SBTHP | Archaeology

2011 Santa Barbara Presidio
Archaeological Field School
M-F, July 5 - August 12, 2011 Learn more.

Archaeological research has played an integral role in the development of El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park for nearly forty years. James Deetz conducted the first known archaeological excavation of the Presidio site in 1961. During the late-1960s and early 1970s a dedicated group known as the Presidio Volunteers focused excavations on the Chapel site and the adjoining Padre's Quarters. Using the 1788 Goicoechea/Fages plan as their guide, they also excavated at various locations around the quadrangle in order to determine the alignment and location of the original Presidio quadrangle. This information would provide the basis for the eventual reconstruction of portions of El Presidio de Santa Bárbara.

During the past five decades the site of El Presidio de Santa Bárbara has been the focus of numerous educational archaeology programs. During the 1970s students from Santa Barbara Junior High School, Santa Barbara High School, and Santa Barbara City College participated in archaeological investigations at the Presidio. In 1983 an archaeological field school from the University of California, Santa Barbara began exploratory excavations in the northeast corner of the Presidio quadrangle. Field schools sponsored by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 1994 and 1995 concentrated on the identification of Presidio structures in the northwest corner of the quadrangle. In 1996, 1998, and 2000, California State University, Long Beach conducted field classes at the Presidio using various geophysical techniques. Seismic resistivity, proton and cesium magnetometers, and ground penetrating radar were introduced to students as they surveyed the Rochin Adobe property in search of the southeast corner of the Presidio. Archaeological education programs have also been conducted for Girls Incorporated, Girl Scouts, and Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara.

Recently, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation's archaeological staff has conducted excavations in the vicinity of the northwest corner of the Presidio quadrangle. Northwest corner excavations have revealed scores of artifacts from Santa Barbara's earliest European settlement as well as archaeological features indicative of palisade and adobe structures, cooking facilities, and domestic trash disposal sites.

	Kitchen and Food related items on display at the Northeast Corner archaeological exhibit (click on image to enlarge).		Clothing and Personal items on display at the Northeast Corner archaeological exhibit (click on image to enlarge).

Presidio artifacts representing cooking and food preparation are the most common items recovered from the excavations. Clothing related items and personal items such as coins and beads have also been recovered in large quantities. Dozens of artifacts from recent Presidio excavations are featured in the exhibit Memorias y Facturas currently on display in the northeast corner of the Presidio quadrangle.

SBTHP archaeological staff has also overseen the stabilization of El Cuartel, the oldest adobe in the California State Parks system. El Cuartel is an original Presidio adobe (1788) designed to house a soldier and his family. Stabilization work was funded by a grant from the California Department of Parks and Recreation's Cultural Stewardship Program. The stabilization work included the removal of a concrete slab from the interior of the building and repairing damage from basal erosion on the exterior. With the adobe wall stabilization completed, SBTHP archaeological staff is now working with a team of architects and engineers to develop a plan to seismically retrofit the adobe.

The Presidio Archaeology Laboratory is located at 916 Santa Barbara Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.
For information, please contact: Michael Imwalle, Archaeologist at (805) 962-2101.