{"id":16140,"date":"2015-06-03T00:05:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T07:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-hakamagwp.pantheonsite.io\/features\/fisher-kings"},"modified":"2019-03-20T10:34:23","modified_gmt":"2019-03-20T17:34:23","slug":"fisher-kings","status":"publish","type":"custom_features","link":"https:\/\/hakaimagazine.com\/features\/fisher-kings\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fisher Kings"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1517, indigenous fishermen watched warily as Spanish ships dropped anchor off the mangrove-lined shores of southern Florida. Only a quarter century had passed since Christopher Columbus and his crewmen first landed on an island in the Bahamas, but word of the foreigners\u2019 hunger for land, slaves, and gold had spread along the coasts of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. In Cuba, 385 kilometers south of Florida, Spanish forces had recently taken brutal control of the island, enslaving many of the indigenous Ta\u00edno. So when 20 Spanish soldiers and sailors waded ashore in southern Florida to replenish their ships\u2019 water supplies, the local inhabitants were ready.<\/p>\n

One of the Spanish soldiers, Bernal D\u00edaz del Castillo, later chronicled the battle. Florida\u2019s indigenous fighters, D\u00edaz noted, \u201chad immense sized bows with sharp arrows, lances, and spears\u2014among these some were shaped like swords\u2014while their large powerful bodies were covered with the skins of wild beasts.\u201d The attack was swift and ferocious. The first volley of arrows alone injured six Spanish soldiers. The rest barely escaped with their lives, fleeing back to the ship with the water they so badly needed.<\/p>\n

The fighters who drove off the Spanish so effortlessly in 1517 were almost certainly Calusa, a powerful indigenous group who built an early kingdom along the Florida coast from just south of Tampa Bay to the Keys, and who exacted tribute from other native groups in the region. Unlike most ancient complex societies, however, the Calusa realm depended on the riches of the sea, not agriculture. The Calusa fished for mullet, pinfish, pigfish, and many other species along the Gulf Coast estuaries, and harvested rich shellfish beds. They dug extensive canal systems for their canoes and heaped shells high to create mounds that served as foundations for enormous houses and other important buildings. Whether D\u00edaz realized it or not, the battle he fought was one of the first clashes between two nations\u2014the Spanish and the Calusa\u2014and it would be the Calusa who would prevail in this conflict for more than 200 years.<\/p>\n

Now, scientists are trying to better understand who the Calusa were and how western Florida\u2019s coastal environment fostered their powerful kingdom. To answer these questions, archaeologists are exploring a site that served as the Calusa\u2019s capital city and was also one of their greatest architectural achievements. The site, called Mound Key, is a 51-hectare artificial island that the Calusa constructed almost entirely from oyster, clam, and other shells possibly as early as 1,700 years ago. It sits in the shallow waters of Estero Bay about 38 kilometers south of Fort Myers. For the past two years, Victor Thompson, an archaeologist from the University of Georgia, and colleague William Marquardt at the Florida Museum of Natural History, have been working at Mound Key with a team of researchers to uncover the island\u2019s secrets.<\/p>\n

\n

Thompson stands behind the steering wheel of a pontoon boat, threading it between the mangrove islands of Estero Bay where pelicans, herons, and wealthy retirees all compete for the estuary\u2019s abundant fish. A strong, steady wind threatens to knock Thompson\u2019s cowboy hat off his head, but never succeeds. Thompson likes to keep it light, making banter and jokes during the 15-minute trip to Mound Key. As he edges the boat into a narrow channel surrounded by mangrove trees, the wind dies and a mullet jumps in the still water. Thompson ties the boat to a tree next to a sign informing visitors that they have come to a State Historic Site.<\/p>\n

\"Archaeologist<\/a>

Archaeologist Victor Thompson in the field at Mound Key Archaeological State Park in coastal Florida. Photo by Zach Zorich<\/p><\/div>\n

Thompson thinks that the Calusa designed the landscape of Mound Key with care, almost as if they had a blueprint in mind. The two tallest mounds, he explains, lie roughly at the center. In between, Calusa workers carved out a large canal that divided the island into two, and each half was sprinkled with several smaller mounds. Spacious, multi-family houses seem to have stood on the summits, providing homes for an estimated 2,000 people when Mound Key\u2019s population was at its peak. \u201cI imagine you would have these gleaming white mounds everywhere,\u201d Thompson says, as he leads the way along a trail, and \u201cthe buildings had to be huge.\u201d In all probability, the king\u2019s residence perched on the tallest shell hill, dubbed Mound 1 by archaeologists. Towering almost 10 meters above the water, the big mound would likely have been the tallest human construction in sight.<\/p>\n

On either side of the canal, archaeologists have discovered large square pools known today as \u201cwater courts.\u201d Mud and mangroves now fill these pools, but Thompson hypothesizes that the Calusa once stored live fish in them\u2014a ready supply of very fresh seafood.<\/p>\n

To investigate how the Calusa built the island, Thompson and his colleagues took more than 20 core samples from across the island last year and analyzed them. The archaeologist concedes that the picture is still far from clear, but he thinks the island began as a small shallow spot in Estero Bay, possibly guarded by mangroves. Over time, he says, ancient coastal dwellers may have stopped by, shucking oysters and clams there and tossing away the shells until they created a small mound. Later, the Calusa seem to have regarded this white mound above the waves as an important place. They chose to settle there, recycling shells as building materials, and constructing and sculpting Mound Key\u2019s impressive landforms. Thompson estimates that it took between 350,000 and 500,000 cubic meters of shell and other material to build Mound Key, or roughly one-fifth the estimated volume of Egypt\u2019s Great Pyramid. \u201cThe key difference is they didn\u2019t eat the Great Pyramid before they built it,\u201d he says. Even today it is an impressive statement of the power wielded by the Calusa kings.<\/p>\n

Thompson was drawn to the site because it promises to answer big questions about how such a large kingdom developed without the benefit of agriculture. Complex societies need to produce enough food to support a large population, and organize labor for things like building irrigation systems or, in the case of the Calusa, constructing Mound Key. As a rule, says Thompson, such societies rely heavily on agriculture to create the surpluses needed to feed their people. The Calusa, however, harvested few plants other than chili peppers and squash. Yet they built a kingdom powerful enough to hold off Spanish colonists for more than a century and created enormous architecture by relying on food gathered from Gulf Coast estuaries. \u201cI really wanted to understand what was the history behind that,\u201d Thompson says. Mound Key, the Calusa capital, was a natural place to start.<\/p>\n