Archaeologists working at a centuries-old mission site in northwest Gainesville have uncovered a small clay pot that appears to be about 400 years old, according to ScienceDaily. The vessel was made by a member of the Indigenous Potano-Timucua tribe and was found still intact underground.
The discovery was made by University of Florida students taking a field course led by Gifford Waters and Charles Cobb at Mission San Francisco de Potano. Waters said complete pottery vessels are unusual at terrestrial excavation sites, where artifacts are more often found broken.
The pot was found inside a Spanish-made structure whose purpose has not yet been determined. Archaeologists say its location suggests it was likely made during the roughly century-long period when the mission was occupied, but its exact function remains unclear.
Researchers noted that the vessel does not appear to have been used as a cooking pot, since it lacks the kind of residue often left by burned food and charcoal. Nearby finds, including a gun rear sight and a musket side plate, may indicate the structure was linked to a military barracks, though more excavation is needed.
The mission site has produced more than 7,000 artifacts since 2006, most of them Native American pottery fragments, along with glass beads, stone tools, nails, and animal bones. Archaeologists say the new discoveries help add to the story of the Potano people and the broader network of movement and exchange in the region.
