Early Colonialism and Population Movement at the Mission San Bernabé, Guatemala

Abstract

Colonialism came late to northern Guatemala. The Spanish began to establish missions in the Peten Lakes region in the early 1700s, nearly 200 years after initial contact with the Mayas. Excavations in 2011–2012 at the Mission San Bernabé revealed European goods, nonnative animal species, and burial patterns that marked a new lifestyle. Who lived at the Mission San Bernabé, and where did they come from? The Spanish resettled indigenous populations to facilitate the colonization process; however, isotopic data are inconsistent with large population movements. Instead, strontium and oxygen isotope values in the tooth enamel and bones of individuals buried at the mission suggest a mostly local population. The data suggest in-migration from Belize, a region under nominal Spanish control, but with pre-Hispanic ties to the Peten. Changes did not come from migrants crossing a border; instead, the border itself moved and brought the colonial world to the Peten Mayas.

Sulfur isotopes as a proxy for human diet and mobility from the preclassic through colonial periods in the Eastern Maya lowlands

“…Because bone remodels over a period between 5–10 years, their nonlocal δ 34 S values indicate their collagen had not yet equilibrated with the isotopic values of the Eastern lowlands, suggesting that they were more recent migrants to the area. At least one of these individuals who was buried at Cahal Pech (Plaza G, Unit 51) may represent Colonial-period movement from Spanish missions around Lake Peten Itzá (e.g., Mission San Bernabé) [ 211 ]. Finally, one individual from Group 2 with low δ 34 S values has 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values consistent with individuals from Southern Belize and the Southern lowlands.…”

Looking into the past to build the future: food, memory, and identity in the indigenous societies of Puebla, Mexico

“…The construction of an ethnic food knowledge has been made possible by the connections between culture and nature in a context of changes and mobilizations that indigenous people have historically capitalized on in a food bioculture [ 7 , 41 – 43 ]. Food bioculture is defined as biodiversity humanized from ancestral times by indigenous groups.…”