Construction to Continue At Site of Ancient Tequesta Town

On April 5, the City of Miami’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board gave permission to developers to continue construction at the site of the ruins of an ancient town in Brickell. The town belonged to members of the Tequesta tribe of South Florida. The site is thousands of years old, leading to calls from archaeologists and members of the Native American community to preserve the land.

The decision by the Preservation Board means that the Related Group, the developer in question, will resume the construction of three towers at the site. University of Florida Assistant Professor of Anthropology who specializes in archaeology, Daniel Contreras, says though discoveries made at construction sites like the one in Brickell are commonplace , the significance of each site should be considered.

“It’s fairly common that archaeological sites are found this way. It’s frustrating for the archaeologists, and we usually see it as our role to advocate for more attention to the archaeological materials at risk. That’s not to say that those are all that matter — no one is arguing that there should be no more construction at all — but as archaeologists, we often find ourselves in the position of making the point that the potential importance of archaeological sites should be taken into account,” Contreras said.

The site is adjacent to the Miami Circle National Historic Landmark, discovered in the late 1990’s. According to the University of Miami Associate Professor and Chair of the Anthropology Department William Pestle Ph.D., the Miami Circle and the newly discovered archeological site are part of the same ancient town. Dr. Pestle says the reason why the circle was preserved and not the newly discovered site comes down to the public pressure to preserve the Miami Circle after its discovery.

“The public’s attention was captured by the Miami Circle, and so politicians took action. I’m hoping that we can mobilize the same sort of reaction for the site that is currently being excavated,” Pestle said.

Pestle attended an April 4 meeting of the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board to advocate for the preservation of the site.

“When I became aware that this portion of the site was being excavated and the amount of material that was coming out, we’ve had about a million artifacts already that have come out, I became concerned that unless there was a public pressure campaign and unless the city took some sort of action, that we might lose the opportunity to preserve some portion of the site and that we might lose the opportunity to really study thoroughly, the millions and hundreds of 1000s if not a million artifacts that have already come out of the site,” Pestle said.

Pestle says that the Preservation Board’s decision was partly influenced by money and politics instead of historical significance.

“Let’s just say that, you know, the developers and the city have millions and billions of reasons to push ahead with development, and it’s hard to put a dollar value on the past. So, when the city is weighing out the relative value of millions of dollars, many new housing units, lots of jobs, the growth of the city on the one hand - which you can put dollar values onand the past on the other - which doesn’t have a dollar value assigned to it,” Pestle said.

Experts say that Miami can expect more discoveries like the one in question. According to University of Miami Professor of Archaeology Traci Arden, downtown Miami is located in the same area the Tequesta used to occupy.

“The entire downtown has prehistoric remains underneath it pretty much, at least everything along the river. So yes, there’s lots more material like that to be found,” Arden said.

Despite failing to preserve the entire site, archaeologists and activists remain hopeful that some portion of the site can be conserved. The Board’s decision opens the door for a plot of land that has not undergone excavation to receive some protection.

“They voted to continue in the process that could lead to protection of a portion of the site that hasn’t been excavated yet, and so I felt like that was a positive step. And I think there’s a lot of work ahead of us to see that that is realized,” Pestle said.

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