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Bones Beneath the Bay: Environmental Drivers of Faunal Bone Preservation at Emanuel Point II
Thesis   Open access

Bones Beneath the Bay: Environmental Drivers of Faunal Bone Preservation at Emanuel Point II

Mikiko Robinson
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida
2026

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Abstract

Emanuel Point II Faunal Preservation Maritime Archaeology Pensacola Bay Taphonomy Zooarchaeology Regions of the United States
This thesis examines the environmental factors influencing faunal preservation within the Emanuel Point II (EPII) shipwreck, one of the 16th-century Spanish vessels lost during the 1559 Luna expedition in Pensacola Bay, Florida. The study explores how estuarine conditions, sedimentary context, dissolved organic matter, and post-depositional processes contribute to preservation, staining, elemental alteration, and variability within submerged faunal assemblages. An interdisciplinary approach integrating zooarchaeological analysis, portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF), conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) measurements, sediment coring, porewater analysis, and color spectroscopy was used to investigate relationships between environmental conditions and faunal preservation. The interdisciplinary framework developed in this study provides a methodological approach that can be adapted to investigate faunal preservation at other submerged archaeological sites. Faunal remains should be treated as central archaeological evidence rather than background material, demonstrating their importance for understanding preservation processes, environmental reconstruction, and interpretations of shipboard life within submerged colonial contexts.
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Bones Beneath the Bay: Environmental Drivers of Faunal Bone Preservation at Emanuel Point II7.19 MBDownloadView
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