Mound Key and Demere Key, also called
“Demorey’s Key.”
In 1979, relics that provided archaeologists with
their first opportunity to examine the evolution
of Archaic prehistoric tribes of the area were excavated
on Useppa Island – a five-day dig found
evidence of approximately 5,500 years of human
occupation of the island. Materials found included
fragments of clay roofing tiles, olive jars, bottles,
iron nails, cooking pot shards, personal adornments
and jewelry and tools.
In 1988 researchers
at Florida State
Museum in Gainesville
were busily piecing
together some of the
most interesting
artifacts from the
10,000 to 20,000
Calusa who dwelled in
this part of Florida.
Through bowls, tools,
trash mounds and
even some human
remains Dr. Marquardt
and Karen Walker
were able to piece
together the lives of
some of our area’s
oldest inhabitants.
By the early 18th
century the Calusa had
disappeared, victims of
disease, slave raids and
warfare. Some believe a small group, numbering
only a few hundred, lived into the 1800s in the
Ten Thousand Island area. Some Calusa survivors
are thought to have made it to Cuba, others into
the Everglades where they intermarried with the
Seminole tribe and lost their pure identity. The
final battles between settlers and these indigenous
people were conducted in the Florida Keys
and Key West, which was known by early settlers
as Cayo Hueso or “Bone Key” because it was
littered with the bones from slain Calusa tribespeople.
Today we can only observe the remnants of
their society, heaps of shell and other garbage left
as a consequence of everyday activities and sand
and shell mounds built for burial and other ceremonial
purposes. Such archaeological sites left by the
Calusa and their ancestors dot the coast from
Charlotte Harbor to the Ten Thousand Islands. Their
huge piles of shell are densely distributed along the
islands and the mainland adjacent to shallow bays and
mangrove swamps. Perhaps the greatest distribution
of shell sites north of Mexico is found within the
Calusa region. In the 16th century Spanish sailors
referred to the upper Southwest Florida coast as the
Costa de Carocoles, or the “Coast of Shells.”
Because all that is left of the
Calusa are the archaeological
sites and documents left by
the Spanish, we must turn to
historical research to rediscover
the culture of these
people and try as best we can
to preserve the sites.
Unfortunately, pot smugglers
and would-be pirates have
tampered with many of the
mounds, some have even been
destroyed by people looking
for bones and pirate treasure.
This has been a serious problem,
as archaeological sites are
a non-renewable resource.
Today Southwest Florida is
one of the fastest growing
regions in the country. As
populations continue to grow
we can expect that more of
our Calusa archaeological
resources will be destroyed. Our knowledge of the
archaeology of the Calusa is still very limited, so much
so that it is difficult to make intelligent decisions
regarding which sites need to be preserved. Any
information gathered is useful to provide us with a
picture of Calusa lifestyles, their relationships to the
Southwest Florida environment and other Florida
Indians, and their eventual demise.
Our waters may no longer be filled with Calusa
canoes and shell mounds are no longer built, but the
more we learn about the indigenous people who
lived here before us the more we can appreciate our
Florida home.
G
M
Calusa
masks and
Mayan
masks are
very similar.