It Always Comes Back to Identity: Materiality and Presidio Soldier Identity During the 1720-1726 Occupation of Presidio La Bahia (41VT4), Victoria County, Texas

Summary

Even as archaeologists continue improving the identification of Spanish colonial sites in Texas, consideration of the archaeological implications of the mix of regional and social identities that made up the settlers sent to populate these sites remains limited. Consequently, most research focuses on the presumed cultural provenance of artifact manufacture – European/Mexican/Chinese/Indigenous - to interpret colonial period sites and the material aspects of emerging frontier identities. While capturing important macroscale colonial realities, it too often reinforces through artifacts an idealized Indian/European colonial division that masks internal social pluralism and diverse material cultural traditions. The Texas Historical Commission excavations at the 1720-1726 location of Presidio La Bahia (41VT4) along Garcitas Creek in Victoria County, Texas, provides the opportunity to compare a discrete archaeological assemblage with the enrollment roster of the first 40 soldier settlers, and to propose a more nuanced, historically situated interpretation of a Spanish colonial presidio assemblage in Texas.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017   •
• Dr. Kathleen K. Gilmore’s Legacy and the Future of Spanish and French Colonial Archaeology in Tejas

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 632