The Calusa were a tribe of Native Americans known as the "Shell Indians" and some of the first Floridians. Are there any Calusa people left? Florida Museum artifact photos by Jeff Gage. The Spanish left less description on what the Calusa women wore. 3). We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. They were a fierce, independent tribe that lived in southwest Florida as early as 2,000 years ago. One of the most popular Native American sports was lacrosse. After suffering decimation by disease, the tribe was destroyed by Creek and Yamasee raiders early in the 18th century. They believed in three superior beings, one controlled the weather, the others ruled the welfare of the tribe and warfare. Their sophistication and fierceness enabled them to resist Spanish domination for some 200 years. 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"Calusa". //-->. Different tribes and regions had their own games and traditions. The chief lived in the main village at the mouth of the Miami River. The chief's house, and possibly the other houses at Calos, were built on top of earthen mounds. 10 Innovative Medieval Weapons: You Would Not Want To Be At The Sharp End Of These! Map of Calusa territory in Florida. American Archaeology cover, featuring Florida Museum illustration by Merald Clark. The Calusa Native Americans. At the time of the excavations Cushing did not know the name or precise age of the Indians whose world he had discovered. It was during this phase of research that the team located and documented the massive kings house, showing it was indeed every bit as impressive as Spanish accounts, which claimed it was large enough to accommodate some 2,000 people. [1], Early Spanish and French sources referred to the tribe, its chief town, and its chief as Calos, Calus, Caalus, and Carlos. Pottery distinct from the Glades tradition developed in the region around AD 500, marking the beginning of the Caloosahatchee culture. The temple mounds, built by what must have been a well-organized work force, measured up to 30 feet high and were often topped with buildings of wood and thatch entered only by the elite. The Calusa gathered a variety of wild berries, fruits, nuts, roots and other plant parts. By the early 1600s the Calusa returned to Mound Key and reestablished their capital. Nets were woven with a standard mesh size; nets with different mesh sizes were used seasonally to catch the most abundant and useful fish available. This article is good but it does not provide any data related to the status of the Calusa people at the first arrival of Spaniards in 1513 leaded by Juan Ponce de Leon, its "discoverer". This change may have resulted from the people's migration from the interior to the coastal region, or may reflect trade and cultural influences. (Public Domain ). 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. If a Calusa killed such an animal, the soul would migrate to a lesser animal and eventually be reduced to nothing.[18]. The Calusa were a Native American tribe that inhabited the southwest coast of Florida. By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. The Calusa was a powerful, complex society who lived on the shores of the southwest Florida coast. 1). The Calusa used the canals to travel by canoe from their villages and ceremonial centers to coastal trading posts. The soul in the eye's pupil stayed with the body after death, and the Calusa would consult with that soul at the graveside. The Spanish founded a mission on Biscayne Bay in 1743 to serve survivors from several tribes, including the Calusa, who had gathered there and in the Florida Keys. Marquardt and Victor Thompson of the University of Georgia are co-directing research at Mound Key, which has a complex arrangement of shell midden mounds, canals, watercourts and other features. Native American names Request Answer. Darcie A. Macmahon and Dr. William H. Marquardt, an expert on the Calusa, have written a fascinating book that brings to life a group of people who disappeared from Florida in the 1700s. The Carnac stones are an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites around the French village of Carnac, in Brittany, consisting of more than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany. The Calusa Indians, who live in southwest Florida, are weakened by epidemics. Tribute was offered in the form of prestige goods, such as feathers, mats, deerskins, food, and metals and captives recovered from Spanish shipwrecks (Hudson 1976). By contrast, at an inland site, Platt Island, mammals (primarily deer) accounted for more than 60 percent of the energy from animal meat, while fish provided just under 20 percent. The chief organized warfare and possessed special and traditional religious knowledge. The fort is the only Spanish structure built atop a shell mound in Florida. Since the soft limestone that surrounded them was unfitting for tool and weapon production, they decided to use shells, wood, fish teeth, and bone for tools. Many smaller tribes were constantly watching for these marauding warriors. They believed in three superior beings, one controlled the weather, the others ruled the welfare of the tribe and warfare. The Calusa had an established religion and practiced human sacrifice, and many temples were found built upon mounds. Return to our menu of Native American cultures An anonymous account mentions an autumn ceremony in which dancers wore animal masks (Coggin and Sturtevant 1964). Many Calusa are said to have been captured and sold as slaves. Radiocarbon dating of carbonized wood, a deer bone and a shell verified the forts mid-16th-century date. [8], Some authors have argued that the Calusa cultivated maize and Zamia integrifolia (coontie) for food. support our organization's work with endangered American Indian languages. It has also been stated that the Spanish were brought into a large temple, where they saw carved and painted wooden masks covering its walls. google_ad_width = 728; 2014-05-02 14:51:47. In a report from 1697, the Spanish noted 16 houses in the Calusa capital of Calos, which had 1,000 residents. The Caloosahatchee culture inhabited the Florida west coast from Estero Bay to Charlotte Harbor and inland about halfway to Lake Okeechobee, approximately covering what are now Charlotte and Lee counties. Calusa beliefs included a trinity of governing spirits. They were a very innovative and prosperous tribe, and had a number of traditions that set them apart from other tribes in the area. See answer (1) Best Answer. Detailed analysis and AMS dates led us to the realization that the structure went through at least three phases of building activity over several centuries, the earliest phase dating to around A.D. 1000.. The archaeology of the Calusa is important worldwide in that it illustrates the development of very pronounced hierarchy, inequality, monumentality and large-scale infrastructure by hunter-gatherer-fisher societies, said Chris Rodning of Tulane University, who was not involved with this research. The Calusa also used spears, hooks, and throat gorges to catch fish. A variety of carving tools were also recovered. On that trip, Juan and his mates are said to have been attacked by the Calusa Indians, a large and fearsome group of natives who made their living from the sea. The Calusa case also illustrates remarkably sophisticated engagements with, and long-term large-scale management of, coastal and estuarine environments.. The Calusa are said to have been a socially complex and politically powerful tribe, and most of southern Florida was controlled by them. Figuring out how to shore up the walls of wooden buildings using a very early kind of tabby architecture is impressive and represents creative thinking and ingenuity in an unfamiliar and challenging setting, said Marquardt. Montauk ed. AtAncient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. Marquardt, William H. (2004). Calusa Tribe. People began creating fired pottery in Florida by 2000 BC.[3]. ( Public Domain ). Said by a Spaniard, Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, who was a captive among them for many years, to mean "fierce people," but it is perhaps more probable that, since it often appears in the form Carlos, it was, as others assert, adopted by the Calusa chief from the name of the Emperor Charles V, about whose greatness he had learned from Spanish prisoners. The National Geographic has reported that archaeologists have discovered an ancient Native American kings house in Florida. The research team uncovered a network of post holes and foundation trenches that indicate a large structure measuring about 80 feet long and 65 feet wide covered the summit of the islands highest hill. The Horsemen of Oyo were legendary warriors who served the Oyo Empire of West Africa. Calusa means "fierce people," and they were described as a fierce, war-like people. Menndez married Carlos' sister, who took the baptismal name Doa Antonia at conversion. Favored sites were likely occupied for multiple generations. The Calusa used wooden dugout canoes to aid them in fishing and for transport. From the time of European contact until their ultimate demise from conflict and illness around 1770, the Calusa successfully resisted, albeit with considerable bloodshed, intermittent efforts by Spanish missionaries to convert them to Christianity. Widmer cites George Murdock's estimate that only some 20 percent of the Calusa diet consisted of wild plants that they gathered. They built many villages at the mouth of the Miami River and along the coastal islands. Although we cannot be sure what values the masks and animal figureheads held for the Calusa, they may have been markers of clan affiliation, and the animals represented most likely played important roles in Calusa mythology and religion. Credit: Florida Museum of Natural History ). Fontaneda was shipwrecked on the east coast of Florida, likely in the Florida Keys, about 1550, when he was thirteen years old. Man in Peru Caught Out Drinking With an 800-year-old Mummy! This site is believed to have been the capital of the Calusa, as well as its military stronghold and ceremonial center. At the time of European contact in the 16th and 17th centuries, the historic Calusa were the people of the Caloosahatchee culture. The Calusa also made fish traps, weirs, and fish corrals from wood and cord. 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 courtyard was drained and cleared, exposing house posts, fishing nets, shell tools, bowls and drinking vessels, weapons, canoes, pottery, and extraordinary wooden masks and animal figureheads (Fig. Tabby was an Old World concrete consisting of lime from burned shells mixed with sand, ash, water and broken shells. Southeastern Archaeology, 33(1), 124. "They had an established religion. Or, were the Romans protecting something even more valuable than silver? Spanish admiral Pedro Menndez de Avils (1519-1574) by Francisco de Paula Mart (1762-1827) ( Public Domain ). It was not conserved and is in poor shape, but it is displayed at the nature center in Marathon. This use of marriages to secure alliances was demonstrated when Carlos offered his sister Antonia in marriage to the Spanish explorer Pedro Menndez de Avils in 1566. Native American art,