Doctoral Dissertation Research: Livelihood Strategies at Classic and Colonial Period Tahcabo, Yucatan, Mexico

University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC

Investigators

Abstract

This research project will study the impacts of macro-governance changes such as colonialism on the activities of farmers in rural communities. In studies of contemporary agriculture, researchers strive to understand how people choose livelihood strategies and to infer the long-term implications of their decisions for regional political stability, economic security, and landscape sustainability. Archaeological research is well-positioned to contribute to knowledge about the impact rural farmers can have in these realms due to its focus on behavioral and environmental changes over extended time frames. Within this broader context, this project will generate an agricultural history for the research site, including an account of the activities pursued and crops grown through time, focusing on periods of high population density. The study will provide training to graduate-level students from the United States as well as undergraduate students from Mexico. It will generate collaborations between laboratory scientists in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Research results will be disseminated through publications written for broad audiences in more than one language and the installation of an exhibit in the museum of the community that will host the research. Community residents will be made aware of food production strategies employed in the past that could prove useful for them today. Archaeological research has focused on large political centers, while extant historical records primarily tell the stories of elites. Recent studies have begun to address daily lives and household economies. This project shifts attention to farmers and their strategies given regional constraints and opportunities. It will study whether past peoples living in the rural community of Tahcabo diversified their economic activities or pursued specialized production of particular goods or crops during times of population growth spanning the Early Classic (AD 200-500), Late Classic (AD 600-900), and Colonial (AD 1550-1800) periods. Excavations will take place in houses and gardens from these time periods in order to locate evidence for the economic activities conducted by household. Analysis of soil samples for microscopic plant remains will provide information on the crops grown through time. Chronological information about the occupation of each house will be determined through the study of ceramic styles and the dating of charred wood. Using these lines of evidence, the project will test propositions about the strategies employed by farmers before and after Spanish colonization. The results will provide new insights into the relationship between social and agricultural change.