Description
The colonial efforts by the Spanish and subsequent generations resulted in the formation of cultural networks that were based on the reliance and access to key ecological resources (such as fertile lands for ranching and agriculture or access to freshwater from the San Diego River) that ultimately influenced the settlement of the San Diego River watershed and the surrounding region. Utilizing a historical anthropological approach, this study examines these Spanish and Mexican Period cultural networks and compares them to the traditional Native American settlement networks that formed prior to contact. An analysis of ethnographies, historical journals, autobiographies, archaeological literature, and reports of previous archaeological investigations of Late Prehistoric, historical Native American, and early Spanish and Mexican Period archaeological sites establish a baseline for settlement patterns that developed during each of these time periods. Using geographic information systems, a series of maps including site densities, a suitability model, and cultural interaction diagrams were built compared. Viewing these comparisons through a behavioral archaeological lens, coupled with actor-network and world systems theoretical frameworks, the overlapping cultural networks were analyzed. The analysis of these networks resulted in identifying settlement patterns that informed the social stratification of the Spanish and Mexican Periods which in turn, influenced the future development of the city and region of San Diego.
