Caloosahatchee culture
The Caloosahatchee culture is an archaeological culture on the Gulf coast of Southwest Florida that lasted from about 500 to 1750 AD. Its territory consisted of the coast from Estero Bay to Charlotte Harbor and inland about halfway to Lake Okeechobee, approximately covering what are now Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties. At the time of first European contact, the Caloosahatchee culture region formed the core of the Calusa domain.
Some
The coast in the Caloosahatchee culture region is a very rich
The people of the Caloosahatchee culture built mounds. Some of the mounds in Caloosahatchee settlements were undisturbed shell
The Caloosahatchee people derived 80% to 90% of their animal food from
Tools and ornaments made of wood, bone, stone and shell have been found. Perforated stones and plummets (oblong stones with a groove incised around one end) of limestone are thought to have been used as fishing net weights. Dippers, cups, spoons, beads, cutting-edge tools and hammers were made from shells. Awls, beads, pendants, pins, gorges, barbs, and points were made from bone. Ceremonial tablets were incised on non-native stone (presumably imported from other areas).
Although outside the Caloosahatchee region proper, the artifacts found at Key Marco are closely related. These include many wood objects and cordage. The cordage found at Key Marco, probably of palm fiber, was primarily used in fishing nets. Wood artifacts found at Key Marco included masks, painted carvings of animals, incised and painted tablets and toy/model canoes.
References
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- Milanich, Jerald T. 1995. Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe. ISBN 0-8130-1360-7
- Anon. 1993. "Chapter 10. The Caloosahatchee Region", in Milanich, Jerald, Ed. Florida Historical Contexts. State of Florida Division of Historical Resources. Archived 2006-01-27 at the Wayback Machine - retrieved March 29, 2006