Crystal River Archaeological State Park, Native American burial grounds in Crystal River, United States
Crystal River Archaeological State Park occupies a low bluff on the north bank of the Crystal River, about 1.9 miles above its mouth on the Gulf of Mexico. Its 61 acres hold a stepped platform mound about 26 feet tall (Mound A), two smaller flat-topped platform mounds, an irregular shell mound, a circular earthen embankment around three burial mounds and a central sand mound, and a crescent-shaped shell midden. A long wooden staircase with handrails climbs Mound A to a small platform at the crest; a paved interpretive trail links the earthworks, and a museum near the entrance displays excavated artifacts.
Use of the site began by the second century AD and continued through the late Weeden Island period. Activity at the main complex declined around 1050 as ceremonial life moved downstream to Roberts Island, where mound-building and occupation continued until the complex was largely depopulated around 1233. The Roberts Island complex was added to the park in 1996.
The site's name comes from the Crystal River, which borders it on the south. Visitors can climb the 26-foot Mound A via a wooden staircase and see three limestone stelae, one carved with a low-relief human figure. The museum displays copper panpipes, mica sheets, and quartz crystals recovered by Clarence B. Moore in 1903.
A paved interpretive trail runs through the main mound complex, and the largest mound can be climbed by a wooden staircase to a platform at the top. The visitor center and museum stand near the entrance. The park occupies a low bluff on the north bank of the Crystal River, about 1.9 miles above its mouth.
Three limestone stelae stand at the site; one bears a low-relief human figure and another was reportedly incised with a hand design. Two of them came to light in March 1964, when construction of the museum disturbed the ground, and Ripley P. Bullen documented them as the property was cleared for the park.
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