Jesuit Missions, Plantations, and Industries

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2019

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Jesuit Missions, Plantations, and Industries," at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The global mission project begun by Society of Jesus soon after the order’s founding in 1534 brought Jesuit priests and lay brothers into intimate encounters with diverse groups of people. Jesuits established missions, plantations, parishes, colleges, and other institutions, supporting their evangelical efforts through agricultural and industrial ventures across the Americas. Archaeologists investigate the material traces of these institutions, aided by research in the extensive archival records kept by the Society of Jesus and the colonies and states where they operated. Yet a synthesis of the archaeology of Jesuits and Jesuit properties in the Americas has not yet been attempted, in part because of projects’ vast geographic scope, language barriers, and the seemingly incongruous variety of sites established by Jesuit missionaries. This session brings together historical archaeologists who study the Jesuit presence in the Americas in order to explore associated landscapes, economic production, intercultural interaction, and evidence of religious belief.