Abstract
Because so many ancestral populations, at various times, have lived within the constraints of earthen architectural technology, it has significant representation in building traditions across large temporal and geographic expanses. Adobe, known also as dagga, ferey, cob, and by other names, is a variant in which clays and other sediments are combined with organic materials and formulated into discrete construction components, often in communities of practice for which adobe recipes, preparation, and application are integral to daily intersections of home and community. For archaeologists, community partners, and interested publics who wish to learn more about it, a large portion of this architectural culture is no longer visible above the surface but is accessible through archaeology. Yet low impact sampling, such as probing and test excavation, rarely reveals adobe features. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) allows a tantalizing and non-invasive perspective on subsurface adobe features; increasingly there is a buried structural landscape emerging at sites where adobe architecture prevailed. The case studies presented here from 18th and 19th century sites in central and southern California serve as a guide for further survey.
Highlights
Earthen architecture has significant representation in building traditions across large temporal and geographic expanses
A large portion of this architectural culture is no longer visible above the surface, except in tels and other mounded spaces resulting from long sequences of adobe collapse and replacement
We explore techniques for delineating California’s buried adobe ruins through site interiography using ground-penetrating radar
Summary
Earthen architecture has significant representation in building traditions across large temporal and geographic expanses. This non-intrusive technique has been successful in most of the settings we have applied it In these cases, we test our assumptions, methodologies, and interpretations where known adobe wall features have been documented through previous archaeological excavations, trench exposure, and historic maps and texts. Adobe walls often represent important boundaries between interior and exterior spaces While larger structures such as major ranchos, churches, presidios, etc., are largely known from historic records, drawings and maps, smaller adobe dwellings were common in California. These often housed Native people who were variously involved in the mission and rancho systems that prevailed across the coast and inland valleys for generations. Santa Clara); and one newly identified adobe wall at a Mexican and U.S period Rancho
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