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PHOTO(S) BY RENÉE WILSON
The Calusas
regarded
mollusk shells,
as well as other
insights into their social evolution. animal parts, database along with the GPS coordinates
In the Calusa culture, women made the pottery and as important of the location where it was found and
other details about the find. With help
finished the rim of each piece with their finger nail or
other object in a distinct pattern representing a sort of resources from Rookery Bay Reserve educator and
regional, tribal trademark. By studying pottery remnants because of photographer Dave Graff, each record
found in different middens along the coast, archaeologists in the database is now accompanied
have determined that either the pots, or their makers,
were traded between regions. the lack of by a photo of the actual artifact. High
workable stone resolution, close-up images enable close
There is still much to learn about our Floridian inspection of the artifact virtually, and
predecessors. Rookery Bay Reserve’s cultural resource
monitor, Steve Bertone, has been working with and building the photos show clear details such as
archaeologists to curate an inventory of prehistoric materials embedded fibers and fingernail marks.
artifacts found during grant-funded surveys at some of
the shell mounds in the reserve. Since 1978, the reserve This database serves as an incredible
has cataloged more than 200 artifacts in its inventory,
which also includes shell tools, shell net weights, carved in their resource for archaeologists and other
bones and remnants from pioneer settlers who squatted environment. researchers who are studying at the
atop the abandoned mounds in the 1880s. reserve. Expanding our collective
Each artifact in the inventory has been recorded in a knowledge of the local history and
land use is essential to guiding management efforts, educating
the community and planning for trails or other recreational
opportunities.
Life in Naples | November 2016 69
