Deep History and Material Culture of the Spanish Invasion of Mesoamerica

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Plus Ultra: An examination of current research in Spanish Colonial/Iberian Underwater and Terrestrial Archaeology in the Western Hemisphere." , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Through its focus on changes in human societies over the longue durée and the materiality of our existence, archaeology offers a valuable perspective on historic cross-cultural encounters viewed as deep history with tangible ramifications. At the quincentennial of the invasion of Mesoamerica and the transition to the colonial regime of New Spain, it is worthwhile to apply an archaeological lens to these events framed in a comparative, trans-Atlantic perspective with temporal depth. In this paper, I work towards a deep history of the "conquista" by considering parallels and divergence in the long-term development of Mesoamerican and Iberian societies, their traumatic collision five centuries ago, and their physical entanglements and legacies in landscape, symbolism, technology, and other dimensions of society. I focus especially on themes of places as palimpsest history; the entry into Tlaxcala and eventual Spanish-Tlaxcalteca alliance; and the role of syncretism and historical memory in the early Colonial period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• Plus Ultra: An examination of current research in Spanish Colonial/Iberian Underwater and Terrestrial Archaeology in the Western Hemisphere.

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 334