• This mural takes us back in time 10,000 years when Mastodons roamed our area
• There are Indian mounds in Lake Placid dating back for 10,000 years
• The third panel shows archeologists digging beyond written records to reconstruct the past

Migratory Paleo-Indians moved into Florida about 12,000 BC. Evidence indicates they were present here as early as 7,000 - 9,000 B.C.

The mural shows Indians closing in on a mastodon.  The animal's trunk is raised to deliver a shrill trumpeting while the hunter raises his atlatl (throwing spear).  Other hunters hide in the grass ready for the kill.  Florida's landscape was considerably drier than today's.  The coastline was about 100 miles further into the Gulf of Mexico.  Large grassy plains dominated the landscape and tree hammocks clustered around water holes providing a drinking source.

The second section shows the same site several thousand years later when the rising sea level, and a wetter, warmer climate provided a diverse food supply and a far different environment.  The bow and arrow became a chief hunting tool.

Indian culture evolved into village settlements.  This change included ritual building of ceremonial and burial mounds and long distance trade arose with cultures as far away as Missouri.

The design in the center is a replica of a small silver ceremonial tablet found in the Goodnow mound near Lake Josephine. The owl totem effigy is the largest wooden totem found in Florida.  When the Europeans entered Florida in the 1500s, their presence brought about profound changes to native tribes.  Epidemic disease, enslavement, and warfare obliterated the state's true natives.