WHEELER

 

 

 

 

PUMICE ARTIFACTS FROM THE MIAMI CIRCLE 201

cup-shaped
depression

Figure 7. Forms of pumice modification: a) dome-shaped with one flat surface (MDC.1.254.25c); b) shallow groove
(MDC.1.471.6); c) shallow groove (MDC.1.166.4); d) deep scoring (MDC.1.579.12); e) deep scoring (MDC.1.427.9); f) cup-
shaped depression, side and reverse reviews (HMSF 492, Brickell Point site); g) facets on obverse, cup-shaped depression on
reverse (MDC.1.569.12); h) crescent-shaped (MDC.1.628.9); i) crescent-shaped (MDC.1.629.13); j) cube-shaped

(MDC.1.254.25a). All from Miami Circle, except f.

helped confirm exchange networks reaching to the Macon,
Georgia area (Dixon et al. 2000). Studies of American Indian
exchange in Florida are rare, and southern Florida has always
been viewed as somewhat parochial. However, studies of
pumice and chipped stone artifacts from the Miami Circle at
Brickell Point site have provided a significant look at patterns
of exchange in southern Florida (see Austin 2004).

Austin’s (2004) study of chipped stone material from the
Miami Circle complements the pumice study, since it points to
a connection with the Fort Center site located on Fisheating
Creek to the west of Lake Okeechobee; both sites exhibit
similar cobble technologies of lithic reduction and Austin
(2004) suggests that Fort Center may have served as a center
for redistribution of chert cobbles initially procured in the
Tampa Bay area. Likewise, the inhabitants of the Miami Circle
at Brickell Point may have controlled distribution of pumice.
Austin (2004:113, 117) suggests that down-the-line or
redistributional forms of exchange could have characterized the

system in place in southern Florida. He explains that in down-
the-line exchange, the chert cobbles would have moved from
the source area to Fort Center and then on to the Miami Circle,
while in the more formal redistributional system, one commu-
nity would serve as a redistribution center for other communi-
ties within the exchange network. Austin’s (2004:118, 127-
128) analysis leads him to conclude that a redistributional
exchange system was in operation, with Fort Center serving as
a center for redistribution of cobbles and other cherts. The
Miami Circle site may well have had a similar role in the
redistribution of pumice. Prior to these studies our ideas about
patterns and systems of exchange in southern Florida were
limited.

Conclusion

A large number of pumice clasts (n=121) recovered from
excavations at the Miami Circle afforded an opportunity to