An Ethnobotanical Approach to an Apalachee Ceramic Jar

Summary

A nearly intact, Chattahoochee roughened variety Chattahoochee, Apalachee ceramic jar was excavated in the 2014 summer field season by the University of West Florida Colonial Frontiers Archaeological Field School. It was recovered from the Spanish mission of San Joseph de Escambe situated in northwest Florida and occupied from 1741-1761. Testing of the vessel for organic residue, specifically Ilex vomitoria, may provide evidence to support to a hypothesis that the vessel was used to serve the "Black Drink," a tea-like beverage prepared from yaupon holly leaves. Five grams of material were removed from the vessel and subjected to Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis for the purpose of identifying yaupon holly methylxanthine indicators: caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline as well as ursolic acid. The results of this study will further our understanding of the function of the Apalachee ceramic jar in the context of prehistoric practices surviving into the Spanish Mission period of northwest Florida.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

Spatial Coverage