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C-] 0 NPS Fom, 10.900-a ow (S -W) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approve( No. 1024-0018 Section number -F Page 2-_ Indian River Narrows Cultural Resource District construction of large shell middens along watercourses. The shell or refuse midden is one of the most ubiquitous of prehistoric landscape features. Midden deposits along the Indian River lagoon and on Orchid Island vary in size, height and material but are usually composed of shell, sand and earth rich in organic nutrients as a result of the decomposition of plant and animal matter brought to the site during the course of its occupation. One such site is the South Hole Midden (8I11828), which was surveyed and tested twice in the past five years, In 1990, Richards (1990) tested property to the east of US AIA that contains part of the midden and the overall site. Dickel (1992) tested part of the site to the west of US A]A as part of a county -wide survey of archaeological resources. The South Hole Site is a large shell midden found on all sides of the intersection of US AIA and the Jungle Trail within the west 1/2 of the southwest 114, and the southwest 1/4 of the northwest 1/4 of section 3 in T 31 S, R 39 E (Map 1). It extends from the estuary edge north and northwest of Jungle Trail east across U5 AIA. Here it ends on the eastern slope of the back dune, facing the interdune trough between it and Seaview Drive within the currently platted Seaview Development. The overall site dimensions, according to nickel (1992), are 245 meters east to west, and 300 meters north to south. While the largest portion of the dense midden is found east of US AI A, substantial site coverage lies west of this route and north and south of Jungle Trail. Combined, Dickel(1992) and Richards (1990) excavated more than 15 small test pits along the periphery of the dense midden area, mid one within the densest portion east of the US AIA road cut. The midden deposit's depth ranged from 5 cm to 75 cm in these test pits and produced a quantity of shell in sandy, black stained matrixes. The shell was predominantly oyster, but small bar Venus clams, Mercenaria Quahog, and modified Busycon also were found. Cather sites in the area demonstrate this common feature. The Grapefruit Shell Midden Site (8IR829) contains dense oyster shell and dark midden stain with some Clain, scallop, and conch fragments. Middens are commonly found near water where fish, moiiusks, and other aquatic animals were harvested and the accumulation of bones and shell often continued for generations in a single locale so that by the time they were abandoned appreciable mounds of varying sizes had been created. Many of these middens of this region were so large and distinctive that they were constantly commented upon by early explorers. For example, in 1773 William Bartram noted on his journey through Florida's central coast that along the rivcrLnnks could bc,: seen "Ihigli swamp land, exceedingly fertile"' composed of "loose black mould, with a mixture of sand, shells, and dissolved vegetable ,natter" ul:an which grew a number of hammock species (bartram 1928:112). He goes on to note elsewhere that there was a "high perpendicular bluff, fronting more than one hundred yards on tate river, the earth black, loose, and fertile, it is a composition of river -shells, sand, &c" and also contained a number of human burials covering "two or three acres of ground ... (Bartram 1928:130).