Luna the Cat: Employing Archaeology in Children’s Storytelling

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In the last year, FPAN Coordinating Center and Northwest Region staff took advantage of time away from in-person public archaeology programming to creatively adapt new content for a wide variety of audiences. One result was the publication of Luna the Cat, a children’s chapter book influenced by the real history and archaeology of Spaniard Don Tristán de Luna's 1559 settlement attempt in Pensacola, Florida. The book follows the journey of a cat named Luna who unwillingly leaves his life in Mexico for a journey across the Gulf of Mexico that would end up changing history. This poster highlights the creative writing process using influence from history and archaeology, unique considerations for interpretation in children’s books, and the ways in which even fictional narratives using the hero’s journey template can engage young audiences with concepts in archaeology.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• 2022 SHA Poster Submissions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology