Archaeologists discover mysterious 400-year-old Indigenous pot in Florida
Archaeologists in Florida have discovered a rare, intact 400-year-old pottery vessel at the site of a former Indigenous mission. The find is significant because most artifacts from this period are typically found in fragments due to soil pressure and environmental disturbances.
Why it matters
The discovery provides rare insight into the material culture and daily life of the Potano-Timucua people during the colonial era.
Roughly 400 years ago, a member of the Indigenous Potano-Timucua tribe shaped a small clay vessel by hand. The pot was compact enough to fit in a palm, with a simple rim, a smooth dull gray surface, and no decoration. Its original purpose is unknown, as is the number of people who may have used it. What archaeologists do know is that the vessel survived for centuries underground before University of Florida students uncovered it earlier this year, still completely intact.
"It's very unique. Typically, we find things that were broken and discarded," said Gifford Waters, collections manager for historical archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. "You don't leave things behind that you can still use, so why was this purposefully put into a pit?"
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