Exploring the Social Affects of Hurricane Recovery in Colonial St. Augustine

Summary

Data gathered during two seasons of excavation of a Minorcan household in St. Augustine, FL are examined for patterns that reflect how recovery from the hurricane that hit the city on October 5, 1811 affected social systems and relations within the city’s communities. Johnson (2005) has argued that recovery from the disaster created strong bonds among members of the communities and acted to level social inequality within them. Schwartz (2005), however, notes that during the colonial period post-disaster relief in the Caribbean islands increased social inequality, in part because decisions about who got what tended to favor certain groups over others. We consider these models in our investigation of remains of the Pablo Sabate household and historical information on colonial St. Augustine to determine if our data can contribute to broader understanding of how response to disasters is organized and affects communities at the local level.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage