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Preliminary observations on the archaeological assemblage of the 1559-1561 Tristán de Luna settlement
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Preliminary observations on the archaeological assemblage of the 1559-1561 Tristán de Luna settlement

John E. Worth
49th Annual Conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology (Washington, D.C, 01/2016)
01/09/2016

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Abstract

The recent discovery of a substantial assemblage of mid-16th-century Spanish artifacts at a terrestrial archaeological site within view of two of Tristán de Luna’s wrecked colonial ships in Pensacola Bay, Florida, has led to the identification of this site as Luna’s long-lost colonial settlement, occupied continuously between August 1559 and August 1561. Initial archaeological fieldwork was carried out by the University of West Florida during November 2015, and subsequent laboratory analysis of the extensive collection recovered has also expanded to include re-analysis of collections from 1986 UWF fieldwork in the vicinity.1 While analysis is still ongoing and far from complete, we can now assert with confidence that not only do the mid-16th-century Spanish colonial artifacts at the site match expectations in terms of types, quantities, and proportions, but also cover a broad enough area on a landform that is fully consistent with available documentary accounts of the Luna settlement. In this brief paper, I will provide a preliminary descriptive overview of the artifact assemblage that we now believe to be associated with the first multi-year European settlement in the continental United States.
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