Friends' Summer Solstice event at the Low-Key Hideaway Tiki Bar on Saturday, June 21st was a lovely celebration. The breezes blew. The no-seeums stayed away. The shade was adequate. Best of all, the presentation by Dr. Ken Sassaman was informative and enjoyable. Ideally, both Summer and Winter Solstice celebrations would be held at Shell Mound. There, on the summer solstice, the sun rises over the closed end of the parabolic (U-shaped) dune on which the Mound is built. On the winter solstice, the sun sets between the open arms of the dune. Shell Mound was a ceremonial as well as residential place for the native people. Friends looks forward to returning there to celebrate as soon as the hurricane damages are mitigated and the pier is safe again. Until the Shell Mound Pier is rebuilt, the Tiki Bar is a beautiful setting for our celebrations. Click here to learn more about Shell Mound's connection to the solstices and the indigenous people who lived there as well as those who gathered there from throughout the southeast region. Dr. Sassaman, the Hyatt and Cici Brown Professor of Florida Archaeology at the University of Florida, talked about the civic-ceremonial activities that occurred at Shell Mound and what is being done today to better understand the people who lived there and the changes to the Mound itself over time.
Comments are closed.
|
Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges
P. O. Box 532 Cedar Key, FL 32625 [email protected] We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. |
|