Analysis of Artifacts and Archaeology at 8JE106, a Spanish Mission Site in Florida

Between 1968 and 1972, B. Calvin Jones, an archaeologist for the State of Florida, Division of Archives, History and Records Management, discovered and investigated site 8JE106, which he identified as the site of the seventeenth century Spanish Mission San Miguel de Asile. This mission was one in a chain that stretched from St. Augustine into the Panhandle of Florida. Site 8JE106 is located just to the west of the Aucilla River in Lamont, Florida. Based on historical documentation, the Aucilla River is considered to be the traditional dividing line between Timucua and Apalachee Indian Provinces in northern Florida, with Apalachee to the west and Timucua to the east. Historical documentation also suggests that San Miguel de Asile was a Timucuan mission. If the Aucilla River were the dividing line for the Apalachee and Timucuan provinces, one would expect that a Timucuan San Miguel de Asile would be located on the eastern side of the Aucilla River. This idea is contradictory to Jones' assumptions. This thesis indicates that while the presence of a Spanish mission site can be confirmed at 8JE106, archaeological and documentary evidence suggests that the mission present at the site was not San Miguel de Asile. This study consists of a systematic analysis of the artifacts Jones recovered from 8JE106 between 1968 and 1972. This analysis was undertaken to gain additional information about the site and its inhabitants, both aboriginal and European. Documentary evidence was used to address mission location and identity. Jones' site excavation maps, field notes and photographic documentation were used to analyze the archaeology Jones performed at the site. This data recovered from 8JE106 have never been formally analyzed for the benefit of researchers. The collections have remained untouched for over 30 years, while researchers have argued the sites' cultural and mission identity. Piecing together information from the excavation record has at times been difficult, but it is encouraging to show that a researcher can take artifacts that were excavated over 30 years ago and offer new information that is beneficial to a topic of such significance. These data, and historical documentation, lead to several conclusions. The archaeological site 8JE106 is not the location of the seventeenth-century Timucuan mission of San Miguel de Asile. Ceramic collections from 8JE106 suggest an Apalachee affiliation for the site. Available historical information suggests that 8JE106 might be a location for the Apalachee mission San Lorenzo de Ivitachuco.