“There they went to die, and some returned": Mexica-tenocha indigenous allies, neutron activation analysis, and the 1559-1561 Luna serttlement effort in Pensacola, Florida
Christina L. Bolte
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida
2023
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Abstract
The failed 1559-1561 Tristán de Luna y Arellano Settlement effort was dispatched from New Spain, modern day Mexico, to La Florida with 12 ships and 1,500 colonists. Luna’s complement included Mexican-born Spaniards, essentially first-generation New Spaniards, as well as 200 Mexica-Tenochca (Aztec) indigenous allies from the Valley of Mexico, likely representing the first generation of post-colonial Aztecs. Focusing on the Aztec ceramics recovered from the Luna Settlement site, including results of Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA), this research characterizes Aztec IV ceramics within the Luna Settlement effort’s New Spanish artifact assemblage. In tandem, this research establishes empirical connections between the Luna Settlement terrestrial site, associated Luna fleet shipwrecks, Emanuel Point I (EPI) and Emanuel Point II (EPII), and the expedition’s New Spanish origins. Further, utilizing anthropological, archaeological, and ethnohistorical methods, this thesis explores the significance and experiences of indigenous peoples who were, simultaneously, colonizers and colonized, and their role in 16th-century Spanish imperial expansion in the Americas.
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