Visitors to El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park are in for a treat this month with the opportunity to observe 13 students from around the country participating in the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation’s annual Archaeological Field School.
Co-sponsored by the Trust for Historic Preservation, California State Parks and Cal Poly Continuing Education, the intensive six-week course includes a combination of excavations and laboratory analysis of historic archaeological materials from the northern courtyard of El Presidio de Santa Barbara — the city’s 1782 birthplace.
Led by Dr. Robert Hoover, a Trust board member and professor emeritus of anthropology at Cal Poly, the Archaeological Field School is in its seventh year at El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park.
A California State Park since 1966, the original site of Spain’s Royal Presidio has avoided major development over the years, helping make ongoing archaeological research possible. While two portions of the original Presidio remain, other sections have been reconstructed by the Trust using extensive documentary research and data collected from more than 40 years of archaeological excavations at the site.
Hoover said the Presidio is an ideal location for the Field School because the site “provides students with the opportunity to collect and catalog data that will help ensure historically accurate education, restoration and reconstruction work at El Presidio.” It’s one of only four presidios established in California. “The students learn by doing at one of the most unique archaeological sites in the state,” Hoover said.
This year’s class is focusing their efforts on determining the original Spanish ground surface level of the Santa Barbara Presidio within the first and second outer defense walls (constructed from 1782 to 1797), while also helping explain any subsequent disturbances in the area.
Numerous layers of soil from later occupation of the site lie above the Presidio-era level. Students hand-excavate five feet square test units 1 to 2 feet deep to uncover the “Spanish grade.” During the excavation process they often discover fascinating objects from other eras.
To date, the class has found fragments of English pottery from as far back as 1810, ivory buttons, glass bottles, animal bones, a Chinese coin and pieces of carved jade.
“This is the oldest neighborhood in Santa Barbara,” SBTHP archaeologist Michael Imwalle said. “The students’ work not only sheds light on the history of El Presidio, but also provides insight into the Spanish, Mexican, and later Chinese, Japanese and Anglo-American communities that have inhabited the neighborhood during the past 227 years. Their work is contributing to the understanding of other people and periods in Santa Barbara.”
Before excavation begins, Field School students attend introductory lectures and are given extensive tours of the presidio grounds to strengthen their understanding of the archaeological history at the park. California State Parks helps secure a temporary home for students, many of whom travel from out of state to participate, as they camp together at El Capitan State Beach for the duration of the course.
After excavations are completed, the class will begin cataloging their discoveries in the Presidio Archaeology Laboratory. This year’s school is scheduled to conclude Aug. 14.
— Jared Brach is the public relations and membership coordinator for the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation.