Calusa

SUMMARY: Chapter 13, in Renfrew & Bahn's textbook (Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice), provides five case studies to aid student comprehension of the preceding 12 chapters and approaches to understanding and interpreting past societies.
(a). Oaxaca Projects (Central America);
(b). The Calusa of Florida (Southeast U.S.);
(c). Australia hunter-gatherers;
(d). Khok Phanom Di (Southeast Asia);
(e). York/Jorvik Viking settlement (U.K.).

In my view, this is one of the best college textbooks available, and is invaluable for students, archaeologists, and the public in general, to obtain a top notch overview of approaching and interpreting the archaeological record. UPDATED April 2021.

In the 16th century, the Calusa, a fisher-gatherer-hunter society, were the most politically complex polity in Florida, and the archaeological site of Mound Key was their capital. Based on historic documents, the ruling elite at Mound Key controlled surplus production and distribution. The question remains exactly how such surplus pooling occurred and when such traditions were elaborated on and reflected in the built environment. Our work focuses on the “watercourts” and associated areas at Mound Key. These subrectangular constructions of shell and other sediments around centralized inundated areas have been variously interpreted. Here, we detail when these enclosures were constructed and their engineering and function. We argue that these structures were for large surplus capture and storage of aquatic resources that were controlled and managed by corporate groups.

Abstract. The result of this work was the identification and designation of several cornerstones in the deep thou- sand-years history of the aboriginal society of South Florida – the Calusa Indians, who led these people to the leader position in the region. The results of the study combined and used numerous of old written sources that mention various points of contact between Spaniards and disappeared civilizations, as well as new documents – books and dissertations, the thesis of leading professors of Florida and the United States, dedicated to the extinct peoples of the Florida region. Besides, artifacts and reconstructions of local life in South Florida were investigated, studying them during numerous visits to Florida museums by the author. It has been hypothesized that there is an important link between the creation of large dwellings among the Calusa people and their way of life as a fishing-hunting-gathering society with the mobile organization of the armed forces and the mobility of the entire community in the face of annual Florida natural disasters. The result of the work was also the elimination of the «white spot» in the Soviet and Russian scientific literature about a fairly ancient and atypical settled people of fishermen-hunter-gatherers when covering the events of the era of great discoveries and the collision of two worlds during the Spanish conquest.

In the 16th century, the Calusa, a fisher-gatherer-hunter society, were the most politically complex polity in Florida, and the archaeological site of Mound Key was their capital. Based on historic documents, the ruling elite at Mound Key controlled surplus production and distribution. The question remains exactly how such surplus pooling occurred and when such traditions were elaborated on and reflected in the built environment. Our work focuses on the “watercourts” and associated areas at Mound Key. These subrectangular constructions of shell and other sediments around centralized inundated areas have been variously interpreted. Here, we detail when these enclosures were constructed and their engineering and function. We argue that these structures were for large surplus capture and storage of aquatic resources that were controlled and managed by corporate groups.

Mound Key was once the capital of the Calusa Kingdom, a large Pre-Hispanic polity that controlled much of southern Florida. Mound Key, like other archaeological sites along the southwest Gulf Coast, is a large expanse of shell and other anthropogenic sediments. The challenges that these sites pose are largely due to the size and areal extent of the deposits, some of which begin up to a meter below and exceed nine meters above modern sea levels. Additionally, the complex depositional sequences at these sites present difficulties in determining their chronology. Here, we examine the development of Mound Key as an anthropogenic island through systematic coring of the deposits, excavations, and intensive radiocarbon dating. The resulting data, which include the reversals of radiocarbon dates from cores and dates from mound-top features, lend insight into the temporality of site formation. We use these insights to discuss the nature and scale of human activities that worked to form this ...

Abstract. The result of this work was the identification and designation of several cornerstones in the deep thou- sand-years history of the aboriginal society of South Florida – the Calusa Indians, who led these people to the leader position in the region. The results of the study combined and used numerous of old written sources that mention various points of contact between Spaniards and disappeared civilizations, as well as new documents – books and dissertations, the thesis of leading professors of Florida and the United States, dedicated to the extinct peoples of the Florida region. Besides, artifacts and reconstructions of local life in South Florida were investigated, studying them during numerous visits to Florida museums by the author. It has been hypothesized that there is an important link between the creation of large dwellings among the Calusa people and their way of life as a fishing-hunting-gathering society with the mobile organization of the armed forces and the mobility of the entire community in the face of annual Florida natural disasters. The result of the work was also the elimination of the «white spot» in the Soviet and Russian scientific literature about a fairly ancient and atypical settled people of fishermen-hunter-gatherers when covering the events of the era of great discoveries and the collision of two worlds during the Spanish conquest.

Abstract. The result of this work was the identification and designation of several cornerstones in the deep thou- sand-years history of the aboriginal society of South Florida – the Calusa Indians, who led this people to the leader position in the region. The results of the study combined and used numerous of old written sources that mention various points of contact between Spaniards and disappeared civilizations, as well as new documents – books and dissertations, thesis of leading professors of Florida and the United States, dedicated to the extinct peoples of the Florida region. In addition, artefacts and reconstructions of local life in South Florida were investigated, studying them during numerous visits to Florida museums by the author. It has been hypothesized that there is an important link be- tween the creation of large dwellings among the Calusa people and their way of life as a fishing-hunting-gathering society with the mobile organization of the armed forces and the mobility of the entire community in the face of annual Florida natural disasters. The result of the work was also an elimination of the «white spot» in the Soviet and Russian scientific literature about a fairly ancient and atypical settled people of fishermen-hunter-gatherers when covering the events of the era of great discoveries and the collision of two worlds during the Spanish conquest.
Keywords: Calusa; colonization; conquistadors; Christianization; atlatl; mount Key; natives; Central Florida; Florida; Indians; North America; USA; Caloosahatchee; Key Marco; Hernando de Fontaneda; Spanish crown; Ponce de Leon; Carlos; Estero Bay; Antilles; Indians; Florida coast; Tampa; estuary; society of fishermen-hunter-gatherer.