Paranormal Trax Investigation of Crystal River Archeological Park and Cedar Key Shell Mounds and Middens

One of the most comprehensive Native Indian mound sites in the southeast region of the United States, Crystal River Archeological Park is listed on the US National Historic Landmark register and the National Register of Historic Places. Crystal River Archeological Park contains a grouping of six mounds spread across a 61 acre complex and is believed to have been built by Pre-Columbian mound builders. It is also considered to be one of the longest occupied sites -- over a period of 1600 years .

Tribal life in this region is believed to have began somewhere in the area of 500 BC and carbon dating of objects discovered estimates this area was active until around 1000 AD. There is no way of knowing the names of the tribes that existed at Crystal River partly due to the wide range of travel by the inhabitants. However, it is believed that the area was inhabited by the Colusa and Timucuan people with numerous visitors who travelled along trade routes from the northern and western tribal areas. (See Map Below).

There are eight identified mounds which are the actual remnants of tribal life. Two of these mounds are Ttribal Mounds (also referred to as Priest's Mounds or Village Mounds) which were areas where inhabitants where buried and honored, and six are middens which are for all intents and purposes community landfills that contain refuse, shells, and household items no longer needed. Two of the middens are small and covered over with brush, therefore not highly visible. However there are six mounds that can be visually inspected.

The opportunity to investigate this location presented itself as an unexpected diamond in the rough. Astoria had been reading about the Indian Mound Builders and was overjoyed to have had the opportunity to explore such a find on her recent trip to Florida. Please see photographs and our paranormal investigation below.

Site Properties: State run historical and archeological site along Crystal River inland of Gulf of Mexico. Beautiful, park-like setting, well maintained with self-guided walking trails throughout the complex.

Preliminary Investigation:. Beautifully restored public access park which is filled with archeological finds dating back over a thousand years. We visited during the day time and not at night. This is a State Park and closes at sunset. We sat on top of the Tribal Mound to get a sense of the energies in the area after reviewing the artifacts on display. The energies were very mixed at the park, which we took as validation of all the excavating that has gone on over the years. However, viewing the numerous artifacts did bring about some interesting visions!

FINDINGS: Although the area is a state designated historical park and is the burial site of tribal people who inhabited the area, it did feel absent of residual negative energy. We did not feel as though we were infringing on spiritual ground, although since the site is a burial ground, we would have thought so. We did not feel that this area is haunted by any negative entities from the past, but did feel a very beautiful energy about life there amongst the tribes. Their living arrangements did not seem as harsh as we would have expected and there seemed to be an enormous amount of food available both from the sea and from the land. We were struck by visions of peacefulness amongst the tribal members which is interesting in that the Colusa were believed to be strong warriers. The energy there was not negative or evil in any way .. it felt peaceful and actually loving .... like this was 'home' to many happy people, children, young adults, and elders, as well. We saw in our vision, hard working people who'se struggles were many but taken in stride.

Is the area haunted ... no. We did not feel any resididual imbalanced energy at the site. But .. we would like to visit at night to pick up some of the visible energy, if there is any way we could possibly gain access.

At the Shell Mounds in Cedar Key, there was a different feel .... not a bad feeling, just a little more tenuous. This area appeared to be a food gathering spot as opposed to a tribal living area. There was a more intense feeling at the Shell Mounds than at the Crystal River mounds site. We attributed this to the type of work that was being done here ... we could almost feel the frenetic energy, the quickness of the work that was being done. This was not a playful feel, more of a 'seroius, get down to business' feel to it. Again, we did not feel that the Shell Mound area was haunted by negative energies, but there was more residual energy here than at the archeological site; perhaps due to the fact that food gathering was imperative for the tribe's ultimate survival. We were at the Shell Mounds just before Sunset and mosquitoes were a serious problem --- should you travel to this area, please take precautions and protection.