DAN D. LAXSON 255

 

Figure 3. Some artifacts found by Laxson at the Red Road Site (8DA44). Pair of glass artifacts on lower right are Punta Rassa

Tear Drop pendants (FLMNH cat. #93871).

As for Bullen, his interest in the topic of possible contact
between the Caribbean and southern Florida led to a detailed
assessment of the archaeological evidence (Bullen 1974).

In 1953, Laxson (1953b) tested another black dirt midden,
Hialeah #2 (8DA76). There, he found sherds dating to the
Glades III Period as well as faceted blue glass beads used by
Seminole Indians in the 1800s. Short bone points, one or two
with black material adhering (possibly pitch or asphaltum), also
were found. Almost 20 years later, in 1972, condominiums
were built on Hialeah #2. At that time, the midden yielded a
number of artifacts, including a rare ceramic platform pipe
(McClellan 1984:83, Figure 1).

In 1954, Laxson investigated two more black dirt middens,
Hialeah #3 (8DA77) (Laxson 1954a) and Hialeah #4. At
Hialeah #4, also called the Graham Site (8DA82), he found an
historic period Indian burial in the roots of a large Ficus tree.
Since the site was threatened by land development, Laxson
salvaged the burial and analyzed its grave goods. He donated
them to FSM, concluding that it was a Seminole burial dating
to “the mid-19th century” (Laxson 1954b). He also donated
photographs of the Ficus tree to FSM (PN2001.14.1 through
PN2001.14.9). Additional notes about the burial were pub-
lished by Wilfred T. Neill (1957). In 2001, FLMNH sent the
human bones from the burial to the Miccosukee Tribe. Two

years later, associated artifacts were photographed (PN2004.6.1
through PN2004.6.87) and sent to the tribe.

In 1955 and 1956, Laxson worked at Madden Hammock
(8DA45), which was formerly (before artificial drainage) a
large island in the Everglades and a possible a relic dune
formation. Today situated in Miami Lakes, just west of the
Palmetto Expressway, it is the location of a large, flat-topped
sand mound interpreted by Goggin (1949) and others as a
temple mound (Carr 2002; Gifford 1989; Wheeler 2004a). It
is one of two such mounds in the Miami area, the other being
the now-destroyed Miami Sand Mound #3 (8DA19) (Goggin
1949). At Madden Hammock, Laxson (1957a) found artifacts
of the Glades I, III, and Seminole periods, including sherds of
Glades Tooled and Spanish-derived wares. A number of the
Glades Tooled rim sherds were accessioned, labeled with
catalog numbers, and photographed at FSM, appearing as
Figures 2 and 3 in Laxson’s article in The Florida Anthropolo-
gist.

In January 1956, Laxson (1957c) tested the Arch Creek Site
(8DA23) next to the famous, natural, limestone arch, or bridge,
over Arch Creek in northeastern Miami (1855 NE 135th Street).
In the early 1970s, he was followed by the Miami-West India
and Broward County archaeological societies (Mowers et al.
1975) and, soon after, by Robert S. Carr (1975). Public interest