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

这个项目探讨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：早期的殖民实验之后，往往是由于远离帝国核心而导致的后期更加规范化的实践。早期的殖民地往往是脆弱的，当他们试图在未知的环境中建立自己的时候，会经历贫困和动荡。殖民者通常需要时间来学习和适应，以便在新土地上发展社会和生态关系，在这样做的过程中，他们通常与当地土著人民交往并强加给他们。这些关系是殖民成功的关键，殖民者发展的做法在本质上经常是混合的，借鉴了土著人民。在一些殖民地的后期阶段，随着殖民者变得更加定居和知识渊博，他们能够施加更多的权力并成为霸权，而他们社会的混合性质却很少得到承认。也是在这一时期，更多的地方身份，从帝国核心分离出来，发展起来。美国拉美裔社会的形成就是这样一个例子。这项研究是在新墨西哥州圣达菲附近的El Rancho de las Golondrinas生活历史博物馆的基础上进行的，并与之合作。这项工作的挖掘、取样和结果将直接有助于博物馆的教育使命，为公众提供考古调查的观点，并获得这项研究的结果。随着西班牙殖民者最终成为西班牙人，学习、改进和地方认同形成的过程展开了。使用历时的角度来看，这个项目建立在先前对最早的西班牙殖民时期建立家庭的研究基础上。目前的项目调查了附近的一个晚期殖民西班牙牧场遗址。通过考古挖掘和环境采样（例如花粉），研究人员定义了牧场的性质、复杂性、生态关系和土著对牧场的贡献。研究人员使用的考古和环境调查特别适合于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件中。通过与早期站点的数据进行比较，本调查提供了与西班牙社会创建相关的长期轨迹和过程的理解。这个项目的重点是西班牙裔背景下的土著贡献，为历史提供了更精细的画面，并增加了对今天美国边界内西班牙裔社会的深度和复杂性的更广泛的理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识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.