Approach to the building strategies used in the early colonial forts in the Plata River Basin

Summary

The arrival of the first European colonizers in the Southern Cone was followed by a settlement policy of a markedly military nature. The forts set up on the banks of the rivers were strategic enclaves from which to carry out the conquest of the inland Plata River Basin territories. The forts were also the building axis of the European settlements erected on the other side of the Atlantic. In this paper we study the main elements of the buildings in Sancti Spiritus, Buenos Aires and Asuncion to compare the types and characteristics of the first forts in Latin America. The systematized building techniques and architectural solutions adopted in each case enable us to approach the strategies adopted by the European colonizers when faced with having to build under different local conditions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• New Research on 16th and 17th century Forts in the Americas

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-8,02