Analysis of Trinidad Cross Artifact

Summary

Within its collection the Trinidad Museum has an artifact that consists of three individual wood pieces that are believed to be the remnants of the original wooden cross erected by the Spanish in 1775 on Trinidad head in northern California. The Trinidad Museum was uncertain as to the validity of this claim and so a thorough investigation of the artifact was undertaken to determine if in fact these wood pieces are indeed the remnants of the original Spanish wooden cross. A number of methods were employed, including physical analysis and ethnographic research, to try and solve this mystery. The physical analysis consisted of a dendrochonological examination done by Allyson Carroll of the Humboldt State University Department of Forestry and Wildland Resources as well as an analysis of the nails embedded in the wood. Ethnographic research consisted of backtracking the history of the artifact itself through historical documentation. All evidence gathered has yielded positive results in that the artifact is possibly the remnants of the original Spanish wooden cross.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage