Address Restricted, New Smyrna Beach, Florida. County/parish: Volusia.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places September 29, 1970. NRIS 70000193.
1 contributing site. 1 contributing structure.
Turtle Mound is a prehistoric archaeological site located 9 miles (14 km) south of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on State Road A1A. On September 29, 1970, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is the largest shell midden on the mainland United States, with an approximate height of 50 feet (15 m). The mound extends for over 600 feet (180 m) along the Indian River shoreline and contains over 35,000 cubic yards (27,000 m3) of shells. Turtle Mound was estimated to be 75 feet (23 m) high before it was reduced by shellrock mining in the 19th and 20th centuries. Because it is visible seven miles out at sea, early Spanish explorers and subsequent mariners used the large mound as a landmark for coastal navigation. Today, the site is owned and managed by the National Park Service as part of Canaveral National Seashore.
The turtle-shaped mound contains oysters and refuse from the prehistoric Timucuan people, who caught a variety of small mammals and reptiles here. Archaeologists believe that these people may have used this site as a high-ground refuge during hurricanes. It has been estimated to have been constructed between 800 and 1400 CE; recent radio-carbon dating has dated it to around 1000 BCE.
The Timucuan experienced greater competitive forces for finite resources such as arable land resulting in increased open conflict. This is apparent in some of the material found in the Turtle Mound location where it occupied an important location along the coast. Archaeologists have recently found 1,200-year-old pottery on the site.
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