Grant D. Jones

On the Fringes of Conquest: Maya-Spanish Contact in Colonial Belize

The defeat of the Aztecs of Mexico by Hern�n Cort�s in 1521 was but the beginning of a long and torturous conquest of Central America that did not always result in the mastery of people and production for which the Spanish had hoped. The Maya of the resource-poor Yucat�n peninsula were spared the heavy colonial hand that held fast to central Mexico and its riches. In addition, the dense forests of the peninsula served as a haven for refugees fleeing oppressive conditions in colonial towns. Despite the paucity of documentary information on Maya communities of the frontier, knowledge of Maya-Spanish relations in the 16th and 17th centuries has advanced in recent years through archeological and ethnohistorical research. Work in one region of the Maya lowlands has brought us closer to an understanding of the early interaction of the rulers and the ruled.

Locating Maya Lowlands Spanish Colonial Towns: A Case Study from Belize

Recent excavations of the Spanish Colonial Maya communities of Lamanai and Tipu, Belize, combine with extensive ethnohistorical research to provide guidelines for the location of other Historic-period sites in the region. We present brief case studies of community-location data from the ethnohistorical record, followed by observations regarding survey expectations and approaches appropriate to identification of Spanish Colonial-period sites. Though rooted in Belize experience, the strategies outlined should prove applicable throughout the Maya Lowlands, and perhaps beyond the regions borders as well.

The Canek Manuscript in Ethnohistorical Perspective

The Canek Manuscript describes a visit by Fray Andras de Avendano y Loyola, two Franciscan companions, and ten Maya sacristans from the town of Tipu to the towns of Chacan on the western shore of Lake Peten Itza and Noh Peten (Tah Itza or Tayasal) on the island that today is Flores, Peten, Guatemala. This visit probably occurred in January or February, 1695, two years before the Spanish conquest of Noh Peten. The four-folio manuscript is a fragment of a larger document, the remainder of which is lost. The Franciscan author, a lay brother, was probably Fray Alonso de Vargas. This contribution places the manuscript in its ethnohistorical context, describes it content, and discusses its significance.

Poor Beds of Sticks and Rings of Pure Gold

The Canek Manuscript offers an unusual opportunity for examination of the material culture of the Itza Maya of the seventeenth century. The document contains information about beds, canoes, musical instruments, royal jewelry and clothing, buildings, and religious objects. We interpret the textual information in terms of its reflection in the archaeological record and in ethnohistoric and ethnographic sources.

The Transition to Statehood in the New World.

Preface Part I. Introduction: 1. Issues in the study of New World state formation Grant D. Jones and Robert R. Kautz Part II. Sociopolitical Factors in State Formation: 2. The chiefdom: precursor of the state Robert L. Carneiro 3. Class conflict and the state in the New World Jonathan Haas 4. The ecological basis for New World state formation: general and local model building Mark N. Cohen 5. The transition to statehood as seen from the mouth of a cave Richard S. MacNeish Part IV. Ideological Factors in State Formation: 6. Religion and the rise of Mesoamerican states Michael D. Coe 7. The nature and role of religious diffusion in the early stages of state formation: an example from Peruvian prehistory Richard W. Keatinge 8. Civilization as a state of mind: the cultural evolution of the Lowland Maya David A. Friedel Works cited Index.