Some Models for Spanish Colonial Archaeology in California

Nomothetics—the scientific search for general laws and patterns of behavior—is the ultimate goal of inductive archaeology. Specific data from numerous sites can now be used to confirm or disconfirm hypotheses as more general laws about cultural processes. Several interesting models have been generated by archaeologists and scholars in related disciplines that can help to explain the colonial phenomenon. Some of these models will be briefly summarized and applied to the situation in Spanish California.