Belle Glade Monumental Construction Examined

Summary

Some of the densest concentrations of prehistoric monumental construction in Florida are located within the Kissimmee River valley/ Lake Okeechobee basin areas. Based on 1930s-1940s aerial images and limited field investigations archaeologists have created typologies for the various circle ditch and linear earthworks. However, these studies did not examine the intra-relationships of the subcomponents that comprise the individual mound complexes, nor the intersite relationships to the physical landscape. Since many of these sites were destroyed before they could be professionally investigated, remote sensing has proven to be useful for exploring their extent. This presentation will examine these points through various remote sensing techniques and firsthand field observations illustrating the geometric complexity that went into constructing these sites and potential cultural implications.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• The Belle Glade Culture Revisited

Keywords

Spatial Coverage