Summary of Preliminary Findings
Recent investigations into the architectural history and archaeology of the Old Mission quadrangle and courtyard of San Juan Bautista have resulted in the formulation of several preliminary conclusions regarding the development and decline of this early California mission community. Among those findings deemed suitable for presentation at this time and within this venue, the following preliminary conclusions are hereby advanced:
(a) Dietary evidence indicates that a broad range of animals and agricultural products were processed within the Old Mission Courtyard and consumed in or about the mission compound at San Juan Bautista,
(b) Foreign imports from Britain, France, Spain, Mexico, China, Japan, the Philippines, and other areas of the Americas, were utilized in the mission community of San Juan Bautista, and this despite apparent colonial era restrictions against such trade,
(c) Locally produced and imported late colonial majolica wares were used at San Juan Bautista and have been recovered from archaeological deposits in the Southwest Convento Wing as well as from other sectors of the mission quadrangle of San Juan Bautista,
(d) A single clustering of French porcelains, metal artifacts (including a French bale-seal), in association with an early house floor feature, appears to indicate a discrete ethnically-identifiable complex on the site,
(e) The purported mission quadrangle so often ascribed to the architectural format of San Juan Bautista has been confirmed via the recovery of an intact southwestern and northwestern series of room blocks defined by way of archaeological trenching,
(f) Existing evidence indicates that the southwest and northwest room blocks of the Old Mission quadrangle were consumed by a fire of as yet unknown origin (contrary to Farris 1991, this fire does not appear to have been for the purposes of dismantling the buildings for salvage purposes),
(g) Preliminary interpretations indicate that the Torreon or guard tower at the southern corner of the mission quadrangle was part of a three, and possibly four, towered mission quadrangle complex (much like that ascribed to the "fortaleza" style of Texas mission architecture),
(h) The Torreon or guard tower at the south corner of the mission complex was constructed as a primary feature of the initial quadrangle construction episode of 1799-1806 (Jackson and Castillo 1995:162, A3.20), and was later accomodated into the expansion of the Southeast Convento Wing, and finally,
(I) The Old Mission Well has been located at the center of the mission quadrangle and appears to have gone dry in the 1860's or 1870's, at which time the well was recycled for use as a trash receptacle for materials deposited therein between 1870 and 1925.
As noted, this investigation represents the collaborative efforts of the Institute of Archaeology of the Calfornia State University at Monterey Bay, the parish community of Old Mission San Juan Bautista, the Diocese of Monterey, and the Gabilan Conservation Camp at Soledad, California. Without these participants in the process, the valuable work of this project would not be possible.