Archaeology
Diver holds part of a mastodon jaw from Wakulla Springs.
Due to its unique geology, Florida has an abundance of archaeological sites both on land and in water.
Excavations have ranged from Civil War tugboats to Native American burial mounds. This guide from the State Library of Florida explores Florida’s rich archaeological heritage.
Materials are generally available through interlibrary loan from the circulating collection of the State Library.
Links within the bibliographies take you to information in our State Library catalog or to more information on external sites.
Terrestrial archaeology
- Baker, Brenda J., and Lisa Kealhofer, eds. Bioarchaeology of Native American Adaptation in the Spanish Borderlands. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1996.
- Baugher, Sherene, and Richard Francis Veit. The Archaeology of American Cemeteries and Gravemarkers. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2014.
- Brown, Robin C. Florida’s First People: 12,000 Years of Human History. Rev. ed. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1994.
- Deagan, Kathleen A. Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500-1800. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1987.
- Florida Division of Historical Resources. Florida Master Site File Information for Users (PDF). Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of State, 2011.
- Geier, Clarence R., and Stephen R. Potter, eds. Archaeological Perspectives on the American Civil War. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2000.
- Geier, Clarence R., Douglas D. Scott, and Lawrence Edward Babits, eds. From These Honored Dead: Historical Archaeology of the American Civil War. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2014.
- Larsen, Clark Spencer, ed. Bioarchaeology of Spanish Florida: The Impact of Colonialism. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2001.
- Moore, Clarence B. The Works of Clarence Bloomfield More, 1852-1936.
- Starbuck, David R. The Archaeology of Forts and Battlefields. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2011.
- State Archives of Florida. “Florida Archaeology: Studying and Exploring 12,000 Years of Floridians. Florida Memory. Florida Division of Library and Information Services.
- Wallis, Neill J. The Swift Creek Gift: Vessel Exchange on the Atlantic Coast. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2011.
- Wallis, Neill J., and Asa R. Randall, eds. New Histories of Pre-Columbian Florida. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2014.
- White, Nancy Marie, Lynne P. Sullivan, and Rochelle A. Marrinan, eds. Grit-Tempered: Early Women Archaeologists in the Southeastern United States. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1999.
- Willey, Gordon Randolph. Archeology of the Florida Gulf Coast. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1998
Maritime archaeology
- Barnette, Michael C. Encyclopedia of Florida Shipwrecks. Association of Underwater Explorers, 2010.
- Barnette, Michael C. Florida’s Shipwrecks: 15 Historic Postcards. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2008.
- Burgess, Robert Forrest, and Carl J. Clausen. Gold, Galleons, and Archaeology: A History of the 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet and the True Story of the Great Florida Treasure Find. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1976.
- Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research. 1733 Spanish Galleon Trail. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of State, 2005.
- Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research. Florida Maritime Heritage Trail. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of State, 2000.
- Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research. Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of State, 2014.
- Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research. Florida’s Museums in the Sea: Florida’s Underwater Archaeological Preserves. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of State, 2007.
- Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research. “Underwater Archaeology Laws.” Florida Division of Historical Resources. Florida Department of State.
- Griffin, John W. Archaeology of the Everglades. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2002.
- Huntress, Keith Gibson. Narratives of Shipwrecks and Disasters, 1586-1860. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press, 1974.
- McCarthy, Kevin. Thirty Florida Shipwrecks. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1992.
- Purdy, Barbara A. Enduring Records: The Environmental and Cultural Heritage of Wetlands. Oxford, UK: Oxbow Books, 2001.
- Singer, Steven D. Shipwrecks of Florida. 2nd ed. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1998.
- Skowronek, Russell K., and Charles Robin Ewen, eds. X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2006.
- Smith, Roger C. et al. An Atlas of Maritime Florida. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1997.
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. “Underwater Cultural Heritage.” UNESCO. 2014.
