Semester of Graduation

December 2019

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Geography & Anthropology

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Galveztown (1778-1806) was a Spanish fort and settlement located in southeastern Louisiana. This site was historically important as it provided protection for the city of New Orleans during a time of constantly shifting geopolitical environment. Today, this site is among the most important historical archaeological sites in Louisiana. Culturally, this site is significant as the descendants of the settlers still live within the Baton Rouge metropolitan area. Archaeologically, the site is significant due to the limited disturbance and lack of urban development at the location which has protected the archaeological record.

Galveztown is also one of the best documented Canary Islander sites in the United States, with archaeological work sporadically conducted at the site since the 1980s. Despite this documentation, the fort’s location and the boundaries of the settlement have not been determined. This thesis employs several archaeological methods, including a historical document review, an artifact distribution analysis which is correlated with a soil color analysis, and the georeferencing of historical maps, to hypothesize the locations of the fort and village. The combination of these methods suggested that the fort was located on the right bank of the Amite River and the village was some 60-70 m south of the fort.

Date

11-7-2019

Committee Chair

Saunders, Rebecca

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.5024

Download

Share

COinS