A Study of the First Spanish Occupation of the Old Christ Church Site
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A STUDY OF THE FIRST SPANISH OCCUPATION OF THE OLD CHRIST CHURCH SITE (8ES49B) IN DOWNTOWN PENSACOLA, FLORIDA by Patricia Lynne McMahon B.A., Mercyhurst University, 2009 A thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities The University of West Florida In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2017 The thesis of Patricia Lynne McMahon is approved: ____________________________________________ _________________ Amy Mitchell-Cook, Ph.D., Committee Member Date ____________________________________________ _________________ John E. Worth, Ph.D., Committee Member Date ____________________________________________ _________________ Elizabeth D. Benchley, Ph.D., Committee Chair Date Accepted for the Department/Division: ____________________________________________ _________________ John R. Bratten, Ph.D., Chair Date Accepted for the University: ____________________________________________ _________________ John Clune, Ph.D., Interim Dean, Graduate School Date TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES...............................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................1 CHAPTER II. HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND.....7 A. Physical Setting..........................................................................8 B. Historical Background .............................................................10 C. Previous Archaeological Research ..........................................41 D. Laboratory Methods at the Old Christ Church Site .................56 CHAPTER III. RESEARCH DESIGN...................................................................58 A. Documentary Research Methods .............................................58 B. Analytical Methods..................................................................59 CHAPTER IV. INTRASITE ANALYSIS ..............................................................72 A. First Spanish Structural Features at the Old Christ Church Site ...........................................................................................77 CHAPTER V. INTERSITE ANALYSIS...............................................................92 A. First Spanish Structural Features From Other Excavations.....92 B. Fitting The Old Christ Church Site Into The First Spanish Pensacola Chronology .............................................................99 C. Comparative Functional Analysis of Assemblages from First Spanish Structural Features ..........................................109 CHAPTER VI. INTERPRETATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS...........................118 A. Interpretations ........................................................................118 B. Conclusions............................................................................125 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................128 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................136 A. Letters of Permission to Use Copyrighted Images..................137 B. Feature Summaries from the 1998 Excavations at the Old Christ Church Site (8ES49B).................................................140 C. Terminus Post Quem and Mean Ceramic Date ......................158 D. Subgroups Created for Functional Analysis .........................163 E. Artifact Assemblage from Feature Contexts at the 1998 Excavations of the Old Christ Church Site (8ES49B)..........165 F. Cultural Affiliation of Artifacts from Presidio Santa María de Galve ................................................................................184 G. Cultural Affiliation of Artifacts from Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa.............................................................................186 iii H. Cultural Affiliation of Artifacts from Presidio San Miguel de Panzacola...........................................................................188 I. Functional Groups and Subgroups of Artifacts from Presidio Santa María de Galve.............................................................190 J. Functional Groups and Subgroups of Artifacts from Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa ..................................................................192 K. Functional Groups and Subgroups of Artifacts from Presidio San Miguel de Panzacola.......................................................194 iv LIST OF TABLES 1. Stratigraphic Record at the Old Christ Church Site.......................................................53 2. Material Culture Density Sorted Lowest to Highest......................................................76 3. Dimensions of Spanish Trench Features from the Old Christ Church Site. ..................77 4. Ceramic Assemblage from Features 69, 92, and 97 at the Old Christ Church Site.......78 5. Cultural Materials from the Structural Suite at the Old Christ Church Site ..................80 6. Carbonized Wood Density in First Spanish Features at the Old Christ Church Site.....83 7. Cultural Affiliation of Artifacts from the Structural Suite at the Old Christ Church Site ...............................................................................................................................103 8. Delft as a Percentage of Tablewares in First Spanish Features ...................................105 9. Tin-glazed Coarse Earthenwares from Pensacola Presidios........................................107 10. Tin-glazed Coarse Earthenwares from Downtown Pensacola Sites..........................108 11. Functional Groups and Subgroups from the Old Christ Church Structural Suite......110 v LIST OF FIGURES 1. Location of the Old Christ Church site (8ES49B) in downtown Pensacola, Florida ......2 2. Location of the Old Christ Church site (8ES49B) in relation to the 1763 Spanish and British Forts ...................................................................................................................11 3. Digitized maps of Fort San Carlos de Austria at Presidio Santa María de Galve showing UWF excavation units: (top) 1699 Franck map; (middle) 1713 Le Maire map; (bottom) 1719 French map....................................................................................13 4. Engraving of 1743 Dominic Serres sketch of Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa ...................18 5. Map of structures at Presidio San Miguel de las Amarillas (later Panzacola) from López de Camara Alta (1756)........................................................................................24 6. 1763 map of the British Fort at Pensacola.....................................................................30 7. 1765 map of the British town.........................................................................................33 8. 1767 map of the British Star Fort ..................................................................................35 9. 1778 map of the last British Fort at Pensacola (constructed 1775) ...............................36 10. 1816 map of the Second Spanish colonial town ..........................................................39 11. Feature map from 1998 excavations at the Old Christ Church site .............................73 12. Structural suite at the Old Christ Church site ..............................................................79 13. Examples of ceramics representing production origins from the structural suite........85 14. Cultural affiliation of artifacts by weight from Old Christ Church, Santa María, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel ......................................................................................101 15. Functional groups and subgroups from the Old Christ Church structural suite, the Santa María warehouse, and the outbuilding at House Lot 2 in Plaza Ferdinand from San Miguel (by weight).....................................................................................111 16. Functional groups and subgroups from selected Santa Rosa structural features (by weight) .......................................................................................................................115 vi ABSTRACT A STUDY OF THE FIRST SPANISH OCCUPATION OF THE OLD CHRIST CHURCH SITE (8ES49B) IN DOWNTOWN PENSACOLA, FLORIDA Patricia Lynne McMahon The Old Christ Church site (8ES49B) is located in downtown Pensacola, Florida, where the landform has been occupied historically since the 1740s. Archaeological excavations at the site over the years revealed features reflecting the various occupations at the site (First Spanish, British, Second Spanish, and American). This analysis was designed to use historical and archaeological data to place the site within the chronology of Pensacola’s 18th-century First Spanish presidios and determine the types of activities that occurred during the occupation. Comparative analysis that used samples of features from Presidios Santa María de Galve, Isla de Santa Rosa, and San Miguel de Panzacola focused on the origin of production for cultural materials as well as functional groups and subgroups. The results revealed a high-status residential area, enclosed in a compound that dated to the 1740s. vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Present day downtown