Ortona Prehistoric Village

[1] Part of the site is currently in the Glades County-owned Ortona Indian Mound Park, but much remains in private hands.

The site has been extensively modified by 20th-century activities, including the construction of a county road and a cemetery, sand mining operations, and improvements to pasture land.

His company removed the rock ledge that formed the falls and rapids below Lake Flirt, and straightened the upper reaches of the Caloosahatchee River.

[6] While the routes of the canals can be traced on old maps and aerial photos, they have been significantly altered and obscured by human actions in the 20th century.

[7] Early maps show an “Indian Trail” running from Fisheating Creek that crossed the wetlands east of Lake Flirt (and south of the Ortona site) at a ford.

The western canal (8GL4A) connected a small, round pond near the mounds to an arm of Lake Flirt called Cypress Branch.

Radiocarbon dates from samples of organic material recovered from the trenches indicate that the canal may have been dug as much as 1,900 years ago.

Wheeler states that the canals were primarily for canoe traffic, although, as a secondary effect, they may have helped drain the area around the mounds.

The Mud Lake, Snake Bight and Naples canals were at sea level, subject only to tidal flows.

In addition, the Ortona Canals may have been used to bypass a marshy section of the Caloosahatchee watershed and bring canoe traffic between Lake Okeechobee and the lower Caloosahatchee to the Ortona site, while the other canals provided shortcuts that also avoided taking canoes into open, and possibly rough, water.

A 16 metres (52 ft) wide ramp on the west side of the mound shows in mid-20th century aerial photos.

They also believe that the height of the occupation was from 550–800 A.D. Ortona was built at a critical intersection of a north-south and an east-west trade routes.

Former state archaeologist Ryan J. Wheeler,[19] made researches on the Ortona Canals using government maps and areal photography.

Wheeler believes the canals traveled 20 miles, an incredible feat of hydraulic engineering by a group of hunter-gathers.

The restoration and further study of the Ortona Canals is being undertaken by Robert S. Carr and his organization, the Florida Archaeological Conservancy.

[1] Architect and anthropologist, Richard Thornton,[20] has researched, as well as, created village layouts, showing the various mounds and features.

Southeast archaeologist George R. Milner[21] conducted research on trends by prehistoric tribes of violence and warfare.

and lasted till 400 A.D.. Florida archaeologists such as Milanich, believe that features at Ortona were the result of contact by societies associated with the Mississippian culture due to similarities in building types.