Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Side One: The Margate Blount Site was known as early as 1940. Parkland Founder Bruce Blount observed what appeared to be a wooden crypt filled with skeletal remains when in 1959 a bulldozer struck the mound and scattered bones. The remains were determined to be very old, so archaeologists began to survey the site and found multiple artifacts. From 1959 to 1961, the Broward County Archaeological Society conducted excavations led by Wilma Williams, who named the site. In 1986, Gypsy Graves led additional studies of the site. Coral Ridge Properties purchased the site in 1989 with the intent to develop it. They hired Professor Wilburn “Sonny” Cockrell to assess the site in 1990 and 2000. He tentatively dated the site from 500 BCE to 500 CE, but also suggested a wider range from 1500 BCE to 800 CE. Cockrell stated, “This site is certainly a significant site in terms of regional significance and would probably qualify to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places and such would be significant at that level as well.” A 2002 survey of the site by Robert S. Carr led to its protection and designation in 2006 as a conservation site in partnership with the City of Parkland, Broward County, and the State of Florida. Side Two: This site provides important information about the lifeways and mortuary practices of the Tequesta, a Native American tribe that occupied the southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. The site consists of both a habitation area and burial mound. In the course of several archaeological digs, multiple artifacts were found including over 4,000 pottery shards, 108 shell tools, 113 bone artifacts, and skeletal remains with wooden burial implements. Excavations also uncovered midden materials, which gave insight into the food sources of the inhabitants. The bone artifacts found consisted of drilled shark vertebrae and teeth, bone points and knives, beads, and a drilled alligator and human tooth. Rock pendants were also found, including three that were not of local stone origin, suggesting trade with and travel to other places. A rare turtle effigy pendant and other wooden artifacts make it an extremely significant site. The pottery found is important for dating purposes and supports a dating range from the 500 BCE to 750 CE, though some pieces represent a more recent historic component dating to the late 17th or early 18th century.