Colonial encounters of the first kind

March 11, 2015

Kathryn Sampeck, assistant professor of anthropology at Illinois State University will present a free lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. The event is hosted by the Archaeological Institute of America Gainesville Society.

Sampeck’s lecture, “Spanish Entradas and Indian Roads: Colonial Encounters of the First Kind in the Interior of the U.S. Southeast,” explores the 16th century travels of Hernando de Soto and Juan Pardo through what is now Florida and other parts of the southeast. 

During this time, Native Americans were undergoing dramatic changes in political and economic organization, with the growth of new chiefdoms in some areas and depopulation in others. Archaeological remains of these settlements have been found that offer a vivid account of life during these early times and demonstrate how encounters like those of Pardo and the Indians changed the course of American history.

The lecture is open to the public. Oak Hammock at the University of Florida is located at Williston Road and SW 25th Terrace.

To learn more about the Gainesville Society of the Archaeological Institute of America and the UF department of classics, please visit classics.ufl.edu/other-resources/aia/.