The people of Florida have put great emphasis on historic conservation and archaeological site preservation for the past century. Namely, efforts have been for the purpose of preserving common heritage and economic growth. However, as climate change and sea-level rise progress, many historic and archaeological sites in Florida are at great risk of being lost, damaged, or destroyed. Join me as we explore what we’ve learned and what we’ve earned as a result of past preservation efforts, and what we may lose if we do not prepare for the threat climate change presents. 

An Overview of Past Excavations, Interpretations, and Current Questions at 8LE120, Mission San Damian de Escambe

Mission San Damian de Escambe was founded in 1639 after the chief of the village of Escambe, also known as Cupaica, was baptized in St. Augustine. It was home to hundreds of families during the peak of the mission period in Apalachee territory. In 1704, this mission met the same fate as the rest of the missions of Florida when they were destroyed by forces marshaled by James Moore. B. Calvin Jones first identified the site in 1968 during a survey of proposed borrow pits slated for use in the construction of Interstate 10. As construction of the interstate continued, burials were revealed by nearby workers using an excavating machine. Jones mapped all 143 burials, excavated 42 of them, but fully recorded only five. He also noted the locations of numerous postmolds around the burials and interpreted them as markers or dividers within a cemetery. In 2013, 8LE120 was tested again by BAR archaeologist Jerry Lee who excavated some of the postmolds, used GPR to identify and test anomalies, and performed shovel testing to the west of what Jones had originally excavated. In addition to the historical background of the site, this presentation will explore the archaeology of 8LE120, re-examining the features, artifacts, and previous interpretations of the site, and will propose questions for future research. 

“Flocking to the Solstice: An Analysis of Avian Remains from a Civic-Ceremonial Center on the Florida Gulf Coast”

Recent excavations at Shell Mound (8LV42), a civic-ceremonial center on the northern Gulf Coast of Florida, have revealed many pit features with vertebrate faunal remains.  One such feature, a large, silo-shaped pit yielded a proportionately large number of skeletal elements identified to several species of waterbirds, a trait unique among contemporaneous sites reported within the area. The archaeological record of pre-Columbian cultures of the North American Southeast demonstrates the ritual importance of birds in the form of effigy pipes, copper and mica cutouts, and mortuary vessels that extend well into and beyond the first millennium A.D. Given the spatial and temporal relationship of Shell Mound with a large mortuary facility (Palmetto Mound), and the relationship of the faunal contents with recurring iconographic characters of this time period, the faunal assemblage from Feature 25 should be expected to represent practices outside of everyday subsistence. Based upon the presence of juvenile white ibis elements, which offer a proxy for the timing of capture for this apparently ritually charged class of animal, the presence of waterbird elements recovered in this context are proposed to represent ritualized deposition coinciding with events surrounding the summer solstice.

In 1992, the discovery of the Emanuel Point I shipwreck in Pensacola Bay marked the first direct archaeological trace of the 1559-1561 colonial expedition of don Tristán de Luna y Arellano to Florida, the landing site of which had long been suspected to be somewhere on Pensacola Bay.  In 2006, further survey by the University of West Florida resulted in the discovery of the Emanuel Point II wreck just four hundred meters away.  And in 2015, the discovery of the Luna settlement site itself less than a kilometer away on the terrace overlooking both wrecks led to further archaeological survey and testing in 2016 and 2017, including two summer field schools at the 13-hectare site, along with the discovery of the Emanuel Point III wreck even closer to the shore.  As a result of these discoveries, archaeologists have been presented with an unprecedented opportunity to conduct long-term study on a huge if short-lived mid-16th-century Spanish colonial settlement with a cluster of at least three directly-associated shipwrecks just offshore.  The Luna archaeological district on Pensacola Bay promises to give us an unparalleled opportunity to explore both the colony itself and eventually as many as six of the ships that carried the colonists to Florida, and Dr. Worth's presentation will provide an update on current research into the settlement.

Washington Hall: Reconstructing the History of a Tallahassee Frontier Hotel

By Paulette S. McFadden, Ph.D.

Washington Hall was central to the early development of the City of Tallahassee and the State of Florida. Constructed between 1825 and 1828 by Joseph R. Betton, it was one of only four hotels in the frontier town. Located on the southeast corner of South Monroe and East Lafayette Streets (now Apalachee Parkway), the hotel faced the newly constructed log capital building and served as a place for civic and religious activities in addition to providing room and board for guests. Throughout its life, the hotel was owned by several prominent early Tallahasseans, individuals who were instrumental in the development of the early frontier town, including Joseph R. Betton, Richard Keith Call, and David Shelby Walker.  Ironically, Washington Hall was the origin of one of the most devastating disasters ever to occur in Tallahassee.  Paulette McFadden, an archaeologist with the Bureau of Archaeological Research, will present the results of a recent archaeological investigation at the site of the hotel and extensive archival research to reveal the history and eventual demise of Washington Hall.