Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Culture Change in the 18th Century Maya Missions of Peten, Guatemala

Pennsylvania State Univ University Park, University Park PA

Investigators

Abstract

Under the direction of Dr. David Webster, MA Matthew Rockmore will obtain data for his doctoral dissertation. He will undertake archaeological excavations at the dual sites of San Jeronimo, located 2 kilometers apart on the shores of Lake Peten-Itza in northern Guatemala. The sites constitute a small mission settlement from the colonial period, initially occupied in 1703 AD, resettled around 1734 and abandoned near the end of the 18th century. The colonial period has been understudied in lowland Guatemala and this represents the first attempt at mission archaeology in the region. These sites are particularly significant because the resettlement allows for chronological control of the rate and pattern of social changes in the colonial setting. Where prior studies of Maya missions in Mexico and Belize have focused on religious conversion and an earlier time period (the 16th century), this research attempts to examine the effects of conquest and incorporation into the colonial system on the household practices of the Maya. The excavation of households and their surrounding environs in a temporally controlled setting will allow the identification of changes in the economic structure of the region, as well as changes in settlement plan, demographic trends, religious practice, and socio-political organization. The combination of archaeological and ethnohistoric data is particularly informative with regards to changes in economic systems, ranging from alterations in patterns of long-distance exchange to the adoption of Old World domesticates. One goal is to assess the rate at which changes occur in the settlement. The area was considered marginal by the Spanish, and was at the fringes of the Spanish supply system. The lack of direct oversight and limited availability of imported goods probably slowed changes of all sorts and provided the Maya greater latitude in negotiating the institution of changes. Material changes in economic systems at the household level are likely to be the most obvious and easiest to interpret, but will be accompanied by data concerning the correlates of religious and political changes. Evidence at the level of individual households can also be used to cautiously assess changes at higher levels of social organization. The observed patterns will be used to assess the explanatory power of several theoretical models of culture change in colonial settings. Existing models of indigenous resistance to colonial domination will be contrasted with practice-based models suggesting less intentional modes of change. Culture change in colonial settings is typically highly complex, with changes negotiated between factions (including ones within larger indigenous and colonial groups), albeit across a distinct power differential. This research is enabled by earlier studies of the preceding Late Postclassic period and is informed by several existing ethnohistoric studies of the area and through archaeological work at similar sites in Mexico and Belize. This research is important in part because it fills a gap in our archaeological knowledge of the region, but the primary significance is the exploration of how culture change is instituted within colonial contexts and how it developed over the space of a century.