BOYNTON'S INDIAN MOUNDS
(1000BC - 1700AD)
By David J. Castello
Pottery shard with
markings recovered by David J Castello
from Indian mound 100 yards south of Boynton Beach Inlet |
The largest cluster of Native American Indian mounds in Palm Beach
County is located just west of Boynton Beach in an area of the
Agricultural Reserve across from Faith Farm Ministries. Labeled
by the state as site #8PB56, the twelve mounds are spread over
an area of approximately ten acres and range in size from a few
yards circular to a mammoth rectangular one measuring 200 X 100
feet.
They are probably the remains of a sub-group of the Jeaga
tribe. The Jeagas at their peak numbered about 2,000 and were
spread across much of what is now Palm Beach County. Their neighbors
were the Ais to the north and the Tequesta to the south.
South Florida was the last portion of the state to be occupied
by her indigenous Indians. And they took their time getting
down here. The northern and panhandle parts were first settled
around 12OOOBC (an excavation site by the Aucilla River revealed
a mastodon). Major occupation of present-day Palm Beach County
didn't occur until 1OOOBC. And for good reason. These were not
the most hospitable places to set up a wig-wam (which for Florida
Indians consisted of a framework of bent poles covered with
palmetto fronds). To give you an idea of the hardship, there
is a colonial report of a mule actually dying after being attacked
by a swarm of mosquitos.
Carbon-14 dating of artifacts recovered at the Boynton site
date to 600BC according to Jim Wamke, former Boynton Beach mayor
and member of the Boynton Beach Historical Society. "Curiously,
the burial mound is covered with a very white sugar sand," said
Warnke. "That sand is not found anywhere else in the area."
Hunters and gatherers, the Jeagas railed heavily on marine
resources and very little on agriculture. There is a large-sized
mound just south of the Boynton Inlet on the east side of AIA.
Unfortunately, it is now covered by a condominium complex (hopefully
the inland site will not endure a similar fate). Limited excavation
at the Inlet mound revealed turtle shells, large marine vertebrate
and pottery. Warnke theorizes that the same group may have been
responsible for both sites. "They probably periodically trekked
to the shore for food and carried it back to the main encampment."
The Jeagas foraged for coco plums, sea grapes and palm berries,
They also drank a frothy, ceremonial tea made from the roasted
leaves of the cassina plant. Known as the "black drink", it
was high in caffeine and obviously made quite an impression
on the Europeans. They gave it the lovely botanical name "Ilex
Vomitoria."
Enslavement (particularly by the Spainards for their Caribbean
outposts), disease and the introduction of alcohol quickly decimated
the original Florida Indians. By the early 1700's they were
gone, soon to be replaced by a tribe that migrated down from
Georgia in 1716 and has since come to symbolize the Florida
Indian - the Seminole.
David
J Castello
PAGES FROM BOYNTON BEACH HISTORY
THE BAREFOOT MAILMAN (1885-1893)
THE BOYNTON BEACH HOTEL (1896-1925)
THE WRECK OF THE COQUIMBO (1909)
NATHAN S. BOYNTON (1837-1911)
BOYNTON'S INDIAN MOUNDS (1000BC-1700AD)

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