The Royal Presidio of San Diego Archaeological Collection Records (1963-1994) document the Center for Regional History’s involvement with archaeological excavations at San Diego’s Presidio, led by San Diego State University’s Anthropology Department and the San Diego Historical Society, during the 1960s-1970s. The majority of the records date from the 1970s-1980s, and focus on the Center’s curation of the Real Presidio de San Diego Archaeological Collection from 1979-1989, and the Center’s 1981 conference “Approaches to Historical Archaeology: The Case of the Royal Presidio of San Diego”. The collection consists of academic papers, reports, memos, correspondence, publications, photographs, and audio recordings. The collection is arranged in two series: Administrative Files and Audio Recordings.

The Administrative Files series (1963-1994) includes files related to the Center for Regional History’s curation of the “Real Presidio de San Diego Archaeological Collection”, a collection of archaeological artifacts and related excavation records deposited at the Center by the City of San Diego in 1979. The files in this series document the Center’s curation of the archaeological collection until 1989, when the artifacts and excavation records were transferred to the Anthropology Department at SDSU. The files include inventories of the Center’s archaeological collections, deeds of gift, information on loans, photographs, and research notes related to the artifacts in the collection.

Also included are files related to the Center for Regional History’s 1981 conference “Approaches to Historical Archaeology: The Case of the Royal Presidio of San Diego”, and the subsequent publication in 1982. Presenters at the conference included Greta Ezell, Paul H. Ezell, Ronald V. May, Jean Krase, Cynthia Draper, Richard L. Carrico, Alana Cordy-Collins, and Dennis Quillen.

There are also several files related to other archaeological excavations, including the Bancroft Ranch House in Spring Valley, CA, Fort Guijarros on Point Loma, and Santee Greens.

The Audio Recordings series (1981) includes recordings of the Center for Regional History’s conference, “Approaches to Historical Archaeology: The Case of the Royal Presidio of San Diego” on October 17, 1981, and the on-site tours of the Presidio’s Chapel Complex and Gateway Complex, led by Dennis Quillen and Paul Elzell, later the same day.