Casta, Class, or Race? Social Transformations at the Colonial Port of Veracruz

Summary

The social structure of colonial New Spain underwent large-scale transformations following the Spanish conquest. Changes in social categories of identification evolved through an interplay between religious and civil administrators -- who attempted to control colonial populations -- and local social relationships of interpersonal interaction. I examine social relations and changing categories of identification at the colonial Port of Veracruz. Throughout the colonial period, Veracruz served as a central gateway for African slaves entering New Spain. Subsequent biological and cultural mixing with European colonists and native peoples led to a substantial population of people of mixed African descent. Archaeological and historical investigations of Afromestizo neighborhoods provide information on local social reproduction and transformation -- such as through the production and consumption of material culture, the use of urban space, and the formal application of social categories. These data provide an opportunity to begin to evaluate the transformation of casta categories, the development of economic classes, and the role of race among pluralistic African descendant communities in an urban setting.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22151