of Key Marco, supervised by archaeologists Randolph J. Widmer and Rebecca Storey, who trained and led a volunteer labor effort, in association with related organizations. They hoped to be able to establish more context for the archaeological site excavated by Cushing. Evidence was found of three platform mound stages, with large houses built on pilings. A stratigraphic analysis found 55 discrete layers, indicated by changes in shell and sand mixture. They found evidence of numerous postholes, which indicated a large structure built on pilings to raise it above the surface of the mound. They found additional evidence of early Glades culture, mostly through pottery remains. Ethnic affiliation Marco Island was occupied by the Muspa people, corresponding to the Ten Thousand Islands district of the Glades culture as defined in archaeology. Around 1300 AD, pottery and artifact styles in the Muspa area changed to become very similar to those of the Calusa people to the north, indicating a close alliance with or absorption by the Calusa. See also Fort Center Turner River Site Notes Citations References Brown, Robin C. (1994). Florida's First People. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc. MacMahon, Darcie A. and William H. Marquardt (2004). The Calusa and Their Legacy: South Florida People and Their Environments, University Press of Florida. Further reading Gilliland, Marion Spjut. 1975. The material culture of Key Marco, Florida. Gainesville: University Presses of Florida Gilliland, Marion Spjut. 1989. Key Marco's buried treasure: archaeology and adventure in the nineteenth century. Ripley P. Bullen monographs in anthropology and history, no. 8. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press. External links Marco Island Historical Museum Key Marco Cat entry at the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Archaeological sites in Florida Geography of Collier County, Florida Indigenous culture of the Southeastern Woodlands Shell middens in Florida Islands of Collier County, Florida Islands of Florida Native American history of Florida