The Miami Herald, Thursday, February 18,1999, page 12 A
Archaeologists dispute alternative theories
By Martin Merzer
Miami Herald Senior Writer
Is it just a random collection of natural holes?
The drain field for septic tank?
The remains of a circular driveway?
Or of a landscape arrangement of palm trees?
Of a narow-gauge railroad turntable? Of a water tower?
Many alternate explanations for the Miami Circle have been proposed by scientists, New Age adherents and the very imaginative.
Miami-Dade archaeologists and other experts who have examined the site say those theories are wrong. They say the Circle, whatever its purpose might have been, was carved by humans hundreds of years ago.
"Its too easy for someone to analyze something they haven't seen," said John Ricisak, a Miami-Dade archaeologist and field director on the Circle site. "I've been here virtually every day for seven months. No one knows better than I what this may be."
John Gifford, an archaeologist at the university of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, has examined the site six times since September. Any chance it is not hundreds of years old and created by humans?
"Zero," Gifford said. "This is an archaeological site that is at least 500 and possible 2,000 years old. It is not recent."
Here's a look at some of the theories:
(1) Natural holes that happen to form a circular pattern.
Some believe that the basins within the Circle and other holes on the site were caused by rain water and minerals that leached through the limestone bedrock. Though such holes are found elswhere in South Florida, local archaeologists say the rectangular basins and most of the other holes in or near the Circle bear unmistakable markings of ancient tools. One tool in particular, a wood stake tipped with a sharp seashell, has been shown capable of penetrating the limestone, Ricisak said. In addition, Gifford said: "The mayority of the holes all share common characteristics of size and depth. I think they are contemporary with each other and pre-Columbian in time." That means they were carved before Christopher Columbus'arrival in the Americas in 1492.
(2) The drain field of the septic tank still on the site and once used by a now-razed apartment complex. Again, the holes appear to have tool markings, archaeologists say. In addition, the elevation of the site would have carried drainage away from most of the Circle, Ricisak said.
(3) The remains of a circular driveway or holes dug for palm trees once found on the Brickell estate that sat on the site.
Ricisak said close study has shown that the driveway and the Circle do not line up. As for the holes dug for the palm trees...
"Ridiculous," Ricisak said. "If I'm not going to dig a regular pattern of rectangular holes. The holes would be round. And again, the tool marks are not consistent with those of a shovel or a pick ax."
(4) The foundation of a narrow-gauge railroad's turntable or a water tower. These theories have gained credence on the Internet, but research by archaeologists and The Herald has found no evidence that either structure ever existed on the site. Local archaeologists said they welcome theories on what purpose the Circle might have served. But at this point, they have little patience for those who insist it may not be of archaeological value. "That's part of science, the need to withstand the criticism of our peers." Ricisak said. "But it's frustating to keep dealing with these things that come from people who have never seen the site."
Herald senior writer Martin Merzer can be reached by e-mail at: