1665-22 Pre-1915 SITE DESIGNATION: Da 21 SITE NAME: Surfside Midden
LOCATION: T. 52S. R. 42E. SECTION 35
SITE TYPE: 4C (la) CHRONOLOGY: Glades II-III
SITE DESCRIPTION: The site was originally located on the inside of a
peninsula adjacent to the mouth of Indian Creek on Miami Beach. Goggin
describes the midden as having shape of "somewhat narrow triangle, about
370 feet long , with its base to the north and the apex to the south. As
far as can be determined it was between 4 . 5 and 5 feet high. The com-
position is that of a typical black dirt midden with some shells, mainly
Strombus gigas, Busycon perversa, and Fasciolaria gigantea. There was a
decided concentration of shells in the upper portion of the site.
It is unfortunate that this site suffered such a thorough destruction
as its ecological connotations may be significant. It was situated in a
thick mangrove swamp with the nearest high ground, which is the_ sandy
beach ridge, some distance to the east. At the present time because of
extensive filling in the area it is not easy to determine how far the
beach ridge was from the site. In the early '1920 ' s when the great Florida
Boom was in progress this area was "reclaimed" by building bulkheads along
PREVIOUS RESEARCH: Small 1928 :205 , 1929 : 94-99 , (coni next pagE
Squires 1941 :45-56 , Willey 1949 :49-54 ,
Goggin 1939 :37 , 1940 :23 , 1941 :26
FS#:
COLLECTION: Goggin excavated a pit here in 1934 . Ceramics, shell tools ,
faunal bone, lithic tools. The Smithsonian conducted work here in
1934-35.
SITE QUALITY: 4 (10/80) Much of lowest levels of the site are still preser
OWNERSHIP: Private, City of Surfside beneath the fill.
NATIONAL REGISTER ELIGIBILITY: Yes, but additional field work would be necessary
to supply sufficient data on the site ' s integrity.
RECOMMtENDATION: An archeologist should monitor any subsurface excavations
within the site area of the house lots or the roads.
0
Continued:
Site Designation: Da 21 Site Name: Surfside Midden
Site Description: (continued)
the edge of the mangrove swamp and pumping sandy marl from the bay
bottom into the enclosed area. This covered all of the low swampy
ground and lower portions of the high ground. The result of this
filling was the creation of a level flat broken only by the upper
portion of the midden. The exact relation of this site to the
surrounding terrain is thus obscured. '
The site is situated within a residental neighborhood that
is now known as Surfside. The habitation or refuse mound lies between
91st and 93rd Streets and is bisected by Bay Drive which runs north
and south. The burial mound, also cut in two by BayDrieDrive.north of the village site, near the corner of 94th and
Some black midden soil and marine shells were observed in the one
yard. Undoubtably, considerable undisturbed material exists beneath
the fill in the tract west of Bay Drive.