America, but they had been resident in Florida long enough to have adapted to the local environment. In researching the circular ditches at Fort Center, Thompson and Pluckhahn employed LiDAR technology. They discovered that there were actually 4 concentric circular ditches, one more than Sears. Their measurement of the larger outer circle was 1197 feet in diameter. The greatest discovery by this team was the discovery that the circular ditches were routinely destroyed and rebuilt. This indicates that the Glades had a profound understanding of creation, destruction/death being an integral part of creation/birth. In contrast, Sears never researched similar circular ditches in the Lake Okeechobee Basin region that had the same features and like functions. Historian Ted Ehmann recently argued that beginning with the construction of the first feature at Fort Center, The Great Circle, and for the following twenty-five centuries, several groups worked cooperatively. Ehmann believes the evidence shows the merging of prehistoric cultures and a synthesis of beliefs occurred, and was unique to the south Florida mound-building epoch. Period II During Period II, from about 200 until sometime between 400 and 600, all of the residents of Fort Center, three to six families, were involved in a ceremonial center. Two mounds, A and B, and an artificial pond are interpreted as a ceremonial complex. An embankment or wall surrounds Mound B and the pond, with both ends attached to Mound A. Part of the area enclosed by the embankment forms what appears to be a courtyard, but no evidence of how it may have been used was found. The complex was located on the prairie, close to the stream meander belt, and was the focus of the Fort Center site during Period II. Mounds Mound A is irregular in shape and about three feet tall. It has been interpreted as a living site. A couple of slightly higher places on the mound were probably structure sites. Middens on Mound A contained potsherds, maize pollen, animal bones (mostly deer), and human baby teeth. Some human bones, broken similarly to the animal bones, were also found in the middens, suggesting that cannibalism was practiced at the site. Shell tools, stone grinding tools and pipes were found in the living areas of the mound. Also found were sherds from imported ceramics, including types identified as Deptford, Cartersville, Pasco, Crystal River, and St. Johns. Sears suggests that this trade pottery was sacred