This article appeared in the publication "Las Noticias", the newsletter for the docents of Mission La Purisima Concepcion de Maria Santisima. http://www.lapurisimamission.org
Also, check out this KEYT Coverage of Kaitlin Brown's dig at La Purisima Concepcion by clicking here.
By Tim Waag
Because of the long drive from San Luis Obispo (where I live)
to La Purisima, I often bring my mountain bike and go for a ride after my
docent duties are done for the day. The July 20, 2019, “Children’s Mission Life
Days” was just such a day. Heading out for a quick ride before the park closed,
I came upon PhD Candidate Kaitlin Brown and her anthropology crew literally up
to their necks in an archaeological dig!
They all looked rather busy, but I was so excited I couldn’t resist – I
identified myself as a docent, and began a barrage of polite questions to
anyone who was willing to talk to me.
Kaitlyn and her crew of 12 UCSB undergraduate students gave
me a briefing on the field work they were performing before my very own eyes. I
was hoping for an interview with Kate right then and there for an article in
Las Noticias – but clearly, there was way too much going on for her to step
away for even a minute! It turns out that Kate was finishing one of only six
days of excavation and exploration she would have at this site. She gave me her
card, and I was able to catch up with her later to fill in the information I
needed for this article.
While at the excavation that day, I quickly gathered some
photos. Kate informed me that her work required digging through about 4 feet of
“fill” used to cover up the site after its most recent excavation in the
1960’s. The site is believed to be the location of a 10 unit apartment building
for “married Indian families”, each unit with 2 rooms. Records indicated that a
7 square meter section of Apartment Unit No. 8 had not previously been
examined. Using her mapping and siting skills, her team was able to accurately
identify the untouched 7 meter area on their first try – amazing!
As a PhD candidate, Kate has spent 90% of the time on her
project examining archives and artifact collections. Her excavation was
minimally intrusive, and selectively identified and examined 6 distinct “units”
of the site (doorway, interior, “backyard” area, “frontyard” area, etc.). These
“units” only covered about 25% of the 7 square meter area, leaving the majority
of her site untouched for future scholars to explore.
As part of her preparation for site work, she forged
relationships with the local Indian authorities, presented her plans, and
modified them with suggestions she received. She understands that our history
is an ongoing continuum of life itself, and that we are all connected to the
events of the mission era in ways that continue to influence us today.
Kate insisted that a paid tribal monitor be present for every day they were excavating, even though that may not have been required. She
invited the Chumash to be present and participate, and that goal was achieved
with the participation of a Chumash youth group. As one would expect from an
unexplored site, interesting artifacts populated the small area she examined,
including but not limited to: abalone shells, large pestle and grinding stone,
glass (Spanish) beads, shell (Indian) beads, and various expected detritus.
What was unexpected was the discovery of a musket ball in the floor — an
artifact whose significance is unclear at this time.
Finally, Kate indicated the desire for a unique, thoughtful
and detailed public interpretive display of this Indian dwelling site —
something our docents should be excited to see when it becomes available. Many believe that the
public would benefit from a more complete American Indian perspective of the
mission era, and filling that need at this married Indian family apartment
would be a laudable achievement.
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