List of Figures and TablesForewordSandra Montón SubíasIntroduction: Tracing the Development and Charting the Future of Venezuelan Historical ArchaeologyKonrad A. AntczakPART ONE. THE EVE OF EUROPEAN INVASION AND EARLY SPANISH COLONIALISMWorlds in Collision: Assessment and Perspectives on the Anthropology and Historical Archaeology of the System of Orinoco Regional Interdependence (SIRO)Rafael A. Gassón P.“Indios buenos”, “Indios malos”: Historical Archaeology of Early Colonial Indigenous Identities Processes in the Southeastern CaribbeanAndrzej T. Antczak, Ma. Magdalena Antczak, and Oliver AntczakPART TWO. LANDSCAPES, INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES, AND MISSIONIZATIONSan Antonio de Mucuñó: Archaeology of a Seventeenth-Century Pueblo de Doctrina in the Andean Mountain Range of Mérida, VenezuelaLino Meneses Pacheco and Gladys Gordones RojasThe Formation of Rural Landscapes in the Quíbor Depression, Northwestern Venezuela (1530–1994): An Archaeological PerspectiveLilliam M. Arvelo B.Spatial Dimensions of Contact in the Middle Orinoco: Colonialism and its AftermathFranz Scaramelli and Kay Tarble de ScaramelliMetallurgy and Colonization in the Eighteenth-Century Jesuit Missions of the Middle Orinoco Basin, VenezuelaAna María Navas Méndez, Franz Scaramelli, Anna Di Prinzio, and Kay Tarble de ScaramelliAn Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Approach to the Processes of Ethnic and Territorial Recomposition of the Central Venezuelan Littoral During the Colonial and Republican PeriodsPedro RivasPART THREE. HACIENDAS, COMMODITIES, AND TRADESalt and Contraband: Historical Archaeology of Foreign Seafarers in the Venezuelan Caribbean, 1638–1800Konrad A. AntczakArchaeology of Workplaces. Sugarcane-Mill Haciendas in Venezuela. Eighteenth and Nineteenth CenturiesLuis E. MolinaLa Guairita: Historical Archaeology of a Coffee Hacienda on the Periphery of Caracas, 1830–1930Luis A. Lemoine B. and Konrad A. AntczakPART FOUR. SETTLEMENTS, CITIES, AND URBANISMAn Archaeological, Historical, and Architectural Approximation to Santa Ana de Coro: The First Emplacement of the Colonizing Process in VenezuelaMarcia López, Josennya Noroño, and Egla Charmell JamesonAn Archaeological View of Early Urbanism in Venezuela. Three Case StudiesIraida Vargas-Arenas and Mario Sanoja ObedienteCaracas: An Archaeological Window onto the Conformation of Its SpaceIsabel De Jesús and Yadira RodríguezPART FIVE. SOCIETY AND EVERYDAY LIFEYesterday You Were Thriving and Proud: Power, British trade, and à la Carte Service in Barcelona, Venezuela, during the Nineteenth CenturyGeorge I. Amaiz M.Cemeteries, Tombs, and the Treatment of Death in VenezuelaAlberta Zucchi and Maura FalconiAfterword: History AdriftRogelio Altez OrtegaAcknowledgementsAuthor BiographiesThis volume offers a comprehensive overview of the historical archaeology of Venezuela, marking the first time such a detailed study is available in both English and Spanish. It compiles the work of leading Venezuelan archaeologists and includes recent fieldwork and unpublished research, covering a wide range of case studies from precolonial times to the republican period.Structured in five parts, the book starts with a thorough review of the history of Venezuelan historical archaeological research, highlighting its contributions and future directions. The first section explores precolonial and contact period indigenous realities, while the second examines the indigenous experiences of colonialism, missionization, and landscape changes. The third section investigates the production of key Venezuelan commodities: coffee, sugar, salt, and contraband activities. The fourth section focuses on the archaeology of foundational cities like Coro, Santo Tomé, Maracaibo, and the development of Caracas. The fifth section looks at everyday life, including the rise of consumerism and the social practices surrounding death. An afterword emphasizes the importance of a critical historical approach in anthropology and archaeology.Richly illustrated and well-referenced, this book highlights the extensive and diverse historical archaeological research in Venezuela, offering new insights to both Spanish and non-Spanish-speaking scholars. It aims to influence historical archaeology in Latin America, the Caribbean, and globally with its bilingual presentation.