NRHP Reference # 94001475 Established December 23, 1994 Nearest city Palmetto | Area 6 ha Added to NRHP 23 December 1994 | |
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Location Manatee County, Florida Similar Snead Island, Emerson Point Preserve, Madira Bickel Mound St, De Soto National Memorial | ||
The Portavant Mound (also known as the Portavant Mound Site or Snead Island Temple Mound or Portavant Indian Mound) is an archaeological site on Snead Island, just west of Palmetto, Florida. On December 23, 1994, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Map of Portavant Indian Mound, Florida 34221, USA
The Portavant Mound (or Snead Island Temple Mound) is one of fifteen or more "temple mounds" produced by the Safety Harbor culture (900-1725) found in the vicinity of Tampa Bay. The mound is four meters high, measures 45 m by 75 m at the base, and has a flat top that is 24 m by 46 m. Unlike other "temple mounds" around the Tampa Bay area, the Portavant Mound does not have a ramp to the top of the mound. There is a lower (one m high) platform, about 30 m by 30 m, that abuts the main mound. The Portavant Mound was made from soil mixed with debris from middens. Several other mounds, also consisting of soil mixed with midden debris, are near the "temple mound".
The Portavant Mound site has been the target of a stabilization project to protect the mounds from damage from river erosion, looting, foot traffic, and exotic vegetation.