The Archaeology of Ethnogenesis: Race and Sexuality in Colonial San Francisco

422 Pages·2008·2.22 MB·English

by  Barbara L. Voss

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF ETHNOGENESIS

THE ARCHAEOLOGY
OF ETHNOGENESIS
Race and Sexuality in Colonial San Francisco
Barbara L. Voss
University of California Press Berkeley Los Angeles London
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© 2008 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Voss, Barbara L., 1967–.
The archaeology of ethnogenesis : race and sexuality in
colonial San Francisco / Barbara L. Voss.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn: 978-0-520-24492-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Ethnology—California—Presidio of San Francisco. 2. Sex
role—California—Presidio of San Francisco. 3. Ethnicity—
California—Presidio of San Francisco. 4. Excavations
(Archaeology)—California—Presidio of San Francisco.
5. Social archaeology—California—Presidio of San Fran-
cisco. 6. Presidio of San Francisco (Calif.)—History.
7. Presidio of San Francisco (Calif.)—Race relations.
8. Presidio of San Francisco (Calif.)—Social life and customs.
9. California—History—To 1846. I. Title.
f868.s156v67 2008
305.309794'6109034—dc22 2007011566
Cartography of maps 1–12 developed by Landis Bennett.
Manufactured in the United States of America
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on Natures Book, which contains 50%
post-consumer waste and meets the minimum requirements
of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper).
To Deb
for everything

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
List of Tables xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
1 Ethnogenesis and the Archaeology of Identity 9
PART 1 HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS
2 Spanish-Colonial San Francisco 41
3 From Casta to Californio, I:
Who Lived at El Presidio de San Francisco? 70
4 From Casta to Californio, II: Social Identities
in Late Spanish and Mexican-Era Alta California 100
5 From Artifacts to Ethnogenesis:
Excavating El Presidio de San Francisco 117
PART 2 SPATIAL AND MATERIAL PRACTICES
6 Sites of Identification: Landscape 147
7 Structuring Structures: Architecture 173
8 Tradition and Taste: Ceramics 203
9 Consuming Practices: Foodways 233
10 Fashioning the Colonial Subject: Clothing 252
Conclusion: The Limits of Ethnogenesis 287
Appendix: Zooarchaeological and
Archaeobotanical Analyses 307
Notes 325
References 343
Index 389
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures
1 Los Californianos commemorating Presidio Pasados 3
2 Archaeologist Bea Cox shows park visitors a recently
recovered artifact 10
3 Artist’s conception of El Presidio de San Francisco in 1792 71
4 Colonial population of El Presidio de San Francisco, 1776–1846 73
5 Colonial household composition at El Presidio de San Francisco 74
6 Colonial population of El Presidio de San Francisco, by age
and sex 74
7 Colonial troop strength at El Presidio de San Francisco,
1776–1842 75
8 Casta composition of El Presidio de San Francisco’s adult
colonial population 90
9 The Fandango, by Charles Christian Nahl 98
10 Relationship of the historical Presidio quadrangle to
present-day landscape 124
11 Interior excavation of the O‹cers’ Club to expose adobe walls 125
12 Harris Matrix showing stratigraphic relationships between excavated
deposits 138
ix