Zooarchaeology of Mission Nuestra Señora del Pilar y Santiago de Cocóspera

Zooarchaeological research at Spanish colonial missions in the U.S.-Mexico border region indicates that cattle ranching formed the basis for economic colonialism in the region. Animal remains from Mission Nuestra Señora del Pilar y Santiago de Cocóspera add to this expanding body of research and demonstrate heterogeneity in mission economic strategies, particularly influenced by local ecology, and sociopolitical history. Located at a higher elevation, subjected to many years of livestock raiding, and rarely hosting a resident priest, the O’odham community at Mission Cocóspera continued to rely a great deal on the exploitation of wild game, even as they adopted cattle ranching.