The Bioarchaeology of Colonization and Missionization at San Bernabé, Lake Petén Itzá

Summary

The Spanish established the San Bernabé Mission in the heartland of the Itzá Maya area at Tayasal in the Petén Lakes region around 1710. Census data suggest that the mission was at the center of a multi-cultural community of 126 individuals in 1712, yet within three decades the population size had reduced by 70% potentially due to epidemics and flight. Excavations by the Tayasal Archaeological Project have recovered 46 individuals from 33 graves in the mission’s cemetery that shed light on what occurred after the arrival of the Spanish to the region. The skeletal remains of those interred within the walls of the mission highlight the impact of cultural contact, colonization, and the subsequent missionization of an indigenous group. The bioarchaeological analysis of the San Bernabé sample reveals that life in San Bernabé was one of sickness, disease, and a short life expectancy. Skeletal data that informs us about colonization is not often available, especially for Mayanists, and the case of San Bernabé provides clear data about the deleterious impact that colonialism had on the Maya.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Preclassic to Colonial: Current Investigations in the Petén Lakes Region, Guatemala

Keywords

Spatial Coverage