The Mysterious 'Miami Circle'
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
atlasobscura - Property developer Michael Bauman was in for a real surprise when he purchased a plot of land in downtown Miami in 1998. Bauman's plans for the land were seemingly simple: demolish a 1950-era apartment complex and build a luxury condominium in its place.
atlasobscura - 房地產發展商邁克爾鮑曼有真正的驚喜，當他於 1998年在邁阿密市中心購買一小塊土地。鮑曼對土地的計劃看似簡單：拆除1950年代的複式公寓和在它的地方建設一豪華公寓。
During a routine archaeological survey of the site, however, hundreds of mysterious holes were discovered in a layer of Oolitic limestone bedrock and Bauman's development plans immediately came to a halt. Through further investigation, twenty-four of the largest holes comprised a perfect circle, 38 feet (12 m) in diameter, and excavation results found a variety of artifacts ranging from human teeth to ancient tools.
在一次工地的例行考古調查，但是，數以百計的神秘小洞被發現在一層鮞狀灰岩的岩床上，和鮑曼的發展計劃要立即停止。通過進一步的調查，最大的24個洞組成一個完美的圓圈，38呎（12米）直徑，挖掘結果發現一系列的文物，從人類的牙齒至古代的工具。
Included in the artifacts were pieces of burnt wood which, after being tested for radiocarbon dating, are believed to be 1800-2000 years old. To date, Miami Circle is the only known evidence in the United States of a prehistoric structure built into bedrock. Evidence from this mysterious prehistoric "footprint" predates other known settlements along the East Coast.
文物包括多塊被燒毀的木材，在測試放射性碳測日期後，據信是1,800至2,000年之久。迄今為止，邁阿密圈是在美國唯一已知的證據，一個史前的結構建造入石床中。從這個神秘史前“腳印”的證據，是早於其它已知的東岸居點。
The site is believed to have once been occupied by the Tequesta Indians, a local tribe whose known tools matched some of the shark tooth-related artifacts found during excavation. Theorists have suggested that the holes were structural postholes or part of the foundation for a building. Some believe the building was used for ceremonial purposes, as animal bones and unused tools appeared to be offerings.
地點被認為是一度由特奇斯塔印度人佔據，一本地部落他們的著名工具匹配一些在發掘過程中發現的鯊魚牙齒有關的文物。理論家們已提出，洞是結構性的 postholes或建築物的部分地基。有些人相信建築用是作慶典用途，因為動物骨骼和未使用的工具似乎是供奉物。
Among these tools were two axe-heads made from basalt, a hard stone that is not indigenous to Florida. The finding of these tools contradicts the theory that the site was occupied by the Tequesta, however, as the volcanic rock is believed to have been from a location in Macon, Georgia - some 600 miles (970 km) away from the site.
The mysterious origin of the site has led to its nickname as "America's Stonehenge", (though there are a number of sites nicknamed this) and some critics and conspiracy theorists have offered alternative theories. Aliens, Mayans and septic tanks are among some of the suggested origins for the holes.
地點的神秘起源已導致它的花名為“美國的巨石陣”（雖然有數個地點有這個綽號），和一些評論家和陰謀論者已提供替代理論；外星人、瑪雅人和化糞池都是其中一些提出的洞穴起源。
The State of Florida eventually purchased the land from Baumann after a series of high-profile disputes between Native American groups, contractors, and historic preservation committees. Miami Circle, otherwise known as Brickell Point or the Miami River Circle, was declared a National Historic Landmark in early 2009 and is currently under a 44-year lease agreement with the Historical Museum of Southern Florida. Visitors interested in the history of the Miami Circle can view artifacts on display through the museum's permanent exhibition: "First Arrivals: The Archaeology of Southern Florida."
佛羅里達州最終從鮑曼購買土地，在一連串美洲土著群體之間、承包商和歷史保育委員會等的高調糾紛後、邁阿密圈，另外稱為布里克爾點或邁阿密河圈，在2009年初被宣布為一國家歷史地標，目前是在一 44年期與南佛羅里達州歷史館的租賃協議下。遊客有興趣於邁阿密圈的歷史，可以查看陳列的文物通過博物館的常設展覽：“首先到達：南佛羅里達州考古”。
'邁阿密圈' 的事實
'MIAMI CIRCLE' FACTS
The Miami Circle was discovered in August/September, 1998, during routine archaeo-logical investigations conducted at the site of six low-rise, 1950-era apartment buildings (Brickell Point Apartments), which were razed to make way for construction of two high-rise apartment towers. Surveyor Ted Riggs uncovered an arc-like section and was convinced this would be a circle incised into the stone, underneath the three feet of overlying Earth.
The Miami Circle is located within archaeological site 8DA1212, aka "Miami Midden #2" or "The Brickell Point Site." It is situated on a 2.2 +/- acre parcel that is located along the southern bank of the Miami River, where the River meets Biscayne Bay. The Miami Circle is characterized primarily by a series of 24 main basin "rectangles" which have been cut almost 2 feet deep into the site's oolitic limestone bedrock , 6 smaller ones, and hundreds of random "post holes." The 30 large and small "rectangular basins" form a ring geometry approximately 37 feet in diameter, with the approximately 500 smaller round holes scattered randomly across the entire circle's width, if not beyond.
Considering the amount of modern construction (and demolition) that has taken place on top of the site, the Miami Circle is remarkably intact -- with approximately 85% of it preserved. The Brickell Point property contains intact prehistoric midden deposits on at least 50% - 75% of the parcel. This material contains a tremendous quantity of well-preserved shell, bone, ceramics, and other artifacts deposited during several centuries of human occupation.
The "mainstream" opinion says "the Tequesta Indians," a group of Southern Florida native Americans who inhabited the area from about 2000 years ago to after the Spanish arrived -- spanning roughly the same dates as the artifacts recovered from the Circle's "holes." A minority opinion (Riggs, Hoagland, et al) says MUCH older ... by a sophisticated people who lived here long before the Tequestas were in the area ... perhaps as much as 10,000 to 13,000 years ago.
Archaeological evidence suggests the Miami Circle marks the footprint [foundation] of a large, prehistoric structure, possibly the "foundations for a 'Coucil House,' or other ceremonial structure created by native Americans known as the Tequesta. The evidence also suggests that the Miami Circle had ceremonial importance to the Tequesta:
* Cardinal points (i.e. North, South, East, and West) along the Miami Circle appear to have been specially denoted. In particular, an eye-shaped hole was cut into the bedrock at the Circle's eastern point. Its shape was unique among hundreds of holes uncovered at the site.
* Two possible animal offerings, a complete sea turtle carapace and the articulated remains of a shark more than six feet in length, were found within the Circle's interior. Each was oriented east-west, a practice often associated with prehistoric human burials.
* Several teeth belonging to an extinct species of seal were found within the Miami Circle. Spanish explorer's accounts indicate that the consumption of monk seals, or "sea wolves," were reserved for the elite class.
* Two finely-crafted stone axes were found found along the Miami Circle's eastern portion. One of these was recovered from within a posthole cut into the bedrock, and possibly represents an offering. Both axes were made of basalt, a volcanic rock that is not native toFlorida.
The minority scientists say that the structure's puzzling ring-shaped array of 30 rectangular "basins" are more analogous to England's "Stonehenge" -- once serving as the "foundation slots" for a ring of 30 upright stones, which once stood in the currently surviving geometric bedrock basins -"an archeo-astronomical "stonehenge-like device," for observing the solstices and equinoxes, as well as other astronomically-based ceremonial uses ..."
At present, two radiocarbon date determinations have been completed. Charcoal samples collected from within one of the Miami Circle's cut basins and from the midden within the Miami Circle both dated to circa 100 A.D. Human occupation of the site may date to well over two thousands years ago.
The Miami Circle archaeological site is regarded as being of local, regional, and statewide significance. The Miami Circle may also be of national significance, as it is believed to be the only cut-in-rock prehistoric structural footprint ever found in eastern North America. The site potentially qualifies for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If we fail to preserve the Circle, a priceless , untouched example of a previously unsuspected sophistication in "archaic North American architecture," as well as important new clues as to the reasons for astronomically-based indigenous ceremonial centers will be lost. The Miami Circle, though architecturally unique (carved basins in the limestone bedrock), has at least one other potetially significant analog in North America: the ancient circle of wooden post holes -- called "Woodhenge 2" -- placed on the summit of a massive earthen "Indian Mound" known as "Cahokia," located across the river from St.Louis, Missouri.
The Mayor of Miami-Dade County, the Honorable Alex Penelas, signed an "eminent domain decree" last February, setting in motion a legal process for County acquisition and preservation of the Miami River Circle site. An "eminent domain" trial is set to begin October 4th to decide the actual purchase price of the land. If the County cannot raise the necessary funds in time (the exact amount to be dermined by the jury), the land will then revert back to the developer: Michael Baumann.. The County needs massive financial help, as the current "save the circle" fund is far short of even what the developer originally paid for the land.
The developer, Michael Bauman, originally paid slightly over 8 million dollars for the 2.2 acre site at the mouth of the Miami River. He is now claiming additional costs in architetural development, lost revenues due to the eminent domain proceeding, etc., totalling in excess of 50million dollars. Ultimately, based on evidence presented by the County and the developer at trial, a jury of twelve men and woman selected from the normal jury pool in the Miami area will decide what the Circle site is worth in today's market -- and award Mr.Baumann according compensation.
http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2010/05/mysterious-miami-circle.html
邁阿密圈的神秘
The Mystery of the Miami Circle
BBC2 9.00pm Thursday 25th January 2001
July 1998, downtown Miami, Florida. Six apartment blocks have just been demolished, to allow the construction of two brand new 40-storey skyscrapers. As construction workers prepare the site, they notice a strange phenomenon in the ground - a perfectly preserved circle of large holes, almost 13 metres across. What they had stumbled upon would generate huge excitement and controversy: either they had unearthed a rare and mysterious 2,000 year old Indian site - or a 1950s septic tank…
1998年7月的佛羅里達州邁阿密市區，六座公寓樓剛被拆除，以便興建兩座全新的40層高摩天大樓。當建築工人準備工程地點，他們注意到地下的一個奇怪現象 - 一個完好保存的大圓洞，寬近 13公尺。他們所碰巧發現的將會產生巨大的興奮和爭議：一係他們已發現一罕見和神秘古老的2,000年舊印第安地點 - 或一係是一個20世紀 50年代的化糞池 ...
…or an ancient inverted American Stonehenge… or a unique Mayan village in North America. For a while theories ranged far and wide. But finally, after examining the strategically-placed holes, and the range of artefacts found around the circle - stone tools, shark bones, axe heads - archaeologists began to believe that this was a genuinely unique site - the remains of a mysterious forgotten tribe called the Tequesta.
The Tequesta were described by the Spanish in the 16th century, and later by British missionaries, as bloodthirsty, barbarous and impossible to approach without fear of attack. Unlike the better known tribes in the North of Florida who lived in settled villages and farmed the land, the Tequesta roamed in small hunting bands, deep in the impenetrable Everglades. This was why they had never left traces of their lifestyle in the everglades. Almost nothing was known about them; they had all died out by the 18th century.
And yet, here, in downtown Miami, lying between the glittering Hyatt Hotel and a sleek modern skyscraper, was this extraordinary 2,000 year old site, apparently built by the stone-age Tequesta. As the archaeologists started to dig, the site became more and more intriguing, with more and more artefacts, more and more carefully placed holes. What was it? By then the 'Miami Circle' was already the subject of local media frenzy. Under pressure from a fascinated public, the State of Florida ended up buying the muddy site from the developer for the unheard of sum of $27 million. The digging continued.
Although it may be many years before the Miami site is completely investigated, what scientists now realise is that all the holes dug into the limestone are post holes for houses and meeting halls built - on stilts. Indeed, this appears to have been a whole village on stilts, built high over the land to avoid the tidal waters that regularly flooded hurricane-prone Miami. And this village is recreated through 3D graphics.
So it turns out that the 'barbarous' Tequesta were not nomads at all - they were sophisticated architects, with a unique lifestyle that archaeologists finally have some clues about. Slowly they are piecing together the first real picture of this mysterious forgotten tribe, who lived in an earlier downtown Miami.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2000/miamicircle.shtml
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