Archaeologists from the University of Florida are packing up at a dig site in St. Augustine, Fla., where they discovered a 17th century mission church.
The church is believed to be part of the Nombre De Dios Mission, which was the longest lasting mission in the Southeast dating back to 1587, said Gifford Waters, a researcher for the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Researchers said the building, made out of coquina stone and tabby foundations, is at least 90-by-40-feet large, making it one of the largest churches in colonial Spanish Florida, and the only mission church made out of stone.
Waters and other researchers will take materials and notes back to UF to be recorded and examined. Waters said he hopes to get back to the site within one or two years to continue uncovering more information about this community.