Research & Sponsored Programs Report ResearchAnnual201819-electronic | Page 15

We don’t often get to look at
the remains of the colonial
settlement in Pensacola’s
urban environment
American period, and the other appears to have
been Second Spanish in age.
“When we got down to the water table, the
actual wood was intact from the barrel, and we
recovered the staves and brought them up to the
University,” Holmes said.
Dr. John Bratten, chair and professor of anthro-
pology at UWF, is among those working to con-
serve the barrels.
Benchley said that in colonial times barrels were
used much as cardboard boxes are today.
“They shipped all kinds of stuff in them and then
would reuse them for storage or eventually put
them in the ground to line a well,” Benchley said.
There is the potential for more promising ar-
chaeological finds as the Gulf Power project
progresses.
“As we get more toward Barracks Street, one
of the colonial maps shows that the original
warehouse that the Spanish built here in 1740-41
will be crossed by the construction project,”
Benchley said. “That’s what I’m most excited
about. We haven’t dug a lot of warehouses.”
The project offers a unique opportunity for ar-
chaeologists at UWF, Benchley said.
“We’re excited about this because we don’t
often get to look at the remains of the colonial
settlement in Pensacola’s urban environment,”
Benchley said.
The artifacts discovered so far, which will
2018-2019 Research Annual Report
Above: Elizabeth D. Benchley, director of the Division of Anthropology
and Archaeology and of the Archaeology Institute, looks at early
Spanish bricks found near Zaragoza Street.
Top: Archaeologists from the Archaeology Institute work before Gulf
Power begins work near the Museum of Commerce.
eventually be housed in the Archaeology
Institute, are being processed by students and
institute staff.
“These are graduate and undergraduate stu-
dents, and more of them are going to be training
with us after the new year,” Holmes said.
UWF’s contract with Gulf Power will be reviewed
and renewed on an annual basis. Benchley cred-
ited the UWF Office of Research and Sponsored
Programs for helping broker the agreement.
“It’s been a great project,” Benchley said. “We’re
really happy with Gulf Power and the research
results.”
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