Mound Key Archeological State Park, Archaeological state park on shell-built island in Estero Bay, Florida, US.
Mound Key is a 125-acre island in Estero Bay, 113 acres of which are managed as a state park. It is a complex of mounds and shell, fish bone and pottery middens rising more than 30 feet above the water, with water courts and canals still visible.
The Calusa people built this complex settlement roughly 2000 years ago as their capital called Calos, complete with water routes and canal systems. Spanish colonizers established an early mission here in 1566 but abandoned it after a short time.
The island's name comes from the Calusa mounds themselves, and most researchers identify it as Calos, the capital where King Carlos hosted the 1566 wedding of his sister, later baptized Antonia, to Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. Visitors can still trace the Calusa water courts and canals cut between the shell ridges.
The island is only reachable by boat since no direct land connection exists, with launches available from Koreshan or Lovers Key state parks. Visitors should expect humid conditions, mosquitoes, and uneven ground, so sturdy shoes and insect repellent are recommended.
The island was partly built by human hands, as the Calusa deliberately stacked shells to create their structures and raised areas. This is one of the few places in North America where artificially made islands from an early civilization remain intact.
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