The Presidio of San Antonio de Béxar: Historical and Archaeological Research

Presidio San Antonio de Béxar was one of the four presidios established to halt French aggression into Northern New Spain from Louisiana between 1690 and 1722. Today, the presidio is in the heart of modern-day San Antonio, Texas. While the urban built environment setting today has impacted the remains of the presidio, one original structure still stands. In addition, compliance archaeological investigations in a restricted urban area have identified remains of three civilian residences in the former presidial town adjacent to the presidio as well as a portion of the original irrigation ditch, the acequia madre. Hampered by a shortage of colonial historical research to connect archaeological remains and occupants through deed transactions, there is still much useful information to be gleaned from the archaeological remains. One contribution from the archaeological studies is the refinement of several broadly defined ceramic types such as Puebla Blue-on-White and lead-glazed coarse earthenwares into chronologically distinct variants.