Publication Date
June 2011
Abstract
The San Pedro de Mocama mission, located on Cumberland Island, Georgia, was the principal Spanish mission of the Mocama-speaking Timucua Indians from 1587 to the early 1660s. This paper describes some of the results of archaeological fieldwork and research (Rock 2006) completed at the mission village site, technically known as the Dungeness WharfSite (9CM14). (Figure 7.1).
Archaeologically, most mission studies have focused on the missions themselves, particularly on their churches, conventos, and kitchens. At the San Pedro mission village site, however, the church complex has not been located and may have been lost to erosion. Therefore, in the course of excavations at the site, our only recourse was to examine materials from the aboriginal village associated with the mission and our results are a reminder of the importance of investigating village areas at mission sites.
Because our ceramic analysis can be tied to historical events, including interactions between the Spanish, Timucua Indians, and later the Guale and Yamassee Indians, a brief history of the San Pedro mission is presented first, followed by a summary of the archaeological investigations and how the archaeology may fit with the mission's history.
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