Symposium: The Tristan de Luna Shipwrecks and Settlement (1559-1561) in Pensacola, Florida

DOCUMENT Citation Only Ramie Gougeon. Courtney Boren.

The sixteenth century was marked by Spanish expeditions that brought the prehistoric lifeways along Pensacola Bay to an end. Accounts from the 1559 Luna expedition indicate a meager population of Indian fishermen lived along the bay of Ochuse. Collectively, this and subsequent documentary evidence illustrates movements of people in and out of the region and hints at the dramatic cultural changes already underway. Interestingly, archaeological evidence supports the idea that the native...

DOCUMENT Citation Only John R. Bratten. Janet R. Lloyd.

  Thousands of artifacts have been recovered from the two shipwrecks associated with Tristán de Luna y Arellano’s 1559 settlement attempt and recently hundreds of artifacts have now been recovered from the associated land site. Even at this early stage in the terrestrial work, we have the unique opportunity to make many interesting comparisons between the two assemblages regarding the relative proportions of different functional categories and the presence/absence of fasteners, armor, and...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Judith Bense.

Archaeology at UWF was started in 1980 primarily to study the rich prehistoric archaeological resources in Pensacola and northwest Florida.  The program has taken several unexpected and fruitful turns into public archaeology, urban archaeology, historical archaeology, and underwater archaeology.  The Early Spanish colonial resources, both documentary and archaeological, have been remarkable.  We initially focused on the 1698-1763 Spanish frontier presidios, but in 1992 the first 1559 Luna...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Elizabeth D Benchley. John Worth.

The unexpected 2015 discovery of the Tristán de Luna y Arellano settlement (1559-1561) overlooking two Luna shipwrecks in Pensacola Bay has expanded research directions and public outreach by University of West Florida (UWF) archaeologists. Working in an established Pensacola neighborhood, UWF archaeologists have found diagnostic 16th century Spanish artifacts (Spanish ceramics, Aztec ceramics, wrought nails, armor, weapons, personal items, trade beads) across at least eight city blocks.  Intact...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Gregory Cook. Meghan M. Mumford.

Investigations on the second shipwreck identified as a vessel from Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano’s 1559 fleet have intensified during the past two years due to a Florida Division of Historical Resources Special Category grant.  The site, known as "Emanuel Point II", is a well-preserved example of ship architecture related to early Spanish colonization efforts.  This site, along with the Emanuel Point I wreck and the newly discovered settlement site on the nearby shoreline of Pensacola Bay,...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Nicole Grinnan. Della A Scott-Ireton. Michael B Thomin.

The people of Pensacola have long been proud of their connection with the 1559 Tristán de Luna expedition and to the earliest European multi-year settlement of the United States. The recent discovery of Luna’s colony site on land, together with the ongoing excavation of ships associated with his wrecked fleet, has stimulated renewed public interest and excitement in the community’s heritage.  Archaeologists with the University of West Florida and its(?)theFlorida Public Archaeology Network work...

DOCUMENT Citation Only John Worth.

The 1559-1561 expedition of Tristán de Luna was the largest and most well-financed Spanish attempt to colonize southeastern North America up to that time. Had it succeeded, New Spain would have expanded to include a settled terrestrial route from the northern Gulf of Mexico to the lower Atlantic coast.  While a hurricane left most of the fleet and the colony’s food stores on the bottom of Pensacola Bay just five weeks after arrival, the colonists nonetheless struggled to survive over the next...