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Introduction
The lands and submerged bottomlands of Biscayne National Park
are rich with archeological remains that document the cultural
history of southern  Florida and the Florida
Keys. Submerged archeological sites include an array of shipwrecks
and other representations of maritime casualties, demonstrating
the international maritime heritage encompassed in the waters
of Biscayne National Park. The archeological remains of many
shipwrecks have been found in our waters. The earliest identified
shipwreck site is from the mid 18th century. Since historical
records document that early European exploration of this region
began in the early 16th century, it is possible that earlier
remains are waiting to be found here.
 Since the arrival of Europeans,
the Florida Keys (including what is now Biscayne National Park)
have been a converging point for maritime trade routes from Europe
and the northeast American continent to the Caribbean, Central
and South America, and the Gulf of Mexico. The geography and
geology of Biscayne National Park present a series of natural
factors — the Florida reef tract, the Gulf Stream, narrow
shallow channels, and hurricanes — that have caused many
ships to founder and wreck. These shipwrecks, as well as other
material remains, are now submerged archeological sites within
the park and some are listed in the National Register of Historic
Places.
Many accounts of Miami, southeast Florida, and the Florida
Keys tend to overlook the keys and area within Biscayne National
Park. When the Florida Keys are discussed, they begin with Key
Largo, located south of the Park. Because the Overseas Highway
connects the Keys to the mainland at Key Largo, people tend to
forget that there are forty keys located to the north. These
forty keys, because they have not been developed, hold the archeological
and historical evidence of what all the keys used to be like.
Similarly, these keys protect examples of the development of
resort tourism in and around Miami, as there has always been
a linkage between Biscayne Bay and Miami.
Evidence of this area’s earliest inhabitants, mostly
destroyed by the industrial sprawl and residential development
on the mainland, can still be found in the keys and waters of
Biscayne National Park. The earliest site found in the park,
a midden (or shell mound) site on one of the off shore keys,
indicates intensive settlement by 1000 A.D. Located only five
miles north of the park, at the confluence of the Miami River
and Biscayne Bay, was a major Tequesta village that was occupied
approximately 2,000 years ago. The Tequesta archeological sites
found within the park would have been the fishing and hunting
camps used by the inhabitants of this village. In a sense, Biscayne
Bay and the Miami River were their highways for trade, communication,
and access to natural resources — not very different from
today’s use of the area. (See also the Miami
Circle.)
Immediately adjacent to the park on the mainland is the Cutler
Fossil site (8000 B.C.) which suggests that the lands and waters
of Biscayne National Park have the potential for even earlier
archeological sites than presently found. This site also has
evidence of having been used by the Tequesta approximately 2000
years ago. There is a relationship between all the Tequesta archeological
sites that are found either within the park or nearby.
 Boca Chita Key, recently
listed on the National Register of Historic Places, consists
of ten historic structures. These buildings represent typical
resort architecture for the Miami area in the 1930s. Elliott
Key includes an archeological district, the Sweeting Homestead,
which includes the remains of the first pioneering homestead
on these keys during the end of the 19th Century. Prehistoric
and historic archeological sites and architectural ruins are
present on other keys within the park as well.
For Laws and Regulations related to
Cultural Resources in the National Park System,
see http://www.cr.nps.gov/linklaws.htm |