 Archaeological research dates human habitation in the area eventually known as the Mocama Province to at least 2500 BC.The area has yielded some of the oldest known pottery from what is now the United States, uncovered by a University of North Florida team on Black Hammock Island in Jacksonville, Florida's Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve.The team also excavated more recent artifacts contemporary with the Mocama chiefdoms and some that indicate a Spanish mission.