An Ancient Artificial Island: Dismal Key, Florida - A Large Coastal Shell Ring #historicaltidbits

Dismal Key, located within the Ten Thousand Islands archipelago off Florida's Gulf Coast, is an artificial island constructed and utilized by the people of the Glades culture over a long period, beginning around 2,500 years ago after the Archaic period. This roughly crescent-shaped key, encompassing about 74 acres, is entirely composed of shell works – intentionally piled shells forming various features, most notably a "C"-shaped ring reaching up to 13 feet high with a central plaza and pond. The earliest radiocarbon dating of shells from the ring indicates initial significant construction occurred between approximately 460 BCE and 50 BCE. However, archaeological evidence, including later Glades culture ceramics and radiocarbon dates from the shell fields extending into the Common Era (around 400-750 CE), suggests continued occupation, utilization, and potentially further construction or modification of the site complex for many centuries after the initial ring formation. The later presence of artifacts resembling the Caloosahatchee culture around 1300 CE indicates a subsequent period of influence or interaction before the eventual abandonment of the site along with many other shell works in the region.

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