Prehistoric Remains Found at 77 SE 5th Street
On March 8th, the BHA held a community meeting between the residents of Brickell on the River, the City of Miami's Historic Preservation Department, City of Miami PD to discuss the Archeological Site located at 77 SE 5th Street.
The BHA submitted a Public Records Request and the following reports were made available by the City. We are currently requesting for the full report of Phase 2 and we will use this page to keep you updated.
Since early 2021 at 77 SE 5th Street teams of archeologists have been working to resurface prehistoric remains also related to the American-Indian Tribe of the Tequesta.
The prehistoric materials, according to official reports, are well preserved and eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places based on criterion D.
The discovery includes human remains as well as tools, pottery, and other artifacts. Artifacts include: glass melon beads (16-19th Century) , gun flint, clear quartz pendant, platform pipe fragment, Rhenish stoneware ca. 17th century, bear tooth, whale bone, perforated bear canine, Kaoline pipe stems and more. The findings appear to be a part of a larger site with connections to Miami Circle, Met Square, & Granda excavations. You can find photos and details here.
Since the first notice of discovery on April 10th, the City has mandated a series of archeological assessments. Phase II was completed in June and a third phase followed.
The reports suggest that more findings are likely to be discovered as the search heads North towards the Miami river. The reason for this is that before the construction of the former building, sediments brought by the river were accumulating on the south side of the lot. Leveling the lot required removing sediments from the south side while adding fill to the north side where bedrock is lower, thus preserving the archeological deposits below.
These unprecedented discoveries are extremely important to our heritage.
We hope and solicit our City officials as well as our local Associations for Historic Preservation to work together to protect these treasures. A park or a museum would be celebrated by our community.
