Key Marco cat, c.1600s.

Region: Florida.

This tribal representation of a kneeling cougar was part of an extraordinary archaeological find on Marco Island in 1896. This area of south-west Florida was originally populated by the Calusa Indians – hunter-gatherers who are known to have been fierce warriors. They fished in the estuaries and have been dubbed ‘The Shell People’ because of the great mounds of shells that have also been found here. They were scattered and disappeared soon after the Spanish explorers came to the area.

The Calusa were skilled artisans, and more than 1,000 pieces were discovered at the Key Marco site at the northern tip of the island, including masks and weapons, ceramics, bone and shell artefacts, some of which date back to the sixth century CE. The site was discovered by Captain W. D. Collier and excavated by Frank Hamilton Cushing. Dating from the seventeenth century, the cat is about 15cm (6 in) high and is in remarkably good condition. It is carved from wood and represents a feline/human figure. The anaerobic properties of the mud had preserved it for centuries.

Source: ‘Folk Art’, Susann Linn-Williams, pp. 154-55.