The Luna Settlement: Investigating Spain’s First Multi-Year Foothold in Florida, 1559-1561
Author(s): John Worth
Year: 2025
Summary
In 1559, the Viceroy of New Spain launched a massive royally-financed expedition from Veracruz, with the goal of establishing a colonial foothold in Southeastern North America after decades of failure. Led by don Tristán de Luna y Arellano, fleet of 12 ships carrying some 550 soldiers and nearly 1,000 additional settlers successfully established a Gulf coast settlement on Pensacola Bay. Though abandoned after only two years because of the devastation of their fleet and food stores by a hurricane shortly after arrival, Luna’s settlement nonetheless holds the potential for exploring the already-hybridized culture of mid-16th-century New Spain. Archaeological investigations by the University of West Florida at the Luna Settlement, rediscovered in 2015, have provided an amazing portrait of New Spanish material culture, ranging from military gear to household ceramics, along with traces of wooden architecture and food debris that are revealing how the settlers adapted to life in Florida.
Cite this Record
The Luna Settlement: Investigating Spain’s First Multi-Year Foothold in Florida, 1559-1561. John Worth. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2025 ( tDAR id: 508759)
Keywords
General
Sixteenth Century
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Spanish Florida
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Tristán de Luna
Geographic Keywords
Southeastern U.S.
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Nicole Haddow