In 2013, archaeologists were working on a site when they made a surprising discovery. They found the remains of an ancient fort built in north America by Spanish explorers. That was forty years before the arrival of other European settlers. So, why did the Spaniards build a fort there?

Technology is helping to answer these questions. In 1567, Spanish explorer Juan Pardo and his men built a fort in the Appalachian mountains. They called it San Juan, and they used it as their base while they explored the area.

At that time there were wild animals in the area, and there were many Indians living there. They didn’t know if the Indians were friendly.

Spain wanted to know if there was anything of value in this place, so they sent Juan Pardo to find out. It was part of Spain’s ambitious exploration of the south-eastern United States. He and his men were searching for gold.

Spain intended to send more explorers to set up more colonies in the area. They wanted it to become part of the Spanish Empire.

But things didn’t go very well for them. They treated the local Indians very badly and about a year after they had built their fort, they were attacked by a group of Indians called the Mississippians.

They killed all the Spanish except one, and kept him as a prisoner for many years. He tried to escape a few times but there was nowhere for him to go.

Modern archaeologists discovered the long-buried fort using a special machine which can make pictures of things buried deep under the ground. In fact, they were studying a nearby Native American camp when they found the ancient fort’s foundation.

Since the work started, scientists have found many interesting things such as iron nails, pottery, and an iron clothing hook. They now know the history of the fort and what happened to those people who came to explore.

The Tribune