ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the Caribbean archipelago, being the first area of sustained culture contact, and then moves to the major foci of Spanish activity in Mexico and Central America, La Florida, the North American Southwest, and California. The Spanish process of conquest and colonization had several common elements, the first being warfare, sometimes accomplished by manipulating local groups as campaign partners and informants. Archaeology has often focused on cultural change from pre-contact baselines: others have reversed this perspective and focus on the ways that indigenous societies persisted and on the evidence for cultural survival. La Florida was peripheral to Spanish interests in the Americas but an important buffer for other European expansionary states. The Pueblo Revolt illustrates local responses to Spanish colonization. It is an example of a popular and widespread revitalization movement an event led by a charismatic leader typically rooted in a period of stress.
