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32 or 24, In India We Learn More

Decoding Indian Gods = Discovering Ancient Technology

    

            Ancient Indian technology, culture, art, craft, and Praveen. Learning to discover ancient history. It is time to learn more. I believe this video is from 2017 AD and the producers work is getting better each year.

Luther Cressman: Quest for First People | Oregon Experience | OPB

"Iranians" From 900 BC to the 4th Century AD

Iron Age Doings 

The Great Movement of Humanity

            This is my first attempt to write a bit about a very great movement of Iron Age people. Much of that movement seems to have been done on horseback and to have continued over a considerable period of time. It is likely to have included much of the of the development and usage of what we know as the Silk Road network of trade. And it probably had much to do with the Bronze Age collapse in the Near East.

            This great movement of humanity mostly from northeast to southwest affected China, India, Russia, Ukraine, the Near East, and Europe, that is much of our world.

            The people who did much of that movement have been called Alani, Alan Scythian, Indo European, Celt, Sarmatian, Massaget, Alan-na, Saka, Irani, variations of these and more.

            These people did a lot of learning and cultural development during their migrations. They brought with them their art, their, knowledge of the use of the horse, and lore of the extraction of iron and its working. We are far from learning all there is to know about them. I do not know what prompted their amazing migration. They did it in part because they could and the did it in very great numbers. I am coming to greater realization of how much they changed our world and us. In fact we seem to be very much a result of  them. Though our numbers were few compared to theirs, they also learned from us. Still our language and most of our very DNA comes from them. Perhaps the most representative among us are  the Iranians! Some of them came to know more of us than we knew of ourselves. They had traveled among, worked among, and lived with a greater variety of us than had anyone. They learned and their iron added to our alchemy

Our First Knowledge

       Our first knowledge of them began soon after their arrival in the steppes just to the north of the Caspian and Black Seas. Do not believe that they came all at once. They came and they continued to come. From the earliest days they were known as travelers on horseback with fine horses and sharp strong metals. They were known as warriors who fought on horseback with effective weapons. They were mostly a good looking people who worked their hard iron beautifully, they lacked the knowledge of the best of us, but they were very many. The people of northern India may have known them before we did.

            Later we learned of their having stopped the southwest movement of the Huns. Their doing so probably save the much of the West from the depredations of these nomadic horsemen. They appeared on our world stage near what is now Kazakhstan and are still a bit mysterious to us. They were warlike horsemen and seem much like cousins of the Scythians or  Alani who stopped them from overwhelming Europe.

Alani        

             In late antiquity the people we may call Alani arrived in what may now be called Spanish Cantabria. Near this time may have begun to be called Iranians. We came to call them Celts. This was a time of a more far reaching Iron Age in the West. Near this time many of them may have been populating northern India. Some historians seem to have reason to call them Sarmato-Alani. These Alani seemed culturally related to the Scythian of about 100 AD.

            By about 200 Ad there were Alans between the Vilga and the don rivers. Persians and Chinese historians spoke of the Alani of this time. These Alani may have been called Celts or Indo Europeans by us. It has been said that they looked like Sarmatians and Scythians.

            Early Romans spoke of Alan and Alani as an ancient nomadic people who occupied the steppe region of the Black Sea. They said that they were warlike and specialized in horse breeding. To others they were much like Celts and Indo-Europeans. They were known as being from the North Caucasus and considered Sarmatians.

Scythian            

            Scythian were of Iranian stock. They migrated westward from central Asia to southern Russia and Ukraine. They became a power in what is now Crimea. They were active in the 8th and 9th century BC until the 4th C, AD. They played and important part on the early Silk Road network and were a connecting influence among Greek, Persian, Indian, and Chinese.

            The Alans sometimes seem to be as mysterious as the Huns. In my early history lessons I seem to have heard more about Huns than I did about Alans. T am told that in earlier times the Alans were called Massaget. Who called them that? By the 3rd century Ad the chinese were calling them, or someone, Alan-na.

            Humans have a lot to learn about humanity. We are now finding that some of us of 10,000 years ago seemed to have been more more advanced than many of us of 7,000 years ago. We also now have some hints of the nature of mankind of 20,000 and 30,000 years ago and are pretty sure that there were people on Earth 200,000 years ago. What were those guys doing? Do the Ukrainians and Iranians know that they came on horseback from central Asia and were soon using horse drawn wheeled vehicles? Do we know that "they is us?"

                                                                                        rcs

Enormous Pre-Flood Mega-Structure Discovered in Siberia

Breoghan: The Legendary Celtic King of Irish and Galician Mythology

A Real Person of Real Places and Real Times. 

This may be an interest place to begin ones Iron Age study of Ireland, Britain, and western Europe.

                                   rcs

Underground Cities Which are Very Large and Very Very Old.

Underground Cities of  Turkey and Beyond

Derinkuy is one of cities. There are several of them in the Cappadocia region of Turkey. We are finding them and learning much of their history. However, we do not know who first built them or when the were first built. We do know that they are very very old. They may have been used during the Ice Age. They means that they may be over 10,000 years old. It is a true story, better than most fiction and we still have chapters to learn. Find out much more on this video.

                                                    Richard S

The Hidden Irish History Of Ancient America

Top viewing Countries

 About 50 Countries Have Regular Viewers

        The highest numbers of viewers for this history site come from the following four counties listed most viewers first,

First: USA. Not a surprise, its my native land.

Second: Finland. A bit of a surprise sometimes Finland has not even been on one of these lists. However, I have been essaying a bit on Baltic lands recently.

Third: Germany. I am not sure that I deserve that views from Germany are often among my top viewers.

Fourth: Canada. I am very pleased to see Canadian viewers here. Welcome neighbors.

            Thank you for visiting. 

     

                                                                                                Richard

Do We Know About the Finns?

 We Know That All Finns Are Not On Fish

First on the Baltic           

            But then, all Finns are not a beef. These words are not intended to be about diet. They are to say a few introductory words about an important people on the northeast of the Baltic Sea. They have been there for a long time. They may have been there longer than anyone else.

        There is a lot to learn about the Finns and I am just beginning to do so. So, don't expect me to be "a know it all." Good people, let us begin.

        It is not easy to get much information about the Finns before the time of the first settlement of Helsinki. I believe that that Helsinki was settled by Swedes and named by them. Swedes and Finns each speak their own language as did their ancestors. There is a lot to learn here, just about the content of this short paragraph.

        I bet that the ancestors of the Finns were in place on the Baltic long before the ancestors of the Swedes. I have begun to believe that ancestral Finns were in what is now Finland by 14,000 BP. That's over 13,000 years longer than Americans have been in North America! Finns were there at a time when the Ice Age ice had scarcely begun to begin to melt. That is, the Finns could have been in place during the most recent Ice Age. It seems possible that ancestors of the Finns could have lived much of the Ice Age on Ice!

        Anyway, I think that Baltic people have been taught, from time to time, that the Finns were there first.

Early Swedes

        I'll repeat some things a few times to help you remember.  Helsinki, the capital city of Finland, is a name of Swedish origin and Helsinki was setup to support Swedish trade.  

        Finns were and still are a strong presence in the Baltic area. However, like most humans, Finns have admixtures of cultures and genetics. In historic times and recent prehistoric times, Finns have been influenced by Swedes, Russians, and others genetically and culturally, but not before Swede and Russian experienced admixtures of their own.   

        I'll try to move on a bit faster. We have now come to see that most of our own prehistory had some increase in human population and some increase in human activity after the end of post Ice Age floods. Now archaeologists are finding more evidence of human industry and and culture of Finland dates to a similar time. That is to about 7000 years ago or a bit before 500o BC. Abundance and quality of evidence seems to be coming from near Vantaa, Pitajanmaki, and Karela.      

Talking Archaeology        

            You have probably noted that we are talking about the archaeology here. The strongest evidence of permanent settlements has been found to date shortly after the advent of Christ and was found to have been of Iron Age in nature. The culture of that time in Finland has been called Tavastian.   

        So far prehistoric evidence in Finland has been light, but research and publication has increased. Some strength of evidence indicates a bit more abundant activity beginning about 1000 AD. There is some documented evidence from this time onward. History in the form of written records becomes relatively abundant by the 1300s.

Vikings       

 Vikings seem to have begun more raiding then trading perhaps a bit before 900 AD. By 1100 AD Swedes were colonizing much of the Finnish coast. Swedish colonization of the coast was well established by 1300 AD. This happened after a successful Second Crusade by Sweden led to the defeat of the Tavastian. Weren't the Finn of the time referred to as Tavastian? It seems the Swedes said that they would just take over Finnic coastal trade until they became good Christians.

Finland        

            We can move forward in time and farther inland from the coast as we move on in our look into Finns and Finland. There are written chronicles of 1417 which mention Koskela village near the rapids of the Vantaa River Near which Helsinki would be founded.

        Helsinki was established as a trading town by King Gustav I of Sweden in 1550 as the town of Helsingfors which he intended to be a rival to the Hasiatic city of Reval on the southern shores of the Gulf of Finland now known as Tallinn. Most agree that Reval won that rivalry

Estonia        

            The Hasiatic city of Reval soon became Tallinn. It became the northernmost member of the Hasiatic League. Tallinn is the capital city of Estonia. Estonia is a close neighbor of Finland. Tallinn is known in most of the world by variants of its other historical name, Reval. It was a significant trade hub from the 1300s to the 1500s. Vanillin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site is part of the present day Tallinn.

Reval is one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe. 

        In this little essay I am attempting to begin with the earliest times and gradually move toward introductions to more recent times. So, here I mention that the Comb ceramic pottery found on the site of Tallinn dates to before 3000 BC. The Corded Ware there dates to about 2500 BC. Some pottery like Comb ware and Corded ware have been found in Finland.

        I see that I have begun to write more about Estonia than about Finland. Perhaps when I do have Estonia as the topic I will include information about its good neighbor, Finland. I will conclude my excursion into Estonia by saying: Around 1050 AD a fortress was built on Tallinn or on a limestone hill there. It was called Toompea. This is in the central part of the capital of Estonia, which is Tallinn.

Prehistory        

            Back o the early history and prehistory of Finland. Kalevi, sometimes called Kaleva, and his sons are important heroic figures in Estonian, Finnish and Karelia history. In the Finnish epic, the Kalevala, he is an ancient Finnish ruler. In Estonian mythology and in Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald's epic poem, Kalevipoeg, king Kalev was the father of king Laevipoeg and husband of Linda. Linda is important in Estonian mythology.

        Memories of Kaleva may have been written as early as 500 AD. In 1551 Michael Agricola published a list of deities mentioning Kaleva. In 1641 it is mentioned by Hwirch Stahl in Leyen Spiegal(?)

        Finnish people called the star, Sirius Kalevan thti. Kaleva's star. Orion's Belt was called Kaleva's sword by them.

        Russians called Tallinn, Kolyva. Sounds a lot like Kaleva here and may indicate a Finnish influence.

        
More Archaeology

Not long ago some archaeologists began to note human-like activity as early as 10,000 years ago in this part of the Baltic area. Mythological information suggests an earlier time for human activity in the Land of the Finns as well as does more recent archaeological findings.

Historians

        The word history as used by historians refers to documented history. For them history is written history and begins with the advent of writing. That includes much of that which has been called mythology. Personally I can remember no one who believes every thing that has been written just as it is written. Historians are familiar with the word discretion and most use its meaning in their professional thoughts. Historians have have sometimes found useful hints and orientations in their reading of selected mythology.

      Historians and archaeologists can be aided by those who work in geological time. Let's look at some very recent geologic time. The Allerod oscillation, from about 13,900 BP to about 12,900 BP was a warm and moist period near the end of the most recent Glacial Period. It raised the temperatures of the northern region to almost present levels. It is in this period we first detect evidence of human activity in the Baltic north. We have learned a lot and have a lot to learn. By "we" I mean to imply you, me, and humanity in general. "We" as used in "...we first detect evidence of human activity" is also my word but I got it by interpreting the writing of another. I took it to mean "scientific authorities," but I am not positive of that. When we get really serious, we could look for names, address, and professional histories of the "we," "they," and "them" so often spoken of.

        I take the following to be the very best guesses of  top authorities in the field and very useful information. I am seldom completely wrong, but I'm not perfect.

Here we are back in the realm of archaeology which can be very helpful when looking into prehistoric times. To date, that which has been called the Bromme culture, may be the first culture to be detected in the northern Baltic area. The Bromme culture has  been dated to from about 13,800 BP to about 12,000 BP. The landscape then was taiga and tundra, Reindeer seem to have been central to their economy. It was hunted, as were moose, elk, wolverine, and beaver. Sounds pretty much like the far north of Finland. This culture is known from archaeological sites in Denmark and one near Malmo in Sweden. South and west of Finland (Finland where more archaeological work may need to be done.) But that is getting pretty close to the land of the Finns. This Bromme culture seems much the same as the Ahrensburg culture, but seems to predate it. They could be called late Paleolithic reindeer hunters and perhaps a pre-flood people. Maybe they spoke a bit like the Finns.

        There is more to say about the cultures around the Baltic Sea. There is much more to learn about the people touched by that sea.

        Not long ago, 4000 BC seem very long ago and it is more than 6000 years ago. Still now we are learning more and more about times before 8000 BC.

        Now many envision an enormous past, which may have included us, longer than 200,000 years ago, but life goes on to long before that and may included our relatives. Many have long understood that accounts in the biblical Old Testament pointed us toward realities. We have learned that we have a history which begins long before the extinction event(s) which followed the ending of the most recent Ice Age. Many of us first learned of those events in the Biblical account of "Noah's flood."

        Archaeologists and others are rapidly filling in our understanding of happenings and doings between the time of grandparents to "that" flood and on to windows of human history from long before that flood.

        Thank you for reading. To correct my mistakes or increase my knowledge write to me at  magobill@gmail.com

                                                                Richard 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

   

The Sauk & Sac of Sauk Prairie

"Sirhan Sirhan Didn't Kill Myather" - RFK Jr. Reveals Who Really Kille. F..

RFK Jr.: Experienced, intelligent, Patriot, well educated, has a deep love for our country, with a deep understanding of republicanism and democracy who understands the difficulty of mixing imperialism with republicanism and democracy

Sahara Desert in Video

A variety of fun information about the Sahara Desert is revealed by scientists.  

    It's all history. OK it's mostly prehistory.

There Is A Lot We Can Learn

Our History contains valuable information about us

We profit by careful updating of our knowledge. We can benefit by being open to learning about our early doings and the early happenings around us. We are very capable of improving our judgements. There is that to be learned from our pre-history which can contribute to our survival and wellbeing

Who is Visiting History With RCS These Days?

 Stats

    

            People from a variety of countries visit this site of prehistory and more.

However, just four countries account for 70% of those visits.

34% From The USA

14% from Colombia

12% from Germany     and

10% from Sweden

                Thank you for viewing and reading. Keep coming back and give your friends the address.

                There are new essays, posts, and videos every month. Should you feel the need for a change check out some of our associated blogsites like Mago Bill or Governance With RCS.

                                                                                    Richard

Silk Road Saga Continued: Afghanistan

Afghanistan deserves more attention than this. Consider this a tip of the hat to the topic. 

            Hello, you may have noticed that here, and on my associated sites, my purpose is to offer that which you may find interesting and which you may expect to be of lasting value. This particular offering is part of a set of essays related to what has been called the Silk Road. The following few paragraphs is to give you a brief inside peek into the Silk Road country of Afghanistan.

            As I begin to prepare this post for publication I note that it may be too short for many of my readers. I will try to make future posts a little longer and more enjoyable.

Afghanistan:

            The Silk Road passes through Afghanistan. I further explorations we may note that the Silk Road trunk has many branches. We may note too that it was ancient even before the silk trade began to move on it. Much of Afghanistan's ancient history was nearly as turbulent as it's more recent history. This country is at the crossroads of central Asia and south Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and China. All places with interesting people and histories say I. I predict that we will hear of each of them more than once before we die.

            Did you notice the suffix -stan above? The countries which have the suffix in their name have something else in common. They are all in central Asia. In all of them the suffix translates to something like land of. All such countries have a significant relation to what we once called Persia and now call Iran. They are sort of Iranian cousins, perhaps second cousins.

            

            South East Asia includes the Indian subcontinent and the exotic and beautiful island nation of Sri Lanka. I mention Sri Lanka because I have strong memories of that land and people. I mention Indian because a large branch of the Silk Road heading east from Afghanistan goes there.

            Afghanistan has plenty of mountains and also has plains in the north and the Southwest. The Hindu kush mountain range accounts for mountains.

People and Afghanistan

            In addition to roads and land, Afghanistan has a variety of people. The most numerous people of the country are Pashtun, Hazaras, Tajik, and Uzbeck. There are many others as well, they include Turkman, Baloch, Aimaq, and Sadat. Afghanistan has long had commerce with China, India, the Near East, and more. When I say long I mean millenia. The great set of trade routes we are calling the Silk Road has connected many people as has contributed to the ethnic mix that is Afghanistan.

Turbulence in Afghanistan:

                First, check to see if anyone you know has an afghan in their home.

                The Graveyard of Empires is a name Afghanistan has been called. Americans are far from the only ones to have trampled on the people of this nation and to find that such trampling is not easy. Others include Russian, English, Mongols, Muslim Arabs, people of the Maurya Empire, and the army of Alexander the Great. Others helping to keep things turbulent include Mughals, Greco-Bactrians, and Iranians.

Religion in Afghanistan:

            It is also a land of various religions: Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and, more recently, Islam and some Christianity.

Birth of Afghanistan:

            Afghanistan may be said to have become a nation with the Hitak dynasty. This dynasty was founded by Ghilji Pashtuns, who may be seen as early cousins of the Persians. The Hotak ruled into the early 1700s BC. They took over from the older and longer lasting Persian Safaid empire. The Safaid were horsemen on the Silk Road,
        

            This is far from the end of this story, but I am about to end this essay. May I recommend that you make time to reread this piece and note with some care the questions that may arise. You may find some answers on your own. Please feel free to tell us about them. Also you could ask me a couple of questions.

            When I was younger we called Iranians, Persians and Iran, Persia. I was going to say they are the same people, but people change and the keep dying and getting born. Than again a people who share a history share a great deal.

            Among the names I may check out their relationship to the Silk Road I include: Tajikistan, Tajiks, Pashtuns, Hazaras, Sadat, Hindu Kush, Greco-Bactrians, Persian Safai, and more. There is much of interest and of value to be found. When you find something, please tell us a bit about it. I may include your finding in a post if that is OK with you. I will include your name if you want.

            Thank you for reading. Share this address with another.

                                                                    Richard Sheehan

Fun Prehistory With Dani

Discover Ancient Mesopotamian Literature With Me! 📜☀️ Cuneiform + Litera...

I hope you enjoy this video as much as I have. I seems to contain selections from about 3000 years of prehistory in  mesopotamia beginning with the Sumerians, I call it the story of the history and the history of the stories. Its presented in living color, good humor, pleasant if contagious enthusiasm.

We Can Learn from History

   Acupuncture; history notes

 

                Are we too superior in our conceits to recognize the ability we ought to see in others?

                '

                I write here in hope that we may more enjoy the fruits of acupuncture. The French and Russians began to enjoy those fruits of the acupuncture part of Chinese Health Care many years ago. Our AMA has not pointed us to a legal road to making acupuncture an active part of our health care system. It  that seems finding and setting up that road is up us, we the people. 

               

                 The people of some countries have struggled a bit with deciding how to regulate acupuncture, bur most have allowed it legal practice. Russian elites have demanded it. Chinese demand that extensive education and careful oversight of the the practice be established and maintained. European countries have demanded that all acupuncturists be medical doctors as well. Some of them have neglected the supervision of its teaching.

 

                Some knowledge of the history of acupuncture may prove of help to to us. Allow me to pass on some of that history which have begun to learn.

 
Before 900 AD                

                A medical school was established in China during the Tang dynasty before 900 AD. Its name, translated to English can be, the Imperial Institute of Physicians. The college trained 350 students at a time in herbal medicine and surgery. Herbal medicine seems to have been the more important part of the instruction. Surgery was mainly limited to fractures, skin diseases, and wounds.

 
600 AD                

Tang emperors also organized the nation's doctors into the grand Medical Service. It will be great when we can organize our healthcare to include the best of the kinds available in other countries. The development of organized healthcare in China began at least as early as 600 AD. Certainly we ought to be able to improve and extend our healthcare in the near future.

 
About 700 AD             

    Chinese health care was regulated and delivery improved beginning in about 700 AD. Prospective doctors underwent rigorous examinations. Future doctors were examined on their familiarity with the principles of acupuncture and its diagnosis and techniques, also on the best written works. 

 

                Chinese controlled the quality of their health care then and now. There were and are laws prohibiting the practice of healthcare and cure without licenses.

 

                    

According to surviving healthcare books and documents from as far back as the Tang, a variety of maladies were treated. their practice dealt with tuberculosis, goiter, rickets, beriberi, dropsy, Cholera, dysentery, measles, smallpox, and leprosy.

As we begin to use our choice of the very best European and Asiatic healthcare, we can learn from and adopt some of their methods of  control and safety. There  is much of value we can learn if we would. We can learn to benefit from acupuncture as have the French, and Russians, and others. Our healthcare professionals have much to teach others.

Let's get back to the Tang dynasty way of dealing with acupuncture. On the second day of their examinations was a demonstration of one's effectiveness of dealing with the needles of acupuncture. A great deal more of Chinese history is becoming available these days and the Chinese share share much of their modern healthcare understanding, knowledge, and techniques. We can learn from them and help them to learn from us.

 Acupuncture points

                In 1027 AD the sung dynasty emperor, Je Tsug ordered Wang Wei, a noted acupuncturist and sculpture to cast two hollow figures with the acupuncture points points marked by their names and small holes. The figures were covered with wax and filled with water. These figures were used to train and test students. Similar figures are used by students and teachers and students today, Since the Sung dynasty only about a dozen points have been changed, added, or deleted. I understands that a total of about 365 points are used today. For the interested person there is much historic and present day information available online.

 
 Chaing Kai-shek              

 During the reign of Chaing Kai-shek, western medicine was extolled and acupuncture was repressed and schools closed. Still, the Chinese people looked to their traditional medicine. Thousands were killed by quacks and the untrained in the use of traditional medicine. Many came to doubt their ''medicine."

When the communist consolidated power acupuncturists began to use the needles where they were most likely to be used correctly, on themselves. A graduate from their schools may have pricked himself ten thousand times refining his skills and touch until teachers and testers were sure of his ability. There remained much to be learned of diagnosis.  

 

                Now, acupuncture has been modernized by Chinese doctors also trained in western medicine. Acupuncture is used extensively. Electronic needles are used, and their use has moved into most modern Chinese medicine. 

 "Head Zones"

                In 1893 Sir Henry Head, a British nerve specialist, noticed that some patients suffering from diseased gallbladders and kidneys felt pain in parts of the body far from from the stricken organs. The pain was external, on the surface of the skin, and a specific disease always resulted in pain from the same place. Think of the diagnostic possibilities, Some wise doctors have been trained in "Head Zones."

German doctors soon began to use their knowledge of "Head Zones" to deaden areas of the skin to relieve pain in internal organs. Does that remind you of anything in particular?

 

                Some American doctors add to this practice by injecting these surface areas with chemical Anesthesia to get the same result. American doctors were amazed to find that their injections in Head Zones not only relieved pain, but in many cases cure diseases. Head Zones have been too largely forgotten, but there is still a bit of ongoing work being done in the U.S. and elsewhere. 

 

            By the way, the areas of the skin Dr. Head linked with the gallbladder and kidneys are the same ones acupuncturists use today and the same ones they have used for many hundreds of years.

 

                I believe that we can benefit from careful training of good acupuncture practitioners in the U.S. I believe we would benefit even more by good appropriate oversight of those practitioners and of all physicians and health practitioners. For developing appropriate training of acupuncturists in the U.S. we could increase exchange of healthcare practitioners between China and America.

 

                

            Thank you for reading

 

 

                                                                                                RCS 

Anthropology of the Colusa of Florida

 North American Indians

The Calusa of what is now Florida, USA

                A great people who deserve more talk and understanding.

                I haven't yet written much of the early peoples of North America, but if I live long enough I intend to write much more.

                    

            The words I now write of the Calusa are few. Even so I expect that will be sufficient to fix the Calusa  people and the name Calusa in the minds of a few our readers.

                    In the 1500s the Calusa still controlled much of  the southwest of Florida. They defended their land against the aggression  of other peoples including European explorers.  The Spaniards knew them as fierce. The Caloosahatchee River, with its mouth on the southwest of  Florida, was theirs.

                They lived mostly along the inland waterways and developed them for transportation and food production. The sea was also a source of food for them. They left middens of seashells large enough in size to compete with their great mounds and other earthworks. The fished with nets and tapped fish.

                The Calusa had a strong influence on the tribes around them. That influence may be because of their wide trading. They typically used dugouts for use at sea and along their inland waterways. They also built  and used larger vessels. They visited Cuba regularly and probably sailed much farther into the Caribbean.

                Their homes were built on platforms on pilings over the water. Their buildings had particularly handsome roofing of palmetto leaves. It is said that some of their 'houses' were large enough to easily accommodate 2000 persons!

                They were excellent wood workers and they also did some fine wood carving. They were excellent farmers, sailors, fishermen, and traders, They are probably responsible for the construction of what we have called bayous.

                The apex of their culture probably dates well before 100 BC. Their middens and and earth works have been dated to that time.

                We have much to learn from and about the Calusa. Please feel free to extend and correct our knowledge of them.

                What is your interest in American Indians? Help me write to your interests.

                Thank you for reading.

                


                                                                                by R.C.S.