Mr. Ken announced last Sunday, we were going to go out and see some of the beautiful Florida that surrounds us. Wow, did he pick a great spot!
Armed with lots of insect repellent, we toured the Calusa Indian Mounds at the Randall Research Center on Pine Island, about thirty minutes from our home.
The Calusa built mounds of shells, higher ones for Indian royalty, surrounded by a series of canals. The highest mound, Brown's (annoyingly named after people who built on mounds, decades after the Calusa were driven from the area) is 29.5 feet high. What a beautiful view in the Florida mist before the rainstorm we dodged!
Smith Mound, named after a Captain Smith who preserved the mound, is made of sand. It is the sacred burial mound the Calusa built.
Mr. Ken is pictured standing in front of a white lead tree (Leucaena leucocephala). The pods were gigantic and had a hard woody exterior. It is a type of evergreen.
We also spied a beautiful Dogwood tree, sporting bright red fruit. The island had many mango trees with fruit ready to ripen on the branches.
The medicinal tree of the area, utilized by the Calusa, was the Gumbo limbo. It has a beautiful shiny cocoa brown trunk and branches that appear to be artistically carved and twisted into living sculpture.
What an amazing walk with my loving husband who appreciates the same important things I do, historical anthropology, the beauty in nature, and trees.
links for more on the Calusa Indians:
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/05/19/Travel/Exploring_the_Calusa_.shtmlhttp://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/rrc/online.htm#Archaeological Sites in Southwest Florida
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/pineland-archaeological-district-lee-county-florida.htm