Archaeologists Unearth 400-Year-Old Intact Indigenous Pot at Florida Mission Site

During a spring field course at the Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida students excavating the 17th-century Mission San Francisco de Potano uncovered a small, fully intact clay pot dating to roughly 400 years ago. Crafted by a Potano-Timucua artisan, the vessel is palm-sized, gray, and lacks any decoration, prompting questions about why it was intentionally deposited despite being usable. The pot was located inside a Spanish-constructed building whose purpose—possibly a barracks linked to a later military garrison—has yet to be identified.

Its preservation contrasts with the thousands of broken pottery shards typically found at the site, which has yielded over 7,000 artifacts including beads, tools, and animal bones. Nearby, fragments of a larger, rough-textured pot suggest trade or migration connections with areas such as St. Augustine or Jacksonville. The discovery enriches understanding of the cultural dynamics, trade networks, and daily life at the mission before its abandonment in 1706. Further digs will seek to clarify the vessel’s role and the broader context of Indigenous-Spanish interactions.