Charlesfort-Santa Elena Site, French and Spanish colonial archaeological site in Parris Island, South Carolina, US.

Charlesfort-Santa Elena is an archaeological site on Parris Island containing the remains of two European settlements established during the 1500s. The foundations of buildings, defensive works, and everyday objects recovered here provide direct evidence of early colonial life in this region.

French navigator Jean Ribault founded the first settlement in 1562, but it was abandoned within months due to supply shortages and hardship. Spanish colonists later occupied the same location and built their own settlement there, which lasted longer than the French attempt.

The site reveals how early Europeans and the region's native people first encountered each other and interacted. Artifacts found here show the daily relationships between the groups through shared tools, pottery, and trading practices.

The site lies on Parris Island and is reached through the United States Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Port Royal, South Carolina, so access is controlled by the base. The earthworks of the first Fort San Felipe were partly leveled in 1917 by Marine Corps personnel, who filled in part of the moat. A memorial marker was placed after Major George Osterhout's 1920s excavation.

Excavations from the 1970s to the 1990s showed that several moats had been dug around the first Fort San Marcos; this layered evidence, together with the concentration of French artifacts, allowed archaeologists to locate the French fort beneath the Spanish remains. The site also yielded the only known early Spanish pottery kiln in North America.