but most of the rostrum and all
of the teeth are missing. The left tympanoperiotic (auditory
bulla; earbone) is present, which was used to identify the
species as a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) (James
Mead, personal communication, 2001). The skull is quite small
in size in comparison to a modern adult dolphin skull (Figure
3), but the prehistoric specimen does not appear to be a juvenile
as its cranial sutures are closed, indicating maturity. A possible
cut mark, coronally-directed, is present on the superior aspect
of the left parietal bone. The right end of the cut is shallow,
with rounded edges, indicating either pre-mortem healing or
erosion. Many of the bones of the skull have eroded edges.

No artifacts specific to the hunting of marine mammals
(e.g., harpoons) have been found in an archaeological context
in Florida, but several cetacean remains have been found in
archaeological sites in Florida and Georgia. The faunal remains
of dolphins, likely representing food remains, are not uncom-
mon at southern Florida sites. However common dolphin refuse
items are, the dolphin cranium is a very rare find in the south-
eastern United States. In addition to the cranium, a perforated
bottlenose dolphin tooth also was found at the Miami Circle
(Wheeler 2004a:149), lending credence to Wheeler’s sugges-
tion that the dolphin cranium was kept in order to extract these
teeth (Wheeler 2004b:33).

Shark Interment
The interred shark skeleton (Feature 234), consisting of

teeth, dermal denticles (from the skin), and a vertebral column
(the only ossified portions of the skeleton), was located in the

 

VOL. 59(3-4)

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2006