Looking for Fort Caroline with Robert Thunen

Fort Caroline was a 1564 French attempt led by Rene de Laudonniere to establish a French territorial claim in Florida and provide a safe haven for persecuted Huguenots. The colony was destroyed and most of the colonists slaughtered by the Spanish commander Pedro Menendez only a year later in 1565 but the Spanish occupied the site as San Mateo for another four years.

Robert Thunen, associate professor of anthropology at the University of North Florida, will describe the ongoing research to identify the Fort Caroline location during a lecture in Pugh Hall, Room 170 at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 8.

The research is based on written records as well as village archaeological sites of the regional Mocama-speaking Timucuan people during the early European contact period.

Thunen's interests focus on Southeastern U.S. prehistory, pre-Columbian mounds and other geometric earthworks. At UNF, he has become one of the preeminent researchers on the founding and location of Fort Caroline.

The lecture is free and open to the public. To learn more, please visit the Facebook page of the Archaeological Institute of America Gainesville Society or visit http://www.pinterest.com/aiagainesville.