The Postclassic to Spanish-era Transition in Mesoamerica : Archaeological Perspectives

In this volume, thirteen anthropological archaeologists working in historical time frames in Mesoamerica, including editors Susan Kepecs and Rani Alexander, break down the artificial barrier between archaeology and history by offering new material evidence of the transition from native-ruled, prehispanic society to the age of Spanish administration. Taken together, the chapters contained herein cover most of the key Mesoamerican regions that eventually came under Spanish control. The authors bring new empirical information to bear on the problem of how prehispanic social, political, and economic organization were transformed, as independent Maya kingdoms, the Aztec empire (with its client states), the Tarascans, and other more distant polities once linked through the macroregional economic web of the Postclassic period were forcibly incorporated into Spain's transatlantic domain. The complex processes of multidirectional interaction and culture contact among Mesoamericans and Europeans are colored by cultural diversity, culture clash, and varied responses ranging from accommodation to resistance to active rebellion. These case studies also illuminate how native organization altered the Spanish imperial process. Ultimately, this volume provides a link between past and present, since Mesoamerican peoples continue to negotiate the effects of globalization on their societies. Susan Kepecs is an honorary fellow in the department of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Rani T. Alexander is an associate professor in the department of sociology and anthropology at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces. Foreword / Matthew Restall The postclassic to Spanish-era transition in Mesoamerica : an introduction / Rani T. Alexander and Susan Kepecs The Aztec palace under Spanish rule : disk motifs in the Mapa de México de 1550 (Uppsala map or Mapa de Santa Cruz) / Susan Toby Evans Consumption and the varied ideologies of domination in colonial Mexico City / Enrique Rodríguez-Alegría The Basin of Mexico A.D. 1450-1620 : archaeological dimensions / Thomas H. Charlton, Cynthia L. Otis Charlton, and Patricia Fournier García From imperial core to colonial periphery : the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin 1400-1800 / Helen Perlstein Pollard The consequences of Spanish colonial rule for the indigenous peoples of Chiapas, Mexico / Janine Gasco On the margins of peripheries : the consequences of differential incorporation in the colonial southwest / Mark T. Lycett Mayas, Spaniards, and salt : world systems shifts in sixteenth-century Yucatán / Susan Kepecs Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Maya political geography in central Petén, Guatemala / Don S. Rice and Prudence M. Rice Isla Cilvituk and the difficulties of Spanish colonization in southwestern Campeche / Rani T. Alexander Postcolonial conquest of the southern Maya lowlands, cross-cultural interaction, and Lacandon Maya culture change / Joel W. Palka. Front Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 FOREWORD 12 One: The Postclassic to Spanish-EraTransition in Mesoamerica 14 Two: The Aztec Palace under Spanish Rule 26 Three: Consumption and the Varied Ideologies of Domination in Colonial Mexico City 48 Four: The Basin of Mexico A.D. 1450–1620 62 Five: From Imperial Core to Colonial Periphery 78 Six: The Consequences of Spanish Colonial Rule for the Indigenous Peoples of Chiapas, Mexico 90 Seven: On the Margins of Peripheries 110 Eight: Mayas, Spaniards, and Salt 130 Nine: Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Maya Political Geography in Central Petén, Guatemala 152 Ten: Isla Cilvituk and the Difficulties of Spanish Colonization in Southwestern Campeche 174 Eleven: Postcolonial Conquest of the Southern Maya Lowlands, Cross-Cultural Interaction, and Lacandon Maya Culture Change 196 References Cited 216 Contributors 265 Index 268 Back Cover 1 A historical and archaeological analysis of native and Spanish interactions in Mesoamerica and how each culture impacted the other