Bridges of Santa Barbara County: Spans Across Time
Bridges of Santa Barbara County exhibit is front page news!

A condensed version of the Trust's "Bridges of Santa Barbara County" exhibit, formerly featured at the Casa de la Guerra in the summer of 2005, now temporarily on display at the Lompoc Museum, garnered front page news this past week in the Santa Maria Sun. Click here to read the recent article. The impressive exhibit features photos and history of significant bridges in the county, including many that are presently in use as well as some historic bridges that have been abandoned or destroyed, such as the controversial Nojoqui Bridge. The show is composed of images from the Santa Barbara Historical Society, Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum, and private collections, as well as contemporary photographs by photographer William B. Dewey

The Lompoc Museum is located at 200 South H Street, Lompoc, CA 93436. Museum Hours: 1 to 5 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays and 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. It is closed Mondays. Admission is $1 per person. For further information, contact the Museum at 805-736-3888, or email lompocmuseum@impulse.net.

Special Book Signing for "Austin Val Verde, A Montecito Masterpiece,"
Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - 11:00 a.m.
Saks Fifth Avenue, 1001 State Street

On November 29th, Gail Jansen, Executive Director, Austin Val Verde Foundation will give a talk on the newly released, "Austin Val Verde, A Montecito Masterpiece," a history of the Austin Val Verde Estate in Montecito. The brief presentation will begin at 11:00 a.m. and be followed by a book signing. Attendees must call to reserve their seat at 805-884-5205.

The Trust has an interesting connection with the Austin Val Verde Foundation. The impressive estate was the site of Trust's popular 2005 Annual Fundraiser and their executive director, Gail Jansen, was honored at the Trust's 2006 Annual Meeting with a volunteer appreciation award for her support in securing the historic site for the fundraiser.

This week the Trust interred a time capsule celebrating "A Day in the Life of the Presidio Neighborhood 2006" in the new building at the Northwest Corner of El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park. The contents of the time capsule, which include artifacts from local businesses, will illustrate what a modern day visitor would see, and what people who work and live in the Presidio Neighborhood would be doing in 2006. The capsule was placed in the ground during a ceremony after the Trust's Annual Meeting in January, 2006 (see right). Since then, Research Center Director Lee Goodwin, along with Trust Curator Anne Petersen, and Trust Archaeologist Mike Imwalle have worked to prepare the items in the capsule for burial and thus ensure their preservation until it is opened in 2082, the tricentennial of the founding of Santa Barbara.

HOLIDAY MEMBERSHIP SPECIAL
The perfect gift this holiday season!

Looking for a unique gift idea this holiday season? Membership in the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation makes a great present for that special someone, as it is truly the gift that lasts all year long. As an incentive this holiday season the Trust is currently offering a holiday membership special in addition to the regular benefits of membership - give the gift of membership and receive a copy of the critically acclaimed new book, "Allies of the Earth: Railroads and the Soul of Preservation" by Alfred Runte (retail value $29.95), along with a holiday greeting card (see left) for yourself or the recipient of your choice. Click here for a list of membership levels and incentives (Does not apply to student memberships)

Membership supports educational exhibits at our two museums, archaeological restoration of Santa Barbara’s birthplace, El Presidio; living history demonstrations; education activities serving thousands of schoolchildren, and community events that trace both Santa Barbara’s and California’s rich cultural past through the arts. For more information on how to take advantage of this opportunity please call 805.966.1279 or email jared@sbthp.org. Supplies are limited. Promotion expires 1/1/2007.

2006 Archaeology Field School In Review
El Presidio de Santa Barbara Archaeology Field School receives a "Five Trowel" rating from former student

This past summer the rear courtyard of El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park was once again the site for what has become an annual Archaeological Field School offered through Cal Poly Continued Education in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation. The intensive 6-week course consisted of a combination of excavations and laboratory analysis of historical archaeological materials from the northern yard of El Presidio de Santa Barbara. Led by Trust Board of Trustee’s member and Professor Emeritus of anthropology at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Dr. Robert Hoover, with help from the Trust's archaeology staff, under the direction of Michael Imwalle, the Archaeological Field School is now in its fourth year at El Presidio de Santa Barbara. This year's class enrolled ten students and concluded on September 8, 2006. Below is a review of the experience of one student from this year's class, Annika Tottenham, who traveled all the way from Glasgow, Scotland to attend. Tottenham wrote the review for the website Archaeology Abroad UK, an archaeological fieldwork placement agency for archaeology students.

Archaeology Abroad Fieldwork Report –
El Presidio de Santa Barbara 2006 Field School
By Annika Tottenham

As a third year Archaeology student at Glasgow University, the need to find appropriate experience in the field became very apparent to me early last year. My previous experience includes a week of excavation at a Bronze Age site in Somerset, England, and three weeks at a Neolithic enclosure near Biggar in Scotland with my University Field School. After searching online and through Archaeology Abroad I had my sights set on the Field School offered at the Spanish military base, or presidio, in Santa Barbara, California. It was obvious as the perfect option for many reasons; mainly as it offered a wide range of experience, including field survey, excavation, recording and finds processing in the laboratory. Lectures were given to get our background understanding of the site up to speed, and the fact that free camping was offered at a nearby beach was also a bonus!

The site is today visited by many tourists and visitors, with well presented museum displays and guided tours available on request. Its importance as a source of historical culture is clearly apparent, as it is placed among only four others of it kind along the Californian coast, situated in San Diego, Monterey and San Francisco. These presidios acted as military bases for the Spanish colonisers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Santa Barbara’s presidio was the last of the four to be established, in 1782.

El Presidio de Santa Barbara was established as a State Historic Park in 1966, after the formation of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation was formed in 1963 with the aim of preserving and reconstructing the original structures. It is recognised as the second oldest building in California, and the oldest in Santa Barbara (California State Parks, 2002). A detailed chronology of its construction and a database of information on the site is gradually being added to, with almost forty years of excavations to reflect on. That two 1788 plans of the presidio are available to archaeologists is extremely fortunate, and they were used to focus the early excavations of the 1960’s and 70’s on the chapel and padre’s quarters. The first archaeological dig was conducted by James Deetz in 1961 and shortly after, the formation of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation ensured much dedication to work on the site would follow. Today the site continues to be operated by the private, non-profit trust. The six-week summer Field School at the presidio, organised by Professor R.L. Hoover, provides a valuable intake of information and artifacts in order to keep the reconstruction project alive and accurate. Future plans for the park include further reconstructions, museum buildings and improvement of the research centre located within the North West wall.

The site covers a range of periods of occupation – Spanish, Mexican, later Chinese, Japanese and Anglo-American. Native Chumash interaction is also evident at the site. The objective of the excavations carried out in summer 2006 was to find the original Spanish ground surface within the second defence wall to the North, while also explaining any subsequent disturbances to this area.

The first week was dedicated to an extensive walkover survey of the land surrounding the Santa Inés mill complex near Solvang, which is thought to have been abandoned during the Chumash revolt of 1824 (Hoover 1992, 48). Small finds were marked and recorded using a GPS system, while ceramics, shell and lithics were lifted and bagged. The nearby Santa Inés Mission was (founded in 1804) actually had a separate water source than that which ran the fulling and grist mills - its supply was controlled by a nearby dam which we recorded as an archaeological site later in the week.

After all that walking in the hot sun and through cold creeks, we were all eager and ready to start digging in the second week. A lesson was given first on the use of a total station, in order to lay out the 5 feet square pits we would be digging. As the site has been dug for many years we had all been briefed on the expected stratigraphy, and knew what to expect and what to look for. Digging was well supervised, and due to the relatively recent nature of the site small finds were plentiful and varied. Finds included ceramic sherds, porcelain and glass objects such as marbles and doll parts and coins. When rusty metal and butchered bone became the most common aspect of what we were digging in our own small pit it became apparent that we were removing a post-Spanish trash pit. Towards the end of our time digging we learned a valuable lesson in what one must remember about archaeology – you never know what you’re going to find. As we were cleaning what we thought was the base of our trash pit and therefore Spanish ground surface we discovered a large, rusty pipe inserted vertically in the ground, with a small metal stake beside it. This implied that most of what we had dug had been disturbed more recently than thought, and all of what we had recovered and recorded as coming from “Layer C” had to be re-labelled as “Mixed”. What the pipe was remains a mystery, although a fence post or washing line post seem the most likely suggestions.

Wet screening, washing, sorting and recording of the large quantity of material recovered from our short 2006 excavation gave us plenty to do in the final weeks of the dig. A massive late 18th century trash pit found by one pair of students continued to provide us with huge quantities of intact bottles and ceramics to identify and date right up until the last day of the school. The experience I gained in laboratory work of this type has been incredibly valuable to me as it was my first time working in finds processing, and part of the reason I choose this Field School.

The Field School at El Presidio de Santa Barbara was undoubtedly an incredibly useful experience in my studies towards a degree in Archaeology. It provides a basic and extensive knowledge of many of the aspects of field archaeology and its methodologies to both the beginner and graduate student alike (both of which were present in the class). There were ten students altogether, consisting of several people from across the USA and few local students. Most accepted the option of free camping, making it a sociable and fun experience. The dedication put into the Field School of Professor Hoover was clearly the reason it ran so smoothly and effectively, he provided the most informative lectures and notes one could expect, while he also took care of his students in the hot Californian sun, providing shades over the pits as we dug, plenty of bottles of water, and regular breaks for snacks.

I am confident I have gained plenty of experience in archaeology through the Field School, contributing greatly to my employability after I graduate in June 2007. I would certainly go again if I could justify the need for going on such a well-rounded Field School again; its effectiveness however, means I can’t.

Trowel Rating: 5
This Field School undoubtedly deserves the full five trowels, it was well organised with an excellent student to staff ratio. The provision of camping facilities was great, and several field trips were given – including to the spectacular Chumash painted cave in the nearby mountains. I would recommend the experience to anyone studying archaeology or who has a interest in going into archaeology professionally.