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T H E     C A L U S A     L E G A C Y REDISCOVERING THE FORGOTTEN FLORIDIANS by Arden Arrington Reprinted from American Archaeology Magazine Vol. 1, Number 2, Summer 1997 In 1896, archaeologist Frank Hamilton Cushing led the Pepper-Hearst expedition to Marco Island, Florida, where he unearthed what some have termed "the most significant archaeological discovery in the history of North America." Submerged in the coastal salt marsh, miraculously preserved in the rich, anaerobic muck were artifacts left by the long-vanished Calusa. According to anthropologist Marion S. Gilliland, the site Cushing excavated was an ancient Calusa water court, perhaps itself of ceremonial significance. Excavation of the water court presented Cushing with many problems, not the least of which was the almost-constant swarm of mosquitoes and sand-flies. The entire tract was flooded and overgrown with mangroves, which made it necessary to uproot trees and drain the water before work could commence. Dr. Karen Walker supervises excavations at Pineland. Photo courtesy Florida Museum of Natural History "Submerged beneath the peat," says Gilliland, "was a compact blue clay, intermingled with numberless worked shells and wooden relics of every description. Every foot of the underlying material contained charcoal, bones, and priceless ancient remains of wood, fiber and other perishable material." Among the wood objects that Cushing and his men found were bowls, spears and spear-throwing sticks (atlatls), mortars and pestles, and handles for an incredible variety of shell and bone tools. The Marco Island people--whether Calusa or their immediate ancestors--were fishers. Their fishing technology was represented by cord, ropes and nets made of palm fiber, almost identical to that still in use today. From the protective peat came carved clubs set with shark teeth, wooden tablets and plaques, hardwood ear spools with polished shell rims, realistically carved animal heads, and elaborately carved and painted masks. Cushing unearthed artifacts in various stages of preservation, varying from like new to some that were almost indistinguishable from the muck they were found in-- far too fragile for removal or preservation. Although some archaeologists place the Key Marco site in the Glades IIIB period (AD 1400 to 1513), others believe that the Key Marco finds may be more than 1000 years old. Previous     Next