Date of Award

5-1995

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Geography and Anthropology

First Advisor

Paul Farnsworth

Abstract

This thesis is an interpretive analysis focusing on the use of beads as a tool for determining social relations at Mission Soledad, California. The main indicator of social relations used in this thesis is bead distribution. Two attributes were used to classify the beads, color and type.

To understand the importance of the bead distribution, the ideologies of the three native cultures that were recruited to the mission and the Spanish missionaries who founded the mission were studied. From this information, color symbolism and sources were examined to gain knowledge of important colors. This was done with the hopes that the symbolic meaning of the colors would reveal patterns that would help reconstruct social relations at Mission Soledad.

It was found that the color distribution of beads at Mission Soledad reflected gender differences in bead preference. Colors such as white, yellow, and clear were associated with females while blue, green, and black were associated with males.

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