The Social Identity of the Crew Aboard an 18th Century Spanish Frigate

Summary

Qualitative and quantitative data comparison of the personal possession and ceramic assemblages of the shipwreck Nuestra Señora del Rosario y Santiago Ap’stol (Rosario) to the shipwreck El Nuevo Constante and Presidio Santa María de Galve provides information regarding the social identities of the sailors on the Rosario. Historical document research and comparative analysis of personal possessions from the Rosario demonstrate the performance of identities such as gender, ethnicity, occupation, social status, and Catholicism. The Shannon Weaver index and Peilou’s evenness indexes were utilized to derive information concerning the diversity of the ceramics at each shipwreck site and each activity area of the presidio. These indexes suggest that Spanish mariners aboard the Rosario and El Nuevo Constante utilized ceramics differently than did men at the presidio. The mariners relied more heavily on utilitarian ceramics, likely because living conditions at sea were different from and more confined than those of terrestrial presidios.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• New Perspectives on Inequity: European and Indigenous Voices in the North American Landscape   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-25,06