Recent Archaeological Investigations at the 1559-1561 Settlement of Tristán de Luna y Arellano on Pensacola Bay

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Plus Ultra: An examination of current research in Spanish Colonial/Iberian Underwater and Terrestrial Archaeology in the Western Hemisphere." , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Four years of archaeological investigations have now been conducted by the University of West Florida at the site of the port settlement established by Tristán de Luna y Arellano on Pensacola Bay in 1559, and devastated by the loss of its food stores in a hurricane shortly thereafter. While the settlement was ultimately abandoned in 1561, it nonetheless holds the status of the first multi-year European settlement in the continental United States. Initially populated by 1,500 soldiers, families, servants, and slaves originating from colonial New Spain, the settlement’s inhabitants comprised a diverse blend of Spaniards, Aztec Indians, Africans, and many of mixed ancestry. Recent archaeological work at the heart of the site has revealed evidence for structures and activity areas, as well as a substantial mid-16th-century artifact assemblage reflecting not just the hybrid material culture of colonial New Spain, but also local survival strategies under conditions of limited resupply.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• Plus Ultra: An examination of current research in Spanish Colonial/Iberian Underwater and Terrestrial Archaeology in the Western Hemisphere.

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 761