Archaeologists have been excavating one of three parking lots just north of the Dupont Plaza Hotel in downtown Miami (USA) in search of pottery, ancient tools, and other artefacts of the Tequesta Indians, the ancient tribe responsible for the nearby Miami Circle, the 38-foot-wide stone carving discovered in 1998.
     Once the site of the Tequestas' main village for 2,500 years, the site is now scheduled to become the One Miami development of luxury condos, stores, and offices.
     Bob Carr, the archaeologist largely responsible for the Miami Circle discovery, and five other scientists have already unearthed shards of pottery, fish bones and shells, and a rock that functioned as a tool or fishing weight. They have also found the city’s original shoreline, hundreds of yards west of the current one, which was produced by modern developers. Carr and his team hope to have completely explored the 6-acre site within a year’s time.
     "This is it", said Carr. "This is the chance I’ve been waiting for all my life—to get to the center of the Tequesta civilization, right here in the village that’s under these parking lots."

Source: Miami Herald (29 July 2003)