St. Augustine Archaeological Association Lecture & Meeting

A RETURN TO SARABAY:  UNF FIELD SCHOOL EXCAVATIONS AT A MOCAMA INDIAN COMMUNITY

Located on Big Talbot Island, Sarabay was one of a dozen or so Timucua-speaking Mocama communities distributed across the Indigenous landscape of far northeastern Florida during the late 16th century. By 1587, a single Spanish friar lived nearby at the Mocama town of Alimacani, which served as a Spanish mission (San Juan del Puerto).

Building on testing conducted in 1998-1999, the University of North Florida (UNF) returned to the site of Sarabay in 2020. Over the past three years, field school excavations at this Mocama town have unearthed Native and Spanish artifacts and exposed the partial outline of a large Indigenous building dating to ca. 1580-1620.

This presentation discusses ongoing UNF excavations at Sarabay and considers the community within the broader mission system.

This lecture will be held on September 6th at 7 PM in the Flagler Room, located in Flagler College.