An Analysis of 16th Century Spanish Shipboard Provisioning Using Material Culture from the Emanuel Point Shipwrecks

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

As part of the ongoing research on the 1559-1561 Tristán de Luna expedition, this paper discusses food provisioning aboard the ships that arrived in Pensacola, Florida, in August 1559. The expedition, financed and outfitted in New Spain, intended to establish a Spanish foothold in North America. However, soon after arriving, a hurricane sunk seven of the twelve vessels containing most of the colony´s provisions. The shipwrecks remained lost until 1992, when archaeologists from the University of West Florida (UWF) uncovered the first vessel, Emanuel Point I. Since then, UWF identified two more wrecks along with the terrestrial site. These vessels, once excavated, provide an analysis of 16th-century Spanish ship construction, ceramics, foodways, provisioning, etc. This paper examines 16th-century Spanish shipboard provisioning by comparing documentary evidence with material culture from the shipwrecks. Specifically, it analyzes artifacts related to outfitting a fleet compared to detailed accounts of the expedition´s provisions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2022 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology