HEARTLAND OF THE CALUSA INDIANS
HEARTLAND OF THE CALUSA INDIANS
Turtle Island, the creation story of the Calusa people
Turtle Island, the creation story of the Calusa people
Summer Lecture Series - September 19, 2019
Love Letters To the Gopher, Eric Pendergast
C.B. Moore, was one of the best- known early archaeologist to visit Florida. Moore from Philadelphia used his own money to investigate ancient Indian sites in the southeastern U.S. during the early 1900s, including his own steamship. The steamship named "Gopher" and its Captain are the background for this incredible piece of history. ( Captain pictured bottom )
During excavations in downtown Tampa, a 102-year-old jar full of love letters was extracted from a turn-of-the-century sewer trench. The letters were intact, perfectly legible and filled with yearning. Eric Pendergast researched the crew member who wrote the letters and found the woman he loved. A truly wonderful story.
Wintergarden Presbyterian Church, 18305 Wintergarden Ave, Port Charlotte, 7 PM
Eric has a BA in anthropology and theater from the University of Pittsburg and an MA in applied
anthropology from the University of South Florida. He has been senior archaeologist for the past six years
with Cardio/ Tampa and St. Petersburg
JOIN US FOR INTERNATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY MONTH
Oct. 10 The Archaeology of rosewood
Florida archaeologist and author Edward Gonzalez Tennant will present his archaeology of the site of the Rosewood, Florida massacre in 1923.
October 17 Searching For Columbus
A rare opportunity to hear Charlotte County's own international archaeologist, Kathy Gerace speak about her life-long archaeology in the Bahamas and her findings regarding Columbus' first landing in the New World.
JOIN US
!4,000 Years of Prehistory Await You.
ORDER YOUR COPY
The people of the great circle: PREHISTORIC mound builders in south florida
Think you know about the Calusa? Think again. Now a book that is written for the general reader about an ancient civilization that lived around the Charlotte Harbor for 25 centuries.
Author and founder of the Charlotte Harbor Anthropological Society Ted Ehmann investigated the mound building societies in the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys for twenty-five years before moving to Port Charlotte. Despite his extensive knowledge of these ancient people, he had heard never heard of mound builders far away in south Florida. Upon moving to Port Charlotte, he set out to find out what he could. What he discovered is the basis for his book. Written for the general reader, Ehmann tells the story of a highly evolved people who successfully adapted to southwestern Gulf coastal environment, Immigrants from Louisiana around 800 BC, the Calusa engaged with the people already settled here. The result was a highly expressive culture that built monumental shell mound complexes, canals and even entire islands. Ehmann also shares how the view of these people have been misunderstood by Florida researchers, and how their conclusions fail to capture what was really the most " important and significant hunter-gathering society in world history."
COMING SOON - The People of the Great Circle, Prehistoric Mound Builders In South Florida, December, 2019, Pineapple Press, a division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishing ISBN 97816833405 22 Available through booksellers everywhere
HOME
our MISSION
Educate the public and officials about the significance of the Calusa Indians and the prehistoric cultural resources in the Charlotte Harbor Region, as well as to sponsor:field trips, speakers, events and symposiums.
Foster and encourage ongoing research and publications while promoting public accessibility to historical sites and the published archaeological research.
Be a clearing house for local knowledge of the Calusa and the prehistory and history of the Charlotte Harbor Region.
Develop and make available ongoing educational materials for local schools and community organizations, while encouraging careers in anthropology.
Who WE ARE
Charlotte County Anthropological Society, Inc. is a non-profit corporation dedicated to educating, the public and the officials about the significant role of the Calusa Indians and the Charlotte Harbor Region in the prehistory and archaeological history of Florida and North America. The region came into notoriety in 1895-1896 when American ethnographer Frank Hamilton Cushing unearthed the first Calusa sites and treasures. Since the mid-twentieth century, interest in this epoch has decreased, leaving a vast number of sites not researched and questions unanswered. Intensive development of the region since the 1980s has further threatened the integrity of the remaining prehistoric resources.
Our membership is composed of professionals and non-professionals who wish to preserve the numerous rich prehistoric cultural sites and resources of the harbor region from the ravishes of exploitation and inadequate public policy and time
We are dedicated to sharing the rich ancient history and history of the 14,000 years of human s living in the Charlotte Harbor area. our new HERITAGE TOURS OF OLD FLORIDA will help develop heritage tourism for our area, which in turn will help us to preserve the remaining archaeological and historic sites for future generations.
SOCIETY OFFICERS
Ted Ehmann, President
Gene Dole, Vice President
Michelle O'Connor, Treasurer
Bill Straus, Secretary
Board of Directors
Linda Elligott
Kathy Gerace
Joan Herron-San Lwin
VISIT OUR STATE AND SISTER SOCIETY WEBSITES:
Florida Anthropological Society https://fasweb.org/
Warm Mineral Springs/Little Salt Springs Archaeological Society
Southwest Florida Archaeological Society
.