Belle Glade Culture - Temporal Extent

Temporal Extent

Humans apparently first entered the Lake Okeechobee basin and Kissimmee River valley late in the Archaic period (although there are hints of an earlier, even Paleo-Indian presence). The Belle Glade culture is defined as beginning about 1000 BCE. The older Willey/Bullen chronology divided the Belle Glade culture into three periods; Transitional (1000 - 500 BCE), Belle Glade I (500 BCE - 1000 CE) and Belle Glade II (1000 - 1700). The more recent Sears chronology divides the Belle Glade culture into four periods; I (1000 BCE - 200 CE), II (200 - c. 700), III (c. 700 - c. 1300) and IV (c. 1300 - 1700). During the period of European contact, the Mayaimi lived around Lake Okeechobee, and the Jaega lived in the East Okeechobee area. Almost nothing is known of the inhabitants of the Kissimmee Valley during the historic period.