State Archaeological Investigation of Brickell Point (8DA12)
Report: Week 2, 10/19 through 10/22

Prepared by Ryan J. Wheeler, Archaeologist
Bureau of Archaeological Research, 10/24/99

This was the first, though partial, week of our investigation at the Brickell Point site. We began work by clearing and cleaning one of the footer removal trenches (No. 11), dug during the 1998 demolition of the 1950s apartment buildings. We also began our mechanical auger survey of the property. The Miami-Dade County survey crew finished establishing a 12 foot grid on the property, along which the auger tests are to be made. The grid also has provided convenient reference points, each with a elevation tied to the North American Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD, 1929).

The auger survey component of the project has suffered some setbacks, since the top 18 to 24 inches of the site is composed of compact construction fill, including large bricks and pieces of broken concrete. This is difficult to penetrate with the 8 inch mechanical auger bit, though approximately 20 tests have been completed. Auger tests made to the south of footer removal trench No. 11, which we have been working in, have profiles that show approximately 50 cm of intact black earth midden overlying the white oolotic limestone. Tests here and to the west of this area have occasionally encountered solution features in the limestone that are filled with black earth midden. Bucket auger samples have been collected from a number of these tests, and will be screened through 1/16 inch mesh. Artifacts found in the midden include sand-tempered plain and St. Johns Plain pottery sherds, as well as a horse conch [Pleuroploca gigantea] columella cutting-edge tool. Animal bones and marine shells and fragments are commonly observed in the midden.

Footer removal trench No. 11 is located to the west and north of the Miami Circle feature; it is associated with the northeastern wall of apartment building No. 3. This trench runs roughly north-south and is just over 10 meters in length. Work in the trench has included removal of fill material that has slumped into the trench from adjacent spoil piles and preparation of the walls for profile drawing. Intact midden deposits were observed in the walls of the trench and bucket auger testing revealed that approximately 10 to 25 cm of midden remained undisturbed in the bottom of the trench. Overburden was removed in anticipation of systematic excavation of this midden material. Cursory examination of the profile indicated that footer pilings were placed on 12 foot centers, and it was not until the removal trench was dug that the archaeological deposits were significantly disturbed; disturbed midden, often of a gray color with concrete inclusions, is observed in the trench profile and in many of the auger tests. The intact midden, about 50 to 60 cm thick in the southern end of the trench, slopes dramatically downward to the north at the hypothesized historical shoreline.

A limestone solution feature, initially only a small water-filled hole plugged with packed cobbles of oolitic limestone, was observed in the bottom of the trench, about 8.5 meters from the southern end of the trench. A thin layer of midden coated the limestone in this area and it appeared that the midden continued into the solution feature. The initial excavation of the solution feature revealed black midden material, with fine, well-sorted fragments of bone and shell, and some larger pieces of bone, shell, and pottery. The upper portion of the solution feature's contents contained some concrete, modern glass, and other construction fill, lower portions produced nineteenth century materials, including the fragmentary neck of a blown green glass bottle and a wire-wound glass button, probably from a ladies' blouse or jacket. Aboriginal materials included sand-tempered sherds, and one example of Matecumbe Incised, a decorated Glades type dating to the Glades IIb Period. The most interesting finds were two pieces of charred wood, each showing evidence of shell tool marks--probably representing debitage from canoe manufacture. This solution feature must have become the repository for a variety of debris, either lost or discarded at the edge of the Miami River over a period of some time.

The current project has just begun, but already has some exciting results-especially the discovery of preserved wood debitage near the historic shoreline of the Miami River. The few pottery types observed suggest that the midden deposits that we have examined date to the late Glades II period, probably around A.D. 1000. We are planning to continue our excavation and profiling of Trench No. 11, and the limited use of heavy equipment to remove construction fill in some areas in order to proceed more efficiently with the auger survey. Once the trench profiling and auger survey are complete we will have a good understanding of the horizontal and vertical extent of the midden deposits at the site.
tests made to the south of footer removal trench No. 11, which we have been working in, have profiles that show approximately 50 cm of intact black earth midden overlying the white oolotic limestone. Tests here and to the west of this area have occasionally encountered solution features in the limestone that are filled with black earth midden. Bucket auger samples have been collected from a number of these tests, and will be screened through 1/16 inch mesh. Artifacts found in the midden include sand-tempered plain and St. Johns Plain pottery sherds, as well as a horse conch [Pleuroploca gigantea] columella cutting-edge tool. Animal bones and marine shells and fragments are commonly observed in the midden.

Footer removal trench No. 11 is located to the west and north of the Miami Circle feature; it is associated with the northeastern wall of apartment building No. 3. This trench runs roughly north-south and is just over 10 meters in length. Work in the trench has included removal of fill material that has slumped into the trench from adjacent spoil piles and preparation of the walls for profile drawing. Intact midden deposits were observed in the walls of the trench and bucket auger testing revealed that approximately 10 to 25 cm of midden remained undisturbed in the bottom of the trench. Overburden was removed in anticipation of systematic excavation of this midden material. Cursory examination of the profile indicated that footer pilings were placed on 12 foot centers, and it was not until the removal trench was dug that the archaeological deposits were significantly disturbed; disturbed midden, often of a gray color with concrete inclusions, is observed in the trench profile and in many of the auger tests. The intact midden, about 50 to 60 cm thick in the southern end of the trench, slopes dramatically downward to the north at the hypothesized historical shoreline.

A limestone solution feature, initially only a small water-filled hole plugged with packed cobbles of oolitic limestone, was observed in the bottom of the trench, about 8.5 meters from the southern end of the trench. A thin layer of midden coated the limestone in this area and it appeared that the midden continued into the solution feature. The initial excavation of the solution feature revealed black midden material, with fine, well-sorted fragments of bone and shell, and some larger pieces of bone, shell, and pottery. The upper portion of the solution feature's contents contained some concrete, modern glass, and other construction fill, lower portions produced nineteenth century materials, including the fragmentary neck of a blown green glass bottle and a wire-wound glass button, probably from a ladies' blouse or jacket. Aboriginal materials included sand-tempered sherds, and one example of Matecumbe Incised, a decorated Glades type dating to the Glades IIb Period. The most interesting finds were two pieces of charred wood, each showing evidence of shell tool marks--probably representing debitage from canoe manufacture. This solution feature must have become the repository for a variety of debris, either lost or discarded at the edge of the Miami River over a period of some time.

The current project has just begun, but already has some exciting results-especially the discovery of preserved wood debitage near the historic shoreline of the Miami River. The few pottery types observed suggest that the midden deposits that we have examined date to the late Glades II period, probably around A.D. 1000. We are planning to continue our excavation and profiling of Trench No. 11, and the limited use of heavy equipment to remove construction fill in some areas in order to proceed more efficiently with the auger survey. Once the trench profiling and auger survey are complete we will have a good understanding of the horizontal and vertical extent of the midden deposits at the site.