A Survey for the 526 wreck of Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon's Capitana in South Carolina

A SURVEY FOR THE 1526 WRECK OF LUCAS

VAZQUEZ DE AYLLON’S CAPITANA

Christopher F. Amer

This presentation discusses a collaborative research project between the University of South Carolina’s South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology-Maritime Research Division, the College of Charleston and Coastal Carolina University’s Marine Science Department, interfacing historic coastal zone paleoreconstructions with an archaeological marine remote sensing survey to locate, assess, identify, and conduct preliminary documentation of a 16th-century Spanish Capitana.  The Capitana, one of six vessels used in a failed settlement attempt by the Spanish Crown to gain a foothold in the New World, was lost in 1526 when it grounded and sank approaching Winyah Bay, South Carolina.