Near the southern end of the Skyway bridge across Tampa Bay is the Madira Bickel Mound state park, which preserves an ancient group of mounds built by Native Americans who lived there centuries ago.
Native Floridians built two kinds of mounds for thousands of years. Large flat-top platform mounds were used to elevate special buildings, while smaller, round mounds were for the burial of important people. On a peninsula jutting into Terra Ceia Bay, our natives built three mounds, including a 20-foot tall platform mound and a smaller burial mound nearby.
Archaeologists have documented that Indians lived there for at least 1500 years, and between 700 and 1300 AD, they made some of the finest artistic pottery in the Southeast. It is also likely that the residents saw the first Spanish explorers in the 1500s.
The state park has a scenic, elevated walkway leading to the tall platform mound. It is a place filled with history and preserves the natural environment in which Native Americans lived and thrived.
Unearthing Florida is a project of WUWF Public Media, the Florida Public Archaeology Network(FPAN), and its founder, Dr. Judith Bense, since 1998. FPAN's Michael Thomin is a contributor to the program. WUWF's Sandra Averhart is the executive producer.
