Unveiling Temporal Palimpsests and Pluralities during the Mission Era in Alta California

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Retelling Time in Indigenous-Colonial Interactions across North America" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper challenges prevailing interpretations of the Mission period (AD 1769-1833) in Alta California by exploring the often-overlooked complexities within and beyond its prescribed temporal boundaries. While the mission era has traditionally served as the primary lens for examining Indigenous-colonial interactions, this perspective frequently fails to capture the distinct nuances that emerged during and after the missions' operation. A significant challenge has been the scarcity of archaeological contexts capable of disentangling these intricacies. However, recent excavations at Mission La Purísima Concepción have revealed distinct temporal patterns, offering new insights into how the Native community navigated the Spanish (AD 1769-1822) and Mexican (AD 1822-1848) periods, and persisted well beyond mission secularization. These findings not only align with global shifts but also reflect the endurance of Indigenous communities navigating successive waves of colonization. The framework presented here bridges gaps in historical contexts, deepening our understanding of temporal pluralities and palimpsests in the archaeological record.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Retelling Time in Indigenous-Colonial Interactions across North America

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50524