GRAND SITE

BIG TALBOT ISLAND

STATE PARK-FLORIDA

Imagine...

 

You are a native Floridian, part of the vibrant Timucua 

people living on this lush barrier island during the St. Johns II era (900-1250AD).

Coastal life provides a plentiful harvest and access to trade and travel.

Family, friends and neighbors gather to share lively feasts, celebrate sacred ceremonies

and honor ancestors.

The shell ring is the center of your community.

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Now Imagine...

Nearly 1,000 years after the shell ring's creation, you escape the hustle and bustle of

21st century life and follow the inviting forested trail to it. Encircled by graceful arching

limbs of the same live oaks that sheltered its original inhabitants, you travel back in time

to an unmatched example of Timucuan culture - The Grand Site.

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Immerse yourself in the landscape as you pause at interpretive panels and rubbing
stations that reveal local wildlife and island lore. Discover the ancient shell ring and
burial mound complex, nestled on the edge of the salt marsh. Reflect on the mysteries 
of this site, constructed thousands of years after most shell rings were built. Connect to our common roots, ongoing archaeological quest for knowledge and shared experiences of community and reverence as you experience first-hand a sacred place that tethered the Timucua here.

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Transported by your half mile trek, clues of our predecessors’ presence, such as scattered

oyster shells throughout the forest, will reveal themselves and a new appreciation of their

lives and legacy will follow.

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The Grand Site will soon be open to the public and YOU can be a part of sustaining this amazing property by donating to The Friends of Talbot Islands Grand Site Fund. Funds

raised will be used to maintain the site and trail and to support archaeological study

on Big Talbot Island.
 

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