Ancient ruins in a modern jungle
Downtown, where the Miami River meets Biscayne Bay, surrounded by multimillion-dollar apartments, 500-foot-high office buildings, and five-star restaurants, sits an ancient settlement, as undisturbed as it was millennia ago.
The Miami Circle is the only known prehistoric cut-in-rock structure in eastern North America to date. Anywhere from 1000 to 2000 years ago, the Tequesta tribe, which had inhabited South Florida since the 3rd century bce, constructed a perfect circle that archaeologists believe was the foundation of a “council house.” The structure appeared to be oriented to the cardinal directions and possibly the stars, much in the way the famous henges of Britain were. The Tequesta’s central city was believed to be at the mouth of the Miami River, where the circle is situated.
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Address 401 Brickell Avenue Miami, FL 33131 | Tip Oddly enough, Sun Life Stadium (347 Don Shula Dr) in Miami Gardens was built on an ancient Tequesta burial ground. As the home field for both the Miami Hurricanes and Miami Dolphins, one might seriously consider the legitimacy of poltergeists after seeing either of these teams struggle to become the successes they once were.
After the apartment complex at 401 Brickell Avenue was torn down in 1998, the prehistoric structure was discovered. Upon excavation, researchers found a number of post holes dug into the oolitic limestone foundation arranged in a perfect circle measuring 38 feet in diameter. Some scientists believe the holes were made for stilts that held up a greater structure, perhaps of a ceremonial or religious nature. Artifacts, such as a shark skeleton buried in east-west alignment, a complete sea-turtle carapace, basalt axes, and human teeth, were also found at the site.
The empty air above Miami Circle creates a noticeable gap in the Downtown skyline. The Icon Brickell, the neighboring condominium supported by faux Easter Island heads, towers above the site, which is just as old, if not older, than the actual moai on Easter Island. To the north, boats pass under the Brickell Avenue bridge in the shadows of some of Miami’s tallest buildings. To the south, the heart of Downtown pulses. To the east, Biscayne Bay’s waters wash up to the Tequesta settlement as it did thousands of years ago.
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