Through intensive analysis of use/wear indicators the tool kit of
the little known Belle Glade culture of South Florida has been
reconstructed. From this, we recognize a highly sophisticated
technology which can be divided into specialized, generalized and
ceremonial artifacts. All of these were utilized either directly
or in support of Hopewellian ceremonialism. This, plus a preliminary
analysis of the site plan indicates that one area of the site was
the residence of the ceremonial practitioner, a second was a charnel
house, while a third was the village area where craftsmen who
fashioned ceremonial objects lived with their families.