Shell works are large and complex assemblages of

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

found in

southwest Florida Southwest Florida is the region along the southwest Gulf coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is known for its beaches, subtropical landscape, and winter resort economy. Definitions of the region vary, though its boundaries are generally ...

. Shell works include

mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher ...

s and other deposits, with features described as borrow pits, canals, causeways, cisterns, crescents, sunken plazas, ponds, ramps, raised platforms, ridges,

rings Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

, walls, and "water courts". The largest shell works were constructed during the

Woodland period In the classification of archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BCE to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some archaeo ...

in southwest Florida, from Charlotte Harbor to the

Ten Thousand Islands The Ten Thousand Islands are a chain of islands and mangrove islets off the coast of southwest Florida, between Cape Romano (at the south end of Marco Island) and the mouth of the Lostmans River. Some of the islands are high spots on a sub ...

, including Estero Bay. Shell works in southwest Florida often covered to , with mounds to in height. In a survey of the Charlotte Harbor area,

Frank Hamilton Cushing Frank Hamilton Cushing (July 22, 1857 in North East Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania – April 10, 1900 in Washington, D.C.) was an American anthropologist and ethnologist. He made pioneering studies of the Zuni Indians of New Mexico by ente ...

found over 75 artificial shell islands, ranging from to in area. Cushing also noted that

Mound Key Mound Key Archaeological State Park is a Florida State Park, located in Estero Bay, near the mouth of the Estero River. One hundred and thirteen of the island's one hundred and twenty-five acres are managed by the park system. It is a complex ...

covered , and Chokoloskee Island was over in diameter, and up to high. Other large shell works include

Pineland Archeological District The Pineland Archeological District (also known as Battey's Landing or Battey Place or the Pineland Site) is a U.S. historic district (designated as such on November 27, 1973) located on Pine Island, near Pineland, Florida, and next to Pine Is ...

Dismal Key Dismal Key is a small island, part of the Ten Thousand Islands archipelago in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. The island is artificial, constructed by people of the Glades culture. Construction of the island proceeded in stages ove ...

, Fakahatchee Key, and Russell Key. The

Turner River Site The Turner River Site is an archaeological site in the Ten Thousand Islands region of Everglades National Park, in Florida. It is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The Turner River Site is a large shell works site fro ...

, on the

Turner River (Florida) The Turner River is a river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Overview The headwaters of the river rise below Pullcunah Hill and flows in a northerly direction and crosses the North West Coastal Highway approximately south of Po ...

near Chokoloskee Island, is a shell works site that covers and is long. It was the first site in the Ten Thousand Islands to be excavated by professional archaeologists. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1978. The

Mark Pardo Shellworks Site The Mark Pardo Shellworks Site is an archaeological site west of Bokeelia, Florida. It is located along the eastern edge of Cayo Costa Island in Cayo Costa State Park. On May 21, 1996, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Place ...

in Cayo Costa State Park near

Bokeelia Bokeelia is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located on Pine Island in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 1,855, up from 1,780 at the 2010 census. It is part of the ...

was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. In historic times villages and towns were located on some shell works sites. European accounts of encounters with the inhabitants of southwest Florida in the 16th and 17th centuries describe houses on top of mounds, and ceremonial use of different parts of shell works sites. Archaeological investigation of shell works started in second half of the 19th century. Various interpretations of the sites as middens, monuments,

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s, or living platforms elevated above flood waters were offered. Some early archaeologists noted the complexity of the sites, especially as compared to simple mounds elsewhere in Florida.Schwadron: 32-34

Notes

References

* * *{{cite book, last=Widmer, first=Randolph J., title=Exploration of Ancient Key-Dweller Remains on the Gulf Coast of Florida, year=2000, publisher=The University Press of Florida, location=Gainesville, Florida, isbn=0-8130-1791-2, pages=i-xxii, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gRiwKU4ikkkC&q=van+beck+key+marco&pg=PR10, editor=Frank Hamilton Cushing, editor-link=Frank Hamilton Cushing, accessdate=19 December 2011, chapter=Introduction Archaeology of the United States Shell middens in Florida