Date:
Wednesday, September 21, 2016, 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Location:
Tozzer 203
*Harvard Archaeology Seminar Series Presents: *
*David Hurst Thomas*
**/'Romance and Reality in the Mythical Mission Past: How We Found the
Long-lost Spanish Mission on St. Catherines Island'/
Nostalgia and romance have long surrounded the Franciscan and Jesuit missions
of America’s Spanish Borderlands, in the process coloring how we all
perceive the surviving archaeological record. From San Francisco
(California), through the American Southwest to St. Augustine (Florida), a
mainstream national narrative has constructed and perpetuated an idealized,
romanticized version of the Spanish mission in America – complete with
Mission Revival architectural styles and reconstructed archaeological sites
that sometimes resemble Hollywood stage sets. This illustrated talk draws
upon the most recent archaeological evidence from across the Spanish
Borderlands—including the four decades of (still on-going) excavations on
St. Catherines Island (Georgia)—to suggest more historically-appropriate
perspectives on America’s mission heritage.