Remains Of 16th Century Spanish Fort Found In NC Mountains

In a field near Morganton, archeologists have found the remains of what they believe to be the first inland fort built by Europeans in the New World:  Fort San Juan.  It was built by the Spanish at a Native American site called Joara in the mid-1500s, a few decades before the English set up at Roanoke Island and Jamestown.  Researchers began excavating the site almost 30 years ago, but didn’t find conclusive evidence of the fort’s existence until recently.  The official announcement came this week.   Warren Wilson College Archeologist David Moore is one of the co-directors of the project and invited WFAE up to have a look.