Time Sifters Archaeology Society

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Time Sifters Archaeology Society Time Sifters sponsors free lectures every month, September through May (except December). Check here

Please come and join us on Wednesday, October 21 in the Selby Library in downtown Sarasota. The lecture starts at 5:45 P...
10/13/2026

Please come and join us on Wednesday, October 21 in the Selby Library in downtown Sarasota. The lecture starts at 5:45 PM and is free.

10/07/2026

Archaeologists led by researchers from the University of Georgia and the Florida Museum of Natural History located and confirmed the architectural footprint of the grand ceremonial house (or king's council house) of the Calusa chiefdom.

​The structural foundations were uncovered atop Mound 1 at Mound Key Archaeological State Park, a 125-acre artificial island in Estero Bay, Southwest Florida, that served as the capital of the Calusa Kingdom (known as Calos).

Key Findings & Historical Context

​Massive Architectural Scale: Ground-penetrating radar and systematic excavations identified post molds left by huge pine and palm timbers. Spanish historical records from 1566—when Spanish Governor Pedro Menéndez de Avilés visited King Caalus (Carlos)—noted that the king’s house was large enough to hold 2,000 people simultaneously.

​Built on an Engineered Island: The entire island of Mound Key is anthropogenic—constructed over centuries from millions of discarded oyster, clam, and conch shells, along with clay and bone, rising over 30 feet above sea level at its peak.

​Defying Anthropological Conventions: The Calusa were a powerful maritime empire of fisher-gatherer-hunters. They developed complex political hierarchies, large-scale architecture, engineered fish-trapping watercourts, and wide trade networks without practicing agriculture.

​Spanish Fort Co-location: Excavations around the site also revealed physical evidence of Fort San Antón de Carlos, a short-lived 16th-century Spanish fort and Jesuit mission built adjacent to the king's complex before the Calusa drove the colonizers away in 1569.

Please join us on Wednesday, September 16 at 5:45 at the Selby Library in Sarasota for the beginning of our 40th Season.
09/09/2026

Please join us on Wednesday, September 16 at 5:45 at the Selby Library in Sarasota for the beginning of our 40th Season.

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PO Box 5283
Sarasota, FL
34277

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