Historical archaeology in California covers the time span after Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo reached San Diego in 1542; however, it tends to be considered the beginning with the period of Spanish colonization starting in 1769 with the arrival of Gaspar de Portola 's expedition in San Diego and goes all the way into the 20th century. Archaeological studies of what is called the Exploration Period from 1542-1769, the Spanish Colonial Period from 1769-1821, the Mexican Republic Period from 1821-1846, and the American Period from 1846-present, have taken place at least since the 1940s. For the most part, theoretical and methodological approaches in California reflect American historical archaeology but vary by region, time period, and specific problems.
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Included are the evolution of diversity, regionality, technology, and landscapes. California during its transformation into the modern world is historically visible. What role world-systems relationships may have played in the evolution of diversity, however, is controversial. The economic and political dependency of subordinate regions, for example, often has created the illusion that they are passive and unchanging recipients of essential goods and technologies from the core or dominant region. Others, however, have argued that world-system peripheries are likely to be "hotbeds" of social and cultural change. For example, there is an argument that the expansion of capitalism has increased social and cultural diversity in peripheral regions because of the unique and creative responses of indigenous peoples to their economic and political condition. If one follows evolutionary principles that the intensity of selection increases with variability, such conditions also imply a jump in the rate of social and cultural evolution. The formation of new hierarchical social structures such as those that emerged rapidly in California Gold Rush mining towns like Nevada City and Grass Valley is implied. Political processes are also important. The emergence of political “big men” among 17th century Native Americans in southern New England, for example, appears to be a response to world-system expansion. Recent work also suggests that a single "big chief” emerged among the Kasahaya Pomo after they moved to clustered residential compounds next to the Russian colony at Fort Ross. Ethnic diversification is another transformation process that appears to be associated with world-system peripheries. New “ethnic
Included are the evolution of diversity, regionality, technology, and landscapes. California during its transformation into the modern world is historically visible. What role world-systems relationships may have played in the evolution of diversity, however, is controversial. The economic and political dependency of subordinate regions, for example, often has created the illusion that they are passive and unchanging recipients of essential goods and technologies from the core or dominant region. Others, however, have argued that world-system peripheries are likely to be "hotbeds" of social and cultural change. For example, there is an argument that the expansion of capitalism has increased social and cultural diversity in peripheral regions because of the unique and creative responses of indigenous peoples to their economic and political condition. If one follows evolutionary principles that the intensity of selection increases with variability, such conditions also imply a jump in the rate of social and cultural evolution. The formation of new hierarchical social structures such as those that emerged rapidly in California Gold Rush mining towns like Nevada City and Grass Valley is implied. Political processes are also important. The emergence of political “big men” among 17th century Native Americans in southern New England, for example, appears to be a response to world-system expansion. Recent work also suggests that a single "big chief” emerged among the Kasahaya Pomo after they moved to clustered residential compounds next to the Russian colony at Fort Ross. Ethnic diversification is another transformation process that appears to be associated with world-system peripheries. New “ethnic