Forget Me Nots: Smaller Collections Need Archaeologists Too

Summary

From Native Americans to Spanish and European settlers, Southern California has a rich history. One town in particular, Simi Valley, incorporated in 1969, was home to several Chumash villages, part of the Santiago Pico 1795 Land Grant, and attracted European settlers. CA-VEN-346, the El Rancho Simi Adobe, was occupied during all three eras. It was a Chumash village, home to Santiago Pico, and home to European settler Robert Strathearn and family. When Robert Strathearn purchased the El Rancho Simi Adobe in the 1890s, he added onto the Adobe rather than destroying it, preserving both Spanish and European history. Upon Strathearn’s death, he willed the property to become a historical park and museum, thus preserving and educating others about Simi Valley history.

In addition to the El Rancho Simi Adobe collection, the museum houses several other Chumash collections from multiple sites throughout Simi Valley. Unfortunately, all of these collections have remained in storage untouched. In fact, many researchers are unaware of their existence and need for attention.

Recent interest in the collection has prompted the museum to look for additional ways to attract researcher’s interest to study the forgotten and long overlooked shelved collections.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Crisis and Opportunity: Legacy Collections and Archaeological Research in the 21st Century

Keywords

Spatial Coverage