Lake Jackson Mounds is a state park that has yielded spectaclar artifacts left behind by our Native American's. In 1975 archaeologists excavating a Lake Jackson mound that a private owner unknowingly had been using for fill dirt found nine copper breastplates. These breastplates were embossed with figures of hawk dancers, birdmen, falcons, and other symbols of the Upper World. Today this site is considered one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in Florida. You can see replicas of a breastplate in the Museum of Florida History's new exhibit, "Forever Changed: LaFlorida 1513- 1821" The Museum is located within the Gray Building, downtown Tallahassee.
Lake Jackson was the capital town of the Apalachee's early ancestors, known as the Fort Walton culture. Generations of the clan lived there from about 1,000 - 1,500 AD. They developed farming techniques that they passed down through the generations to the Apalachee. They had a social structure in which chiefs were treated like royalty.
The Lake Jackson site has seven large flat-topped mounds that once served as platforms for temples and homes for the ruling class. The mounds, one is 36 feet high and as long as a footall field, were physical reminders of the chief's power.
During the excavation, archaeologists discovered that ruling families had also used the mounds to inter their dead, wrapping them in luxury and surrounding them with incredible objects. Most of the objects found were made from minerals, stone, etc. not from the area. Anthracite, copper,. lead, mica, graphite, steatite, and greenstone were used. Among all the spangles, ornaments, plates, pendants, pipes, and adornments were the copper breastplates. They are decorated with raised images, hammered into the copper from the opposite side. Some depict raptor birds, such as eagles, hawks, and falcons. Some are embossed with figures of chiefs or priest-chiefs wearing bird costumes.