The archaeologists participating in the dig call the find the biggest in the area related to De Soto and add that it will help to provide a clearer idea about the route the explorer and his men followed in 1540.

"De Soto is an important historical figure and his travels through the southeast are still not very well known and our discoveries help to provide a more precise route than we had before," Dennis Blanton, the archaeologist heading the excavations, told Efe on Monday.

He said that before the recent find of 18 pieces of glass and metal linked to the Spanish explorer there existed no proof of the passage of De Soto between Tallahassee, Florida, and North Carolina.

That discovery, according to Blanton, shows De Soto's passage through what is now known as Telfair County in southeastern Georgia, a point that researchers say agrees with what - up to now - had been thought be his route.

Among the pieces are two types of glass beads that up to now had never been found outside of Florida, along with other beads with designs linked to De Soto.

The find - which Blanton said was made by chance, given that the group of archaeologists originally hoped to find at the dig objects linked to the Spanish settlement of Santa Isabel de Utinahica - has produced the best collection in the region of pieces linked to the Spaniard.

"What we have now is the best documented collection of Spanish artifacts in Georgia and we even think that it could be the best in the southeastern United States, not including Florida," said Blanton.

The most representative artifacts were found in a structure that Blanton believes was an Indian "council lodge" used communally to take care of tribal business and ceremonies.

"One of the most important finds in our investigation is an indigenous structure equivalent to what nowadays would be a court or a government building where important meetings were held or special visitors entertained," the archaeologist said.

Blanton said the find also provides valuable information about the type of Indian communities that De Soto encountered on his journey.

"We're learning a lot about the native cultures and one of the things that we've learned is that they were rather large and sophisticated populations," Blanton added.

The researchers will continue with the excavations in the area and at another unidentified site in Georgia to gain a more complete view of the travels of the Spaniard through the southeastern United States.

"We're very excited about the history of De Soto and we hope to be able to continue with the excavations for the longest time possible at this site and in another part of Georgia," Blanton said.

Hernando de Soto (1500-1542) arrived from Cuba in Florida's TampaBay in 1539 on an expedition with nine ships carrying 725 people, including artisans, friars and soldiers with the aim of exploring part of what is now northern Florida and the southeastern part of North America.

The expedition traveled through North Florida and part of the current states of Georgia and the two Carolinas. De Soto died of fever in 1542 in what is now Arkansas and was buried in the Mississippi River.