“When the natives found the land was
rich with natural resources, they had to
have felt confident in their ability to live off
the land for century after century,” Luer
said. “They had nets, hooks and line, they
had technology that was able to harvest
the sea and the bay. What this shows is
that the natives were skilled fishermen and
hunters, while gathering plants on the land
and shoreline.”
The mystery of pre-historic human life
in Florida has been a challenge to the
human curiosity since the beginning of
time, answered instinctively through the
study of excavated remnants of tools,
animal bones, pottery shards, and other
ancient artifacts. The collection of
fossilized animal bones and artifacts
provide mere inferences to the life and
behavior of Indian Mound Park’s
indigenous people.
“Science and specialists are important in
these types of studies,” Luer said. “We can
make drawings and paintings, and we can
imagine what things were like, but until we
do the actual scientific work we do not
know for sure what the answers are
concerning the land occupied by ancient
Florida natives. Eventually we will be able
to provide a fuller story through painstaking
research. That may bring us closer to
the truth of Florida’s human past.”
Betty Nugent, Englewood Museum
curator, tour guide and long-time resident
of Englewood, said knowledge and
preservation of the past is wisdom for the
future.
“History is vital in learning not only
about the history of Englewood, but the
land that it sits on,” Nugent said. “No
matter what kind of history, whether
Florida’s ancient past or modern-day
history, the lessons we gain and carry with
us is wisdom for how we grow as a
community.”
The docks, the picnic
areas and the
scenery at Indian
Mounds.
G
M