Processes of Hispanic Ethnogenesis in New Mexico: Archaeological Investigations of an 18th-Century Spanish Ranch

这个项目探索了早期现代殖民的过程和殖民社会的发展。殖民社会的变化往往遵循一个共同的轨迹：殖民试验的早期阶段往往紧随其后的是由于远离帝国核心而带来的更正规化的做法。早期的殖民地往往是脆弱的，在试图在未知的环境中站稳脚跟时，经历了贫困和动荡的时期。殖民者往往需要时间学习和适应，以便在新的土地上发展社会和生态关系，在这样做的过程中，他们通常参与并强加给当地土著人民。这些关系是殖民成功的关键，殖民者发展的做法往往是混合性质的，借鉴土著人民的做法。在一些殖民地的后期阶段，随着殖民者变得更加安定和知识渊博，他们能够施加更多的权力，变得霸权，而他们社会的混合性质得到的承认较少。也正是在这一时期，更多的地方认同从帝国核心中分离出来。美国拉美裔社会的创建就是这样一个例子。这项研究是在位于新墨西哥州圣达菲附近的生活历史博物馆El Ranco de las Golondras的基础上进行的，并与其合作进行。这项工作的挖掘、采样和结果将直接有助于博物馆的教育使命，为公众提供一个考古调查的视角和访问这项研究的结果。随着西班牙殖民者最终成为西班牙裔人民，学习、完善和当地身份形成的过程展开。本项目采用历时观点，建立在先前对西班牙最早殖民时期的家庭建立的研究基础上。目前的项目调查了附近的一个殖民晚期西班牙裔牧场遗址。通过考古发掘和环境采样(例如，花粉)，研究人员定义了牧场的性质、复杂性、生态关系和土著贡献。研究人员使用的考古和环境调查特别适合调查动态的生态关系和与土著人民的社会互动，这些往往没有记录在文献中。与早期遗址的数据相比较，这项调查提供了对与拉美裔社会创建相关的长期轨迹和过程的理解。该项目关注拉美裔背景下的土著贡献，为历史提供了一幅更精致的图景，并增加了对当今美国边界内拉美裔社会的深度和复杂性的更广泛了解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project explores the processes of early modern colonization and the development of colonial societies. Changes in colonizing societies often follow a common trajectory: an early period of colonial experimentation is often followed by a later period of more regularized practices brought about by the distance from the cores of empires. Early colonies were often vulnerable, going through episodes of privation and upheaval as they attempted to establish themselves in unknown environments. Often colonists required time to learn and adjust in order to develop social and ecological relationships in novel lands, and in doing so they typically engaged and imposed on local Indigenous people. These relationships were key to colonial successes, and the practices colonists developed were frequently hybrid in nature, borrowing from Indigenous people. During later stages in some colonies, as colonizers became more settled and knowledgeable, they were able to exert more power and become hegemonic, while the hybrid nature of their society was acknowledged less. It was also during this period that more local identities, separate from the imperial core, developed. The creation of US Hispanic society is one such example. The research takes place on the grounds of and in collaboration with the living history museum, El Rancho de las Golondrinas, located near Santa Fe, New Mexico. The excavation, sampling, and results of the work will directly contribute to the educational mission of the museum, affording the public a view of archaeological inquiry and access to the results of this research.The processes of learning, refinement, and local identity formation unfolded as Spanish colonizers ultimately became Hispanic peoples. Using a diachronic perspective, this project builds on previous research into the establishment of households during the earliest Spanish colonization. The current project investigates a nearby Late Colonial Hispanic ranch site. Using archaeological excavation and environmental sampling (for example, pollen), the researchers define the nature, complexity, ecological relationships, and Indigenous contributions to the ranch. The archaeological and environmental investigations used by the researchers are particularly well suited to investigate the dynamic ecological relationships and social interactions with Indigenous peoples, which often went unrecorded in documents. Placed in comparison with data from earlier sites, this investigation provides an understanding of the long term trajectory and processes associated with the creation of Hispanic society. This project’s focus on Indigenous contributions within Hispanic contexts provides a more refined picture to history and adds to a broader understanding of the depth and complexity of Hispanic society within the boundaries of today’s United States.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.