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Robert S. Carr (born July 5, 1947) is an American archaeologist and the current executive director of The Archaeological and Historical Conservancy, Inc. He specializes in Southeastern archaeology, with particular emphasis on archaeology in Florida. He has also conducted fieldwork in the Bahamas.
Carr was born on July 5, 1947, in La Plata, Maryland. He is the son of Howard and Frances Carr. His family moved to Florida in 1952, where his father sought new opportunities in employment during Florida's post-World War II boom. He worked as a sign painter and a construction equipment operator, at which point he brought his family to Rock Harbor in Key Largo in a Miami transit bus which he had bought in an auction and converted into a mobile home. After his family moved to Miami, by age 13 Carr had become interested in archaeology. He began visiting sites at the mouth of the Miami River. Soon after, he joined the archaeology club at the Museum of Science, taught by avocational archaeologist Dan Laxson.
In June 1968, Carr graduated with his associate degree from Miami-Dade Junior College in Miami, Florida. From September 1970 through June 1971, he studied at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. In August 1972, Carr graduated with his B.A. in anthropology from Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. Four years later, in August 1976, he received his M.A. in anthropology from Florida State University.
While still a graduate student, Carr began working at the Florida Division of Historic Sites in the conservation lab. His phase I survey of Arch Creek (8DA23) in Miami-Dade County contributed to the state's acquisition of the site as a public park. Other early projects included a survey of prehistoric sites in Appalachicola and a search for the American Revolutionary War Fort Tonyn on the St. Mary's River. His survey of Lake Okeechobee in 1974 resulted in the discovery of previously unknown earthworks and the first state assessment of the Okeechobee Battlefield of the Second Seminole War. In 1985 Carr directed a phase I archaeological survey with Willard Steele that discovered artifacts associated with the battlefield eventually resulting in its acquisition as a State park.
In 1974, Carr began working at the Southeast Center of the National Park Service. During this time, he helped develop an aerial photographic model for locating sites in the Big Cypress National Preserve and the Everglades. Carr located a previously unrecorded village site at the Pharr Mounds site near Tupelo, Mississippi, on the Natchez Trace. He also took part in a survey at Cumberland Island in coastal Georgia. During this time, Carr also worked as a contract archaeologist with Florida’s Division of Archives History and Records Management.
After graduation, Carr worked for more than 20 years as a Dade County archaeologist, during which time he conducted archaeological surveys of both Miami-Dade and Broward County. He was Miami-Dade County's first archaeologist. During this time, he was elected President of the Florida Archaeologist Council in 1980. From 1980-1983, he was an editor of The Florida Anthropologist.
Carr became the Executive Director of the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy, Inc. It is not-for-profit organization dedicated to the investigation and preservation of archaeological and historical sites across Florida and the Bahamas. [1]
Carr co-discovered with John Ricisak and Ted Riggs and directed the excavations on the Miami River Circle from 1998 to 1999. The archeological remains appear to be those of the prehistoric ancestors of the Tequesta tribe, encountered by Ponce de Leon. What makes the Miami Circle significant is its contribution to the Tequesta archaeological record. Such a cut, circular pattern in the bedrock had not been found before. Carr believes it indicates either a council house or a temple. [2] In recognition of its significance, in 2007 the Miami Circle was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 2009 the site was designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL).
From April 2003 through 2013, Carr led excavations at the MDM Miami site, DA11. This site is located on the north bank of the Miami River, just opposite the Miami Circle. [1] The excavations uncovered the largest Tequesta cemetery ever documented, dating possibly to 700 BC. [1] The post holes of eleven circular structures cut into the bedrock were found. Eventually the two best preserved structures were preserved for public interpretation. The excavations also led to the discovery of the foundation of the Miami’s first hotel, the Royal Palm. Built in 1897, it was heavily damaged in a hurricane in 1926. It was demolished in 1930. [1]
Carr conducted excavations at the Okeechobee Battlefield. The Battle of Lake Okeechobee, a major conflict during the Second Seminole War, was fought at the site. [3] In 2006, he worked at Preachers Cave in the Bahamas documenting the site of the first English settlers in the Bahamas.
Bob Carr has been the principal investigator for numerous excavations and projects including archaeological assessment and data analysis of the Miami Circle (1999–2003); the Cutler Fossil site in 1985-1986: archaeological investigation of the Okeechobee Battlefield (2000–2001); Preachers Cave, Eluethera, Bahamas (1992 and 2006); Ortona Canal and Earthworks, Glades County (1991–2002); Long Lakes archaeological investigations (2000–2001); archaeological survey of Broward County (1985–1991) and Miami-Dade County (1979–1981); the Florida Keys over a twenty year period and an archaeological survey of Lake Okeechobee area (1974).
Carr has helped develop and improve upon archaeology conducted in South Florida and the Bahamas. His work has spanned over several archaeological topics and he has developed expertise from the Native American Tequesta and their ancestors to Seminole War sites, such as Okeechobee. His work has led to the preservation of numerous sites across Florida including the Miami Circle, the Cutler Fossil site,the Met Square circles, Rivermount site in Fort Lauderdale, and the Ortona prehistoric canal.
The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee. Water leaving the lake in the wet season forms a slow-moving river 60 miles (97 km) wide and over 100 miles (160 km) long, flowing southward across a limestone shelf to Florida Bay at the southern end of the state. The Everglades experiences a wide range of weather patterns, from frequent flooding in the wet season to drought in the dry season. Throughout the 20th century, the Everglades suffered significant loss of habitat and environmental degradation.
The Miami River is a river in the U.S. state of Florida that drains out of the Everglades and runs through the city of Miami, including Downtown. The 5.5-mile (8.9 km) long river flows from the terminus of the Miami Canal at Miami International Airport to Biscayne Bay. It was originally a natural river inhabited at its mouth by the Tequesta Native Americans, but it was dredged and is now polluted throughout its route through Miami-Dade County. The mouth of the river is home to the Port of Miami and many other businesses whose pressure to maintain it has helped to improve the river's condition.
The Caloosahatchee River is a river on the southwest Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States, approximately 67 miles (108 km) long. It drains rural areas on the northern edge of the Everglades, east of Fort Myers. An important link in the Okeechobee Waterway, a manmade inland waterway system of southern Florida, the river forms a tidal estuary along most of its course and has become the subject of efforts to restore and preserve the Everglades.
The Miami Circle, also known as The Miami River Circle, Brickell Point, or The Miami Circle at Brickell Point Site, is an archaeological site in Brickell, Miami, Florida. It consists of a perfect circle measuring 38 feet (11.5m) of 600 postmolds that contain 24 holes or basins cut into the limestone bedrock, on a coastal spit of land, surrounded by a large number of other 'minor' holes. It predates other known permanent settlements on the East Coast. It is believed to have been the location of a structure, built by the Tequesta Indians, in what was possibly their capital. Discovered in 1998, the site is believed to be somewhere between 1,700 and 2,000 years old.
The Mayaimi were Native American people who lived around Lake Mayaimi in the Belle Glade area of Florida from the beginning of the Common Era until the 17th or 18th century. In the languages of the Mayaimi, Calusa, and Tequesta tribes, Mayaimi meant "big water." The origin of the Calusa language has not been determined, as the meanings of only ten words were recorded before extinction. The current name, Okeechobee, is derived from the Hitchiti word meaning "big water". The Mayaimis have no linguistic or cultural relationship with the Miami people of the Great Lakes region. The city of Miami is named after the Miami River, which derived its name from Lake Mayaimi.
Thousands of years before Europeans arrived, a large portion of south east Florida, including the area where Miami, Florida exists today, was inhabited by Tequestas. The Tequesta Native American tribe, at the time of first European contact, occupied an area along the southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. They had infrequent contact with Europeans and had largely migrated by the middle of the 18th century. Miami is named after the Mayaimi, a Native American tribe that lived around Lake Okeechobee until the 17th or 18th century.
The Belle Glade culture, or Okeechobee culture, is an archaeological culture that existed from as early as 1000 BCE until about 1700 CE in the area surrounding Lake Okeechobee and in the Kissimmee River valley in the Florida Peninsula.
The Glades culture is an archaeological culture in southernmost Florida that lasted from about 500 BCE until shortly after European contact. Its area included the Everglades, the Florida Keys, the Atlantic coast of Florida north through present-day Martin County and the Gulf coast north to Marco Island in Collier County. It did not include the area around Lake Okeechobee, which was part of the Belle Glade culture.
The Tequesta, also Tekesta, Tegesta, Chequesta, Vizcaynos, were a Native American tribe on the Southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. They had infrequent contact with Europeans and had largely migrated by the middle of the 18th century.
Shark Valley is a geological depression at the head of the Shark River Slough in far western Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is currently part of Everglades National Park. Shark Valley empties into Shark River in the Ten Thousand Islands of Monroe County. Shark Valley characteristically includes sawgrass prairie that floods during the rainy season, hence the name "river of grass"—Pa-Hay-Okee, from the Mikasuki language—for such marshes in the Everglades. Shark Valley features a Visitor Center with educational displays, a park video, an underwater camera and informational brochures. The entrance to Shark Valley is located along Tamiami Trail near the Miami-Dade–Collier County line.
The history of Fort Lauderdale, Florida began more than 4,000 years ago with the arrival of the first aboriginal natives, and later with the Tequesta Indians, who inhabited the area for more than a thousand years. Though control of the area changed among Spain, England, the United States, and the Confederate States of America, it remained largely undeveloped until the 20th century. The first settlement in the area was the site of a massacre at the beginning of the Second Seminole War, an event which precipitated the abandonment of the settlement and set back development in the area by over 50 years. The first United States stockade named Fort Lauderdale was built in 1838, and subsequently was a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. The fort was abandoned in 1842, after the end of the war, and the area remained virtually unpopulated until the 1890s.
The indigenous people of the Everglades region arrived in the Florida peninsula of what is now the United States approximately 14,000 to 15,000 years ago, probably following large game. The Paleo-Indians found an arid landscape that supported plants and animals adapted to prairie and xeric scrub conditions. Large animals became extinct in Florida around 11,000 years ago.
The New River is a tidal estuary in South Florida, United States. Despite its name, it is not a true natural river, but a channel composed of many tributary canals. The channel is connected to the Everglades through a series of man-made canals. After passing through Fort Lauderdale, the channel connects to the Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic Ocean at Port Everglades cut. The channel is entirely within Broward County and is composed from the junction of three main canals which originate in the Everglades, splitting off from the Miami Canal. They are the North New River Canal, which flows south from Lake Okeechobee along the east side of U.S. 27 and then east along the north side of State Road 84 / Interstate 595; the South New River Canal, which flows east from the Miami Canal along the north side of Griffin Road and the south side of Orange Drive; and a canal which flows east along the south side of Sunrise Boulevard. The Henry E. Kinney Tunnel in downtown Fort Lauderdale travels underneath the New River.
The Battles of the Loxahatchee occurred west of Jupiter Inlet in South Florida in January 1838 between the United States Military and the Seminole Indians led by Chief Abiaka. The First Battle of the Loxahatchee occurred on January 15, involving a joint Navy-Army unit led by U.S. Navy Lieutenant Levin M. Powell. The Second Battle of the Loxahatchee occurred on January 24 involving a large army under U.S. Army General Thomas Jesup. The two battles were fought around the same area against the same group of Seminoles.
Fort Center is an archaeological site in Glades County, Florida, United States, a few miles northwest of Lake Okeechobee. It was occupied for more than 2,000 years, from 450 BCE until about 1700 CE. The inhabitants of Fort Center may have been cultivating maize centuries before it appeared anywhere else in Florida.
Fisheating Creek is a stream that flows into Lake Okeechobee in Florida. It is the only remaining free-flowing water course feeding into the lake, and the second-largest natural source for the lake. Most of the land surrounding the stream is either publicly owned or under conservation easements restricting development. The lower part of the stream remains in a largely natural state, and efforts are underway to restore the upper part of the stream to a more natural state.
The Cutler Fossil Site (8DA2001) is a sinkhole near Biscayne Bay in Palmetto Bay, Florida, which is south of Miami. The site has yielded bones of Pleistocene animals and bones as well as artifacts of Paleo-Indians and people of the Archaic period.
The Lawrence E. Will Museum, governed by the Glades Historical Society, is a museum of local history located in Belle Glade, Florida.
The Pompano Beach Mound, located at Indian Mound Park in Pompano Beach, Florida, in Broward County, is a 100-foot (30 m) wide, 7-foot (2.1 m) tall oval Tequesta burial mound. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 17, 2014.
The Ortona Prehistoric Village is an archaeological site adjacent to the community of Ortona in northeastern Glades County, Florida, north of the Caloosahatchee River and west of Lake Okeechobee, consisting of mounds, canals and other features. Part of the site is currently in the Glades County-owned Ortona Indian Mound Park, but much remains in private hands. The site has been extensively modified by 20th-century activities, including the construction of a county road and a cemetery, sand mining operations, and improvements to pasture land.
