April
01
/ 2020
A research project has finally solved an archaeological mystery in America. Experts believe that they now know how a Native American people, the Calusa who lived in Florida, were able to develop and expand despite not practicing agriculture. They argue that the Calusa built massive ‘watercourts’, where they captured fish in huge quantities to produce a food surplus. The Calusa dominated South Florida for centuries before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16 th century. They engaged in long-distance trading, built monumental architecture and reduced other groups to the status of tributaries. There is no evidence that they ever engaged in farming and yet they had an informal empire. It has long been assumed that only agricultural societies could
