Friday, June 13, 2014

Live off the land!


On Thursday, in the midst of our boat adventure to collect sampling nets we got a delay from too much boat traffic, and took a little field trip down an old Indian trail in the mangrove forest in Estero bay called Mound Key State Park. 

  It is a complex of mounds and accumulated shell, fish bone, and pottery middens that rises more than 30 feet above the waters of the bay. The carbon date of the calusa is backcalculated all the way back to 1150 BC, so this site and its settlers had a large impact  on the life history of the surrounding ecosystems. This site was thought to be the capitol of the Calusa were they originated and performed all thier religious activities. This area was most likely attracted to this tribe due to the large amounts of marine life and plants for their hunter gatherer lifestyle.  The Calusa formed an extensive structure of mounds, water courts and canals whose features still exist today. Mounds were constructed by the collection and organization of “midden” which is a collaboration of shells, fish and animal bone, and artifacts such as pottery. Islands that were created by the Calusa, such as Mound Key are sometimes called “trash-heaps” as their composition is made from waste products of their culture. Their main food source besides the fishing was mitigated by roots and stems of edible plants. These parts of the plants store lots of starch so they ground up the plants and used them for several different cooking methods. These Indians were in touch with nature and knew how to utilize it to the fullest without harming it. It blows my mind to think about how humans were more knowledgeable on utilizing the land thousands of years ago than we are now with all our technology advances and resources. One could really learn a few tips of life from this ancient tribe, overall this little field trip opened my eyes to the history and ecological role of Estero bay. 
Living like the Calusa

Zach not abiding by the Calusa rituals by eating pizza rather than crushed up roots

Top of the tallest mounds created by the Calusa




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