This page is viewed 651 times
Ocala Ongoing discoveries at a 17th century archaeological dig near the Ocklawaha River are providing new insights into the culture of the Acuera, a Timucuan tribe that was living in the region where Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto led an expedition in 1539. 
Through luck, hard work and the study of records collated by one of his mentors, University of Florida doctoral candidate Willet Boyer III tracked down what he believes to be Santa Lucia de Acuera, a lost site that was at one point the most remote Franciscan mission in all of Florida.Evidence of missionary construction uncovered a year ago has since led Boyer's team to unearth the complete footprint of a large building that seems to have been the church, as well as the corner of a nearby smaller structure that was likely either the mission's cocina (kitchen) or friary. "For this spring's fieldwork, which we anticipate running through April, what we are hoping to do is determine the nature of this building," Boyer said. "Our main goal is to outline the area and see how large this building is." "By working here, I've found that the pottery is more interesting than the arrowheads," said Robin Corsiglia, who developed an avid interest in archaeology during his youth and has been volunteering at the site since retiring from Lockheed Martin a little over a year ago. "Back in (19)61, every time they'd grade the roads I'd find the arrowheads that had come up," he said. RECONSTRUCTION While arrowheads can be found at the riverside dig, the beads, metal pieces and pottery buried within three trash pits adjacent to the newly unearthed structure are what led Boyer to suspect he has found the friary, although bits of animal bone within the pits may be indicative of kitchen scraps.
Related News:
|
