The Spanish in the New World
Spain before the New World
• 15th C Spain multi-ethnic (had been colonized by Romans, Visigoths,
Arabs)
• Reconquista – war to reclaim agricultural land from the invading
Moors had raged for 700 years, sharpening military skills
• Spain emerged as unified political entity in 1469, with marriage of
Isabella, sister of King Henry IV of Castile, to Ferdinand, heir to the
throne of Aragon
• Expansionist policies began in late 1470s, with colonization of
Canaries Islands (conquistadors given rights: 10% of booty and land)
• License granted to Genoese navigator Cristobel Colon in 1492, to sail
to the Indies
• Diverted attention away from conquest of Muslim North Africa
Isabella and Ferdinand
Castile, Aragon, and Granada
Cristobel Colon
Columbus and the Caribbean
Hispaniola
Sites investigated span the period from 1493–1821:
In Caribbean:
• En Bas Saline (La Navidad) (1492)
• La Isabela (1493–1498)
• Concepción de la Vega (1498–1562)
• Puerto Real (1503–1578)
In Florida:
•St. Augustine (1565–1821)
Social Processes of Spanish New World
• Multi-ethnic diversity
• Interaction
• Conflict
• Accommodation
These processes occur in all situations of invasion &
encounter
En Bas Saline (la Navidad) 1492
En Bas Saline – Taino food
mostly ate sea- fish and shellfish for
protein, but also hutias small guinea
piglike rodents
En Bas Saline – Taino food
plants cultivated by the Taíno included manioc
tubers, also corn, peppers, beans, guava,
primrose
En Bas Saline – Taino material culture
La Isabela (1493–1498)
Columbus house
‘the first intentional European colonial town in the
New World’
La Isabela (1493–1498)
‘The overall stylistic character of La Isabela’s material
world was strongly medieval and strongly Morisco
(Spanish Muslim) with medieval Muslim traditions
evident in building construction, personal
ornamentation, pottery forms and decoration, horse
equipment, medicine, lighting, and sanitation’
Deagan and Cruxent 2002
Concepción de la Vega, Dominican Republic
1496-1562
‘a
gold-rush boom town’
Concepción de la Vega, Dominican Republic
• Built as small fort by Columbus in 1496
• Intended to guard route to gold mines of Cibao valley
• Spanish settlement gradually grew up here & the town
experienced a gold-rush boom after 1508
• By 1510 was one of the largest & most important
European cities in the hemisphere; destroyed & buried by
earthquake in 1562
• Excavations have exposed remains of several stone
buildings, including fort with tower, water system,
remains of monastery, & home sites
Concepción de la Vega, Dominican Republic
Thorough survey & mapping has defined the bounds of the city
Concepción de la Vega, Dominican Republic
Ceramic lion shaped from a child’s
footprint
Rumbler bells.
top - copper alloy
cascabeles (hawk’s bells)
below – petaloid crotal bells
AD 1500-1562
Concepción de la Vega, Dominican Republic
Copper alloy chain-mail links and
belt-clasp AD 1500-1560
Concepción de la Vega, Dominican Republic
Copper alloy candle sticks (northern European), iron candle snuffer,
Italian majolica plate (AD 1500-1560), Venetian-style glassware
Importance of community
After the disasters of La Navidad & La Isabela (earliest unplanned
colonies) the Spanish crown sought to impose city planning
ordinances.
Laws of the Indies published in 1573. These laws imposed principals
of regularity & hierarchy and led to highly organized & militaristic
towns
Possible influences?
• ancient Roman colonization strategy
• Spanish experience in the Canary Islands
Centrality of Church & State visibly manifested in location on central
plaza, with homes of elite ranged nearby, those of lesser sort living
beyond the town centre
General patterns of Spanish –native interaction
•
Replicated to varying degrees at nearly all post-15thcentury Spanish colonial sites in the Caribbean, Florida,
and Mexico, regardless of social, economic, or ethnic
affiliations
•
Certain elements of Spanish life were retained intact
•
Spanish adopted & incorporated native American
elements in other areas
•
Developed new, syncretistic material forms in yet other
areas
Puerto Real, Haiti 1503-1578
A coastal cattle-ranching town
-regular grid pattern
organization
-concentration of
governmental and
religious authority in the
central plaza
-spatial segregation of
differing residential
status groups and
production activities
Puerto Real, Haiti
At its peak in the second decade of the 16th century
occupied by more than 300 Spaniards and 1000
unfree Indian labourers
The town was forcibly abandoned and destroyed
(after 75 years,) in 1578 on the orders of the Spanish
Crown, due to persistent illegal trade with foreign
traders and pirates
Puerto Real, Haiti
• Archaeologists have investigated
the church complex, a high-status
household, lesser households, & a
production area (cattle processing
for hide trade)
• Results show differentiation in
architecture among households
• High status had masonry
foundations, were arranged in
linear plan around or adjacent
to a patio
• Lesser households tended to
live in two-room plan houses of
post-in-the-ground construction
Criollo cow
Puerto Real, Haiti: the church
Puerto Real, Haiti
Unicorn pendant
(ca. 1550-1570)
Haiti , Puerto Real
Columbia Plain majolica
(ca. 1550-1585)
Haiti , Puerto Real
Lace bobbins
(ca. 1540-1575)
Haiti , Puerto Real
Puerto Real, Haiti
The material assemblage from Puerto Real is distinct from
that at La Isabella, both in the diversity of its origins and
in the relative scarcity of medieval and Islamic influences
elements (more Italian and Dutch wares)
Cooking pots hand-made and non-European in style
Diets also changed – lots of beef eaten – as opposed to
Spanish liking for fish, sheep, goat, and less reliance on
imports. Local food sources used: fish turtles, manioc
Scarcity of Spanish women in early colonies
Led to intermarriage between
Spanish men & native
American women
Native elements predominate
in female domestic activities
Socially visible symbols
associated with males (e.g.,
clothing, ornamentation,
tablewares, & architecture)
remain predominantly
European
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine, Florida
• Established by Pedro Menéndez de Aviles in 1565
• Served as northernmost outpost of Spanish empire after fall of Santa
Elena in 1587
• Was largely a garrison town at first
• Settlement was made within a town already populated by Timucua
Indians, led by Secoy
• Excavations have been carried out throughout the town for over 30
years, at sites across the spectrum of cultures & historical periods,
including military, domestic, religious, &c., and ranging from 16th-19th
centuries in date
Boazio map of St. Augustine AD 1586
St Augustine
Menéndez camp
The first thanksgiving feast in the U.S. was on September 8, 1565. The
meal probably included corn, fish, oysters, venison, garbanzo beans,
hardtack biscuit, olives and wine, prepared and eaten using Spanish and perhaps Indian- utensils.
St Augustine: Fountain of Youth site
St Augustine: Ximenez-Fatio House
Ximenez-Fatio Site: 17th-18th-century house
Ximenez-Fatio Site – pottery and glass
16th century Spanish
majolica
(ca. 1585-1650)
Guadalajara Polychrome
(ca. 1650-1800)
Glass vial or perfume bottle
(ca. 1650-1700)
Ximenez-Fatio Site - Artifacts