Engineering the courts required an intimate understanding of daily and seasonal tides, hydrology and the biology of various fish species, said Thompson. Salvaged goods and survivors from wrecked Spanish ships reached the Calusa during the 1540s and 1550s. Understanding the Mysterious Kingdom of Shambhala, Dont Cross the Kobolds: Mischievous Spirits of European Folklore, The Curious Apparitions of Pagan Goddesses to the German Knights Templar, The Truth Behind the Christ Myth: Ancient Origins of the Often Used Legend Part I, The Gristhorpe Man: A Bronze Age Skeleton with a Story to Tell, The Origins of Human Language: One of the Hardest Problems in Science, Translation of 5,500-Year-Old Babel Text from China Reveals Oldest Known Map of Inner Solar System, A Blazing Weapon: Unraveling the Mystery of Greek Fire. The Franciscans established a mission there in the late 17th century, but the Calusa evicted them after a few months time. Man in Peru Caught Out Drinking With an 800-year-old Mummy! Pottery distinct from the Glades tradition developed in the region around AD 500, marking the beginning of the Caloosahatchee culture. This article first appeared in the magazines fall 2020 issue. 314 Palmetto Street, Jacksonville 32202. Photo source: Moving to Tampa, Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida, 2002. They believed in three superior beings, one controlled the weather, the others ruled the welfare of the tribe and warfare. They were a fierce, independent tribe that lived in southwest Florida as early as 2,000 years ago. New Evidence Shows Humans Were Using Bows and Arrows in 52,000 BC. Soon after the discoveries, Donald funded archaeological mapping of . What is the origin of the legend of the Christed Son who was born of a virgin on December 25th? The fact that the Calusa were fishers, not farmers, created tension between them and the Spaniards, who arrived in Florida when the Calusa kingdom was at its zenith, Thompson said. They determined that the enclosures, which were built on a foundation of oyster shells, walled off portions of the estuary, serving as traps and short-term holding pens for fish before they were eaten, smoked, or dried for later consumption. It's also rich with the history and culture of the Calusa Indians, the Native Americans who preceded us, even if their footprints are a bit blurry. The Calusa were one of the few tribes known to be shell collectors. Openings in the berms likely allowed the Calusa to drive fish into the enclosures for short-term storage, and then they closed those openings with nets and wooden gates. Tamara Jager Stewart is the assistant editor of American Archaelogy and the Conservancys Southwest region projects director. This is still a popular sport today. The ancestors of the Calusa are said to have survived by hunting prehistoric animals such as woolly mammoths and giant tortoises, and collecting fruits and other edible plants. The Horsemen of Oyo were legendary warriors who served the Oyo Empire of West Africa. They had the highest population density of South Florida; estimates of total population at the time of European contact range from 10,000 to several times that, but these are speculative. This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 15:27. Like the Calusa, the Tequesta were devastated by European diseases. The chief's house, and possibly the other houses at Calos, were built on top of earthen mounds. [7] The contemporary archeologists MacMahon and Marquardt suggest this statement may have been a misunderstanding of a requirement to marry a "clan-sister". [10][11][12], Mollusk shells and wood were used to make hammering and pounding tools. While a few Calusa individuals may have stayed behind and been absorbed into the Seminole, no documentation supports that. What was the Calusa religion? Re-entering the area in 1614, Spanish forces attacked the Calusa as part of a war between the Calusa and Spanish-allied tribes around Tampa Bay. South Florida Archaeology and Ethnography, South Florida Archaeology & Ethnography Collection. These Indians were so unfriendly that this was one of the first tribes that Spanish explorers wrote home about in 1513. Judging from the email I get, there are a lot of people out there trying to learn about traditional Native American religion and spirituality these days. Tabby was later used by the English in their American colonies and in Southern plantations. The Calusa (said to mean fierce people ) are a Native American tribe that once inhabited the southwestern coast of Florida. After A.D. 1000, the Calusa began to grow in size and complexity, wielding their military might, trading widely and collecting tribute along those trade routes that extended for hundreds of miles. Little was recorded of jewelry or other ornamentation among the Calusa. (1964). These deposits were carefully water-screened using a series of nested screens in order to capture even the finest organic materials. [Online]Available at: http://www.sanibelhistory.org/calusa_history.htm, Wu Mingren (Dhwty) has a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient History and Archaeology. People commonly occupied both fresh and saltwater wetlands. Unlike most Florida Indian tribes . And, although some of Cushings ideas about the Indians he had discovered and their relationship to tribes in the Caribbean and South America have not remained popular among scholars, his descriptive notes and insights are of unquestionable value. Most spectacular are 9 carved and painted animal heads, some of which were probably worn as masks or headdresses on ceremonial occasions; others probably functioned as architectural elements. Widmer cites George Murdock's estimate that only some 20 percent of the Calusa diet consisted of wild plants that they gathered. Archaeological and historical evidence indicates the Calusas primary source of food was the sea, and virtually all evidence suggests they did not practice agriculture. The Spanish careened one of their ships, and Calusas offered to trade with them. [20][21], A few vocabulary examples from Granberry's work are listed below:[22]. [Online]Available at: http://www.funandsun.com/1tocf/inf/nativepeoples/calusa.html, www.sanibelhistory.org, 2016. Though not all have survived, carvings included a sea turtle, alligator, pelican, fish-hawk, owl, bear, crab, wolf, wildcat, mountain lion, and a deer, many of which were painted black, white, gray-blue, and brownish-red. This now makes three southwest Florida sites with wet-site preservation of such items as wood, cordage and netting: the Pineland Site Complex, Key Marco and now Mound Key.. It is likely there are descendants of the Calusa living among the Native American people of Florida and in Cuba today., In terms of Mound Key, much more can be learned about the Spanish fort and mission, the relations between the Calusa and the Spaniards and the earlier, pre-contact occupations of the island, Marquardt said. He was aware, however, of the magnitude of his findings: the remains of a highly organized maritime society whose members performed elaborate rituals and whose artists possessed remarkable abilities in wood carving. The Calusa were descended from people who had lived in the area for at least 1,000 years prior to European contact, and possibly for much longer than that. By Paul Brinkmann. google_ad_height = 15; The Calusa people based most of their diet on seafood. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. The Calusa are said to have been a socially complex and politically powerful tribe, and most of southern Florida was controlled by them. Archaeology, 57(5), 4650. The lifestyle of the Calusa was leisurely, and they enjoyed numerous celebrations and feasts, many of which were connected to religious ceremonies at which lavish meals were prepared. But our work over the past 35 years has shown the Calusa developed a politically complex society with sophisticated architecture, religion, a military, specialists, long-distance trade and social ranking all without being farmers.. All his subjects had to obey his commands. The rich and relatively stable coastal ecology of southwest Florida provided an abundance of marine lifenumerous kinds of fish, shellfish, and sea mammalsthat was capable of supporting a large human population. At least three of the animal figureheads were found in close association with wooden humanlike masks which Cushing understood to represent the human form of that animal. The chief organized warfare and possessed special and traditional religious knowledge. [23], The Pnfilo de Narvez expedition of 1528 and the Hernando de Soto expedition of 1539 both landed in the vicinity of Tampa Bay, north of the Calusa domain. 10 They believed that humans had three souls, and that souls migrated to animals after death. [15], The Calusa wore little clothing. The University Museum has an exceptional collection of artifacts from the Calusa site at Key Marco, Florida. The Apalachee Tribe was among the most advanced and powerful Native American people in Florida. The researchers used ground penetrating radar and LiDAR to locate and map the forts structures, which they then partially excavated. He had a council which may have included one or more head priests and one or two high-ranking individuals involved in political and religious decision-making. They collected materials for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating and sediment samples for archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological analysis. [2], Juan Rogel, a Jesuit missionary to the Calusa in the late 1560s, noted the chief's name as Carlos, but wrote that the name of the kingdom was Escampaba, with an alternate spelling of Escampaha. Radiocarbon dating of carbonized wood, a deer bone and a shell verified the forts mid-16th-century date. The Calusa Indians. Little is known about Calusa religion. As Cushing noted and as more recent studies have revealed, they dug extensive waterways or canals (sometimes as large as 4 feet deep, 20 feet wide, and 3 miles long) that crossed Key Marco and the rest of the region. The Calusa lived from at least A.D. 1000 up to the middle of the 18th century in what are now southwest Floridas Lee, Charlotte, and Collier counties. The Tribes' sovereignty was once again recognized and funding was restored for education, housing and health programs. New Moai Statue Found on Chiles Easter Island Excites Researchers. The heir of the chief wore gold in an ornament on his forehead and beads on his legs. Marquardt, William H. (2004). Ivar the Boneless was likely the son of legendary Viking king Ragnar Lothbrok, and raided alongside his father and brothers, eventually becoming ruler of York in England in the 9th century AD. "[6] In 1564, according to a Spanish source, the priest was the chief's father, and the military leader was his cousin. Lucy Fowler Williams is Keeper of Collections for the American Section. (904) 665-0064. The expedition was sponsored jointly by The University Museum (then the Free Museum of Science and Art) and the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution. 8, 9). Mudlarker Finds Bronze Age Shoe on a UK Riverbank Dated 2,800 Years Old! [8], The Calusa caught most of their fish with nets. The fishing nets they used to catch food were made from palm tree fibers. Artist's conception of town chief at the Calusa town of Tampa (present day Pineland) (Art by Merald Clark.) One example of a shell mound can be found at a site known as Mound Key at Estero Bay in Lee County. [13][11] Artifacts of wood that have been found include bowls, ear ornaments, masks, plaques, "ornamental standards", and a finely carved deer head. They had a reputation from being a fierce, war-like people, especially among European explorers and smaller tribes. Tabby, also called tabbi or tapia, is made by burning shells to create lime, which is then mixed with sand, ash, water and broken shells. Their main waterway was the Calooshahatchee River, which means River of the Calusa. The team conducted a geophysical survey of both large mounds at the site, known as Mounds 1 and 2, and then they partially excavated the areas where ground-penetrating radar had indicated the locations of features and structures. They built massive mounds of shells and sand, dug large canals, engineered sophisticated fish corrals, held elaborate ceremonies, created remarkable works of art, such as intricately carved wooden masks and traversed the waters in canoes made from hollowed-out logs. They believed that people had three souls-in a person's eye, shadow, and their reflection in the water. Some of the survivors were sent to Cuba by the Spanish, while others may have merged with other Floridian Indians and eventually joined the Seminole tribe. They also cored sediments on and off the island to help describe and date environmental changes during the sites occupation. The chief had many wives: one principal wife and others given to him by surrounding villages. The Calusa artifacts discovered on Marco Island date from 300 AD to 1500 AD, prior to European contact in Florida. support our organization's work with endangered American Indian languages. To date no one has found a Calusa dugout canoe, but it is speculated that such vessels would have been constructed from cypress or pine, as used by other Florida tribes. The Untersberg is a great mountain straddling the Austro-German border opposite Salzburg. 5,8,4) traveled this year, in an unprecedented loan of the Key Marco material, to the National Gallery of Art where they were exhibited as part of the Columbian Quincentenary exhibition, Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration. These figureheads will be on display in Philadelphia through 1992 in the Main Entrance of The University Museum. Southeastern Archaeology, 33(1), 124. 4-8). The CalusaPeople of the Estuary. Native American art,