Archaeology Month Lecture with Dr. Richard Jefferies

Community Structure and Organization at Mission San Joseph de Sapala, Sapelo Island, Georgia. For the past 12 years, the Sapelo Island Mission Period Archaeological Project has investigated the archaeological remains of the Guale Village of Sapala and its associated Spanish mission of San Joseph de Sapala on Sapelo Island, Georgia.

For the past 12 years, the Sapelo Island Mission Period Archaeological Project has investigated the archaeological remains of the Guale Village of Sapala and its associated Spanish mission of San Joseph de Sapala on Sapelo Island, Georgia. Our archaeological investigations have exposed the remains of Mission period buildings, produced information concerning the kinds of Native and European foods eaten by the Sapala residents, and attempted to reconstruct the layout of the town. Specifically, ecavation of a Spanish military strucuture demonstrates the ways in whcih Spanish soldiers and officers were both hysically and materially segregated from the Guale twon. A series of new radiocarbon dates is helping project archaeologists clarify the date and duration of the Spanish mission in this remote part of colonial Spain.