Books and Online Publications
Back to Main Research Page
See below for an assortment of publications, most available for download (see also my pages at Academia.edu and ResearchGate):
Books / Papers and Chapters
Discovering Florida: First Contact Narratives from Spanish Expeditions along the Lower Gulf Coast. Gainesville: University Press of Florida (2014)
This book includes original Spanish transcriptions and English translations of all major narrative accounts of 16th-century Spanish expeditions to Florida's lower Gulf coast, including the Juan Ponce de León expeditions (1513-1521), the Pánfilo de Narváez and Hernando de Soto expeditions, and the Juan Ortiz captivity (1528-1539), the Luis Cancer expedition (1549), the Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda captivity (1549-1566), and the Pedro Menéndez de Avilés expeditions (1566-1569). Detailed notes and an extensive introductory overview are also included (ISBN: 978-0813049885).
Online press site
The Struggle for the Georgia Coast (Reprint of 1995 edition with expanded preface). Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press (2007)
This reprint of the 1995 volume described below includes a new and significantly expanded preface detailing recent discoveries and new insights from the intervening years, and provides details regarding the evidence for Guale and Mocama survivorship through their 18th-century withdrawal to St. Augustine and eventually Cuba (ISBN: 978-0817354114).
Online press site
The Timucuan Chiefdoms of Spanish Florida, Volume I: Assimilation. Gainesville: University Press of Florida (1998).
This first volume of a two volume set represents the result of six years of additional research beyond my 1992 dissertation, and presents a detailed analysis of the emergence, structure, and function of the 17th-century colonial system of Spanish Florida, focusing on the Timucuan chiefdoms of the northern peninsular interior of Florida. The volume explores not only the internal details of indigenous Timucuan chiefly social organization and political economy, but also the over-arching political structure of the military and Franciscan jurisdictions of Spanish Florida, as well as the geographic and demographic infrastructure and the underlying economic basis of the Florida mission system, including a detailed description of the repartimiento labor draft and the sale of surplus corn from the mission provinces, as well as the emergence of private enterprise in the mission provinces (ISBN: 978-0813015743).
Paperback edition published 2020 (ISBN: 978-0813068398), available at online press site.
The Timucuan Chiefdoms of Spanish Florida, Volume II: Resistance and Destruction. Gainesville: University Press of Florida (1998).
This second "Timucuan Chiefdoms" volume explores the many stresses that undermined and eventually led to the collapse of the mid-17th-century colonial system of Spanish Florida, including depopulation due to a variety of causes, as well as the important Timucuan Rebellion of 1656, which resulted in a massive restructuring of the indigenous social landscape of interior Florida. The volume details the contraction and withdrawal of the interior Timucuan missions in the context of increasingly frequent slave-raiding, and the final decades of Timucuan presence in the vicinity of St. Augustine between 1706 and 1763. Appendices include detailed locational information on interior Timucuan missions, as well as new translations of pivotal documents (ISBN: 978-0813015750).
Paperback edition published 2020 (ISBN: 978-0813068404), available at online press site.
The Struggle for the Georgia Coast: An Eighteenth-Century Spanish Retrospective on Guale and Mocama. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, Number 75. Athens: University of Georgia Press (1995).
The core of this book is a set of annotated translations of a 1739 package of Spanish documents that were assembled by Florida Governor Manuel de Montiano (and his secretary Francisco de Castilla) at the request of the Spanish crown in an effort to demonstrate the historical antiquity of the Spanish presence in what was then the recently-founded British colony of Georgia. The documents spanned the 16th through 18th centuries, and provided extraordinary details regarding a poorly-known era of early Georgia history. An in-depth introductory overview provides my analysis and interpretation regarding the gradual retreat and withdrawal of the Guale and Mocama missions between 1661 and 1685, when slave-raiders and pirates ravaged the Georgia coastline. Appendices include detailed locational information on coastal missions(ISBN: 0820317454).
Out of print (digital edition available free online here).
Top of Page
The PDF files below are mostly a selection of my previous writings which have never been published, including a range of presented papers and brief reports (some with co-authors), some of which contain a full set of citations and references, and others of which are simply text essays. Also included are a few older published chapters more than ten years old. Clicking on the links below will open a new browser window, or the files can be downloaded by right clicking and saving. My papers are also posted on my homepage at Academia.edu and at ResearchGate.
By Subscription
Spanish Olive Jar and Other Shipping Containers of Sixteenth-Century Florida: Quantifying the Documentary Record. Southeastern Archaeology. https://doi.org/10.1080/0734578X.2023.2240600
The Discovery and Exploration of Tristán de Luna’s 1559-1561 Settlement on Pensacola Bay, by John E. Worth, Elizabeth D. Benchley, Janet R. Lloyd, and Jennifer Melcher, Historical Archaeology 54 (March 2020). http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41636-020-00240-w
Full Text
The Luna Settlement in Archaeological and Documentary Perspective. Paper presented in the symposium “Exploring the Settlement and Fleet of Tristán de Luna” organized by John E. Worth and John R. Bratten at the 37th Annual Gulf South History and Humanities Conference, Pensacola, Florida (2019).
Functional and Spatial Patterning in Artifact Distribution at the Luna Settlement Site. Paper presented at the 71st Annual Conference of the Florida Anthropological Society, Crystal River, Florida (2019).
Archaeological and Documentary Insights into the Native World of the Luna Expedition. Paper presented at the 75th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Augusta, Ga. (2018).
New Insights into Spanish-Native Relations during the Luna Expedition, 1559-1561. Paper presented at the 70th Annual Meeting of the Florida Anthropological Society, St. Petersburg, Florida (2018).
Linking Archaeological and Documentary Evidence for Material Culture in Mid-Sixteenth-Century Spanish Florida: The View from the Luna Settlement and Fleet. Paper presented at the 51st Annual Conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana (2018).
The Discovery and Exploration of Tristán de Luna’s 1559-1561 Settlement on Pensacola Bay (by John E. Worth, Elizabeth D. Benchley, Janet R. Lloyd, and Jennifer Melcher). Paper presented at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Florida Anthropological Society, Jacksonville, Florida (2017).
The Luna Expedition: An Overview from the Documents. Paper presented in the symposium “The Tristan de Luna Shipwrecks and Settlement (1559-1561) in Pensacola, Florida,” organized by Elizabeth D. Benchley, at the 50th Annual Conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Fort Worth, Texas (2017).
Interpreting Spanish Artifact Assemblages in the Mid-Sixteenth-Century Southeast: The View from the 1559-1561 Tristán de Luna Settlement on Pensacola Bay. Paper presented in the symposium “Documenting Early European/Native American Contacts and their Repercussions in the Southeast: A Symposium honoring Marvin T. Smith” at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Athens, GA (2016).
Materialized Landscapes of Practice: Exploring Native American Ceramic Variability in the Historic-Era Southeastern United States. Paper presented at the 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida (2016).
Preliminary Observations on the Archaeological Assemblage of the 1559-1561 Tristán de Luna Settlement. Paper presented at the 49th Annual Conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. (2016).
Shifting Landscapes of Practice in the Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain during the Colonial Era. Paper presented in the symposium “Contact, Persistence and Change: Protohistoric and Early Historic Archaeology of the Gulf Coastal Plain” at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Nashville, Tennessee (2015).
Catalysts of Assimilation: The Role of Franciscan Missionaries in the Colonial System of Spanish Florida. In From La Florida to La California: Franciscan Evangelization in the Spanish Borderlands, ed. by Timothy J. Johnson and Gert Melville, pp. 131-142. Academy of American Franciscan History, Berkeley (2013).
Inventing Florida: Constructing a Colonial Society in an Indigenous Landscape. In Native and Spanish New Worlds: Sixteenth-Century Entradas in the American Southwest and Southeast, ed. by Clay Mathers, Jeffrey M. Mitchem, and Charles M. Haecker, pp. 189-201. University of Arizona Press, Tucson (2013).
Pineland during the Spanish Period. In The Archaeology of Pineland: A Coastal Southwest Florida Village Complex, A.D. 50-1700, ed. by Karen J. Walker and William H. Marquardt, pp. 767-792. Institute of Archaeology and Paleoenvironmental Studies, Monograph Number 4, Gainesville (2013)
Bridging History and Prehistory: General Reflections and Particular Quandries. Paper presented in the symposium “Bridging Prehistory and History” at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (2012).
Exploring Mission Life in 18th-Century West Florida: 2011 Excavations at San Joseph de Escambe (by John E. Worth, Norma J. Harris, Jennifer Melcher, and Danielle Dadiego). Paper presented at the 2012 Conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Baltimore, Maryland.
San Joseph de Escambe: A 18th-Century Apalachee Mission in the West Florida Borderlands (by John E. Worth, Norma J. Harris, and Jennifer Melcher). Paper presented at the 2011 Conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Austin, Texas.
Forging a New Identity in Florida’s Refugee Missions. Paper presented in the symposium “Missions and Frontiers in Spanish America” at the 53rd International Conference of Americanists, Mexico City, July19-24, 2009.
Documenting Tristán de Luna’s Fleet, and the Storm that Destroyed It. The Florida Anthropologist 62(3-4): 83-92 (2009)
Rediscovering Pensacola's Lost Spanish Missions. Paper presented at the 65th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Charlotte, North Carolina (2008).
An Ethnohistorical Perspective on Hunter-Gatherer Complexity in South Florida. Paper presented in the symposium “The Emergence of Hunter-Gatherer Complexity in South Florida” at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, British Columbia (2008).
Bridging Prehistory and History in the Southeast: Evaluating the Utility of the Acculturation Concept. In Light on the Path: The Anthropology and History of the Southeastern Indians, ed. by Thomas J. Pluckhahn and Robbie Ethridge, pp. 196-206. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa (2006).
The Social Geography of South Florida during the Spanish Colonial Era. Paper presented in the symposium “From Coast to Coast: Current Research in South Florida Archaeology” at the 71st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Juan, Puerto Rico (2006).
A History of Southeastern Indians in Cuba, 1513-1823. Paper presented at the 61st annual meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, St. Louis, Missouri (2004).
Rediscovering a Lost Georgia Battlefield: The 1702 "Battle of the Blankets" along the Lower Flint River. Report submitted to the Worth County Historical Society and the Georgia Historical Society, January 16, 2004.
The Evacuation of South Florida, 1704-1760. Paper presented at the 60th annual meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Charlotte, North Carolina (2003).
An Ethnohistorical Synthesis of Southeastern Chiefdoms: How does Coosa compare? Paper presented in the symposium "Coosa: Twenty Years Later" at the 60th annual meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Charlotte, North Carolina (2003).
Spanish Missions and the Persistence of Chiefly Power. In The Transformation of the Southeastern Indians, 1540-1760, ed. by Robbie Ethridge and Charles Hudson, pp. 39-64. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi (2002).
The Ethnohistorical Context of Bioarchaeology in Spanish Florida. In Bioarchaeology of Spanish Florida: The Impact of Colonialism, ed. by Clark Spencer Larsen, pp. 1-21. University Press of Florida, Gainesville (2001)
A Primer on Georgia's American Indian Heritage. Essay submitted to the Georgia Council for American Indian Concerns for use with proposed tribal recognition guidelines, November 29, 2001.
The Lower Creeks: Origins and Early History. In Indians of the Greater Southeast: Historical Archaeology and Ethnohistory, ed. by Bonnie G. McEwan, pp. 265-298. Gainesville: University Press of Florida (2000).
Coastal Chiefdoms and the Question of Agriculture: An Ethnohistorical Overview. Paper presented at the 56th annual meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Pensacola (1999).
Yamassee Origins and the Development of the Carolina-Florida Frontier. Paper presented at the fifth annual conference of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Austin, Texas (1999).
Missions of the Camino Real: Timucua and the Colonial System of Spanish Florida. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Historical Association, Seattle (1998).
Integrating Ethnohistory and Archaeology among the Timucua: An Overview of Southeast Georgia and Northeast Florida. Paper presented in the symposium "Late Prehistoric through Mission Period Research in the Coastal Timucuan Region" at the 54th annual meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Baton Rouge (1997).
The Eastern Creek Frontier: History and Archaeology of the Flint River Towns, ca. 1750-1826. Paper presented in the symposium "Recent Advances in Lower Creek Archaeology" at the annual conference of the Society for American Archaeology, Nashville (1997).
Upland Lamar, Vining, and Cartersville: An Interim Report from Raccoon Ridge. Early Georgia 24(1):34-83 (1996).
Fontaneda Revisited: Five Descriptions of Sixteenth-Century Florida. Florida Historical Quarterly 73(3): 339-52 (1995)
Late Spanish Military Expeditions in the Interior Southeast, 1597-1628. In The Forgotten Centuries: Indians and Europeans in the American South, 1521-1704, ed. by Charles Hudson and Carmen Chaves Tesser, pp. 104-22. University of Georgia Press, Athens (1994).
The Early Seventeenth Century Locations of Tama and Utinahica. Appendix A to Historic Indian Period Archaeology of the Georgia Coastal Plain, by Chad. O. Braley, pp. 59-A8. Georgia Archaeological Research Design Paper No. 10 (1994).
Exploration and Trade in the Deep Frontier of Spanish Florida: Possible Sources for 16th-Century Spanish Artifacts in Western North Carolina. Paper presented in the symposium "A Consideration of Archaeological and Documentary Evidence for 16th- and 17th-Century Spanish and Native Contact in Western North Carolina" at the 51st annual meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Lexington (1994)
Prelude to Abandonment: The Interior Provinces of Early 17th-Century Georgia. Early Georgia 21(1): 24-58 (1993)
The Timucuan Missions of Spanish Florida and the Rebellion of 1656. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville (1992). (other formats available on archive.org)
Timucua and the Colonial System in Florida: The Rebellion of 1656. Paper presented in the symposium "New Perspectives on the Spanish Colonial Experience" at the 25th conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Kingston, Jamaica (1992).
Hogcrawl Creek: Early Mississippi Period Occupation in the Middle Flint River Floodplain, by John E. Worth and W. Maxwell Duke. Early Georgia 19(1): 19-42 (1991)
Archaeological Investigation of a Mississippian Fall-Line Chiefdom on the Middle Flint River. Paper presented at the Fiftieth Anniversary Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, New Orleans (1988).
Mississippian Occupation on the Middle Flint River. M.A. Thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens (1988). [warning: large PDF file, 82 MB]
Top of Page
The Timucuan Chiefdoms of Spanish Florida, Volume I: Assimilation. Gainesville: University Press of Florida (1998).
