Posted on February 16, 2016 at 1:11 PM by Rebekah Mason
For those of us who have lived in Florida for a while, shells may be a part of life that we don’t notice much anymore (that is until we cut our foot on one at the beach). Luckily for you, we have an exhibit on shells at the Safety Harbor Museum & Cultural Center that will reinvigorate your love for the beauty of shells.
Come on in and take a look!
For those of you curious ones out there…keep reading for more interesting facts about shells and Safety Harbor.
FUN SHELL FACTS
However, shells are known for more than their beauty in our area. They also have quite an important historical role as well.
- Did you know that the Tocobaga used shells for digging, eating, and constructing their mounds? (Psst…don’t know who the Tocobaga are? We’d be happy to tell you! Come on in for a tour or call for more information.)
- Have you ever heard of an ADZ? The Tocobaga used them for digging. It was made by taking a shell or pointed stone and tying it to the end of a curved branch.
- The Tocobaga also constructed a tool by placing a living tree branch through a shell with a hole in it. After a while, the branch would grow into and around the shell. When that happened, they could cut the branch off of the tree and use the sturdy tool for digging clams.