Deposits of Poisonous Fish Remains Identified on Florida’s Mound Key

CENTRE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA—Newsweek reports that deposits of the bones of porcupine fish and other burrfishes have been unearthed at southwestern Florida’s Mound Key and dated to between A.D. 1000 and 1600. The Calusa and their ancestors constructed Mound Key by layering shells, fish bones, and other daily refuse in Florida’s Estero Bay, and occupied it from about A.D. 500 through the arrival of the Spanish in the seventeenth century. Mounds, canals, causeways, burial mounds, and structures for capturing and storing fish and other marine animals have been found on the island. Burrfishes, which are known for their parrot-like beaks and ability to inflate their spiny bodies, contain a compound that is fatal to humans if consumed. Isabelle Holland-Lulewicz of Pennsylvania State University said that it is not clear how these fish were used by the Calusa, but she noted that no spines were recovered from the deposits. She thinks that the spines, skins, and perhaps the poisonous innards of the burrfishes may have been processed into a non-food product. To read more about Mound Key and the Calusa, go to "Searching for the Fisher Kings."