Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This symposium explores ways in which primary sources can used as a baseline for the development of research that focuses on "otherness" in Puerto Rico during the 16th and 20th century. Shifting away from traditional lines of investigation in the historical archaeology of the Spanish Caribbean, various case studies will address the relevance of using archival data as an integral tool to design research questions that can be studied in short-term projects. The examples will concentrate on the successful use of 19th century newspaper advertisements, registries of vessels and passengers, litigation documents, population census data, registries of merchants, maps and photographs with the objective of constructing narratives of the "other".

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-12 of 12)

  • Documents (12)

Documents
  • Analysis of Households in Calle de Isabel II, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1910 (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Luis Quintana Ortiz.

    This is an abstract from the "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Analysis of Households in Calle de Isabel II, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1910 Calle de Isabel II was the main street of La Puntilla, a neighborhood located in a small peninsula outside the San Juan city walls. Throughout the 19th century a series of construction projects were undertaken in this area, including dwellings, schools and...

  • An Archaeological Approach to the Tobacco Industry in Puerto Rico. (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Zoè Vélez Álvarez.

    This is an abstract from the "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the early 20th century, agriculture was one of the most important industries in the economy of Puerto Rico. The production of crops such as sugar cane, coffee, tobacco and minor fruits (mostly plants like plantain, tubers, rice and corn). Traditionally, archaeological research in the Caribbean, especially in Puerto Rico has...

  • Commercial Activity, Trades and Professions in Barrio Ballajá, 1910 - 1940. (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Laura Hernández.

    This is an abstract from the "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A deeper analysis of the neighborhoods (barrios) of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, during the early 1900’s provides a clearer scope of the complexities of population density and work related activities. For instance, Barrio Ballajá, the smallest neighborhood located to the northwest of the walled city, had a population of...

  • Commercializing for its People: "Pulperías" and "Ventorrillos" in the City of San Juan, 1910-1920. (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kelvin Blanco Peña.

    This is an abstract from the "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This research is a case study in which the themes of "pulperías" and "ventorrillos", within the walled city of San Juan Puerto Rico in 1910 and 1920, is approached as a potential line of archaeological research. The main objective is to identify the existence of these commercial loci within the study area through the analysis of...

  • Foreigners Building a Future in Colonial San Juan, 1910. (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Isaac Torres Roldán. Gelenia Trinidad Rivera. Coralisse Guadalupe De Jesús. Kelvin Blanco Peña.

    This is an abstract from the "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Throughout the centuries, San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico and a port city, has received an influx of foreigners who have left their footprint within the urban layout. This presentation will address another way of studying the presence of immigrants, within the six neighborhoods of the walled city of San Juan in 1910. Census data...

  • From Prison to Tourism: Historical Evolution and Population of Presidio de la Princesa. (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Sofia Feliciano-Centeno.

    This is an abstract from the "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Presidio de la Princesa is one of the oldest prisons in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, currently housing the headquarters of the Puerto Rico Tourism Board. This paper presents an analysis of blueprints and historical documents to chronologically delineate changes to the spatial distribution and activity areas while it served as a...

  • Incorporating "Otherness" to Archaeological Research. (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Paola Schiappacasse.

    This is an abstract from the "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Much has been written about widening our research scopes to incorporate peripheral topics that include ethnicity, class, gender, age, and status. Although these past decades there has been significant progress, we should ask ourselves how can we impact and motivate students to address these issues. This presentation will demonstrate...

  • Material Culture Associated to Elite Females in 16th Century Puerto Rico (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Julissa Collazo López.

    This is an abstract from the "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper presents a case study on how to approach the study of elite women in Puerto Rico during the 16th century using primary sources and archaeological evidence. The main objective of the research was to reconstruct aspects of the daily life of women through their cultural assemblages, as recorded during the early colonization of...

  • Narratives of the Recent Past: La Playa Slum as a Case Study. (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Karen Herrera Valencia.

    This is an abstract from the "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The slum of "La Playa" in the municipality of Arecibo, northern coast of Puerto Rico, existed from the late 19th century to the mid 20th century. This study presents the results of researching this type of site using documentary sources that include maps, plans, photographs, population data and newspaper articles. The objectives of...

  • Stitching Histories: Women in the Puerto Rican Clothing Industry between 1910-1930. (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Coralisse Guadalupe De Jesús.

    This is an abstract from the "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This case study focuses on the reconstruction of stories of women who worked in the clothing industry, specifically dressmakers and seamstress in the Mercado neighborhood of San Juan, Puerto Rico, between 1910-1930. The aim of this research is to demonstrate the viability of using primary sources such as maps, population census and...

  • Trade, Professions and Education: Women in Puerta de Tierra, Puerto Rico, 1910 (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Virginia Rodríguez Domínguez.

    This is an abstract from the "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The purpose of this research is to identify the types of trade and professions carried out by women who lived on the Puerta de Tierra neighborhood of San Juan, Puerto Rico using data from the population census of 1910. The information contained in the census allows the study of women by looking at specific variables such as their age...

  • The Use of Primary Sources in Plantation Archaeology: the Case Study of Hacienda La Esperanza. (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Nydia Ponton.

    This is an abstract from the "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Research at Hacienda La Esperanza, a nineteenth century sugar plantation in the municipality of Manatí, Puerto Rico, was conducted to study the material culture of its enslaved population and document their unwritten experiences. The use of primary sources proved indispensable during the early research design stages of the project....