Ancient DNA from Campeche, Mexico, Reveals a Socially Segregated Population in the First Two Centuries after Hispanic Contact

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Increasing the Accessibility of Ancient DNA within Archaeology" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The colonial period in Mexico was an unprecedented time when previously disparate populations began living together under Hispanic leadership and Catholic faith, often unwillingly. Immediately after the conquest, Spanish colonists established urban strongholds, often bringing African slaves and servants with them. In these settlements, Native, European, and African populations encountered each other intensively for the first time. We present ancient DNA data from 10 individuals from the multiethnic cemetery of the central plaza of Campeche, Mexico, which was in use between 1540 and 1680. In conjunction with archaeological, biomorphological, and isotopic data, the ancient DNA data provides crucial details about the collective life history of early colonial Campeche. Although buried together in the same churchyard, the insights into the affinities and lives of the deceased reveal a high degree of social segregation, as reflected in a lack of mixing among the studied Native, European, and African individuals. This suggests that mixing across continental groups may not have been as ubiquitous within early colonial Spanish strongholds as has often been assumed, and that it became more common only later in time.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Increasing the Accessibility of Ancient DNA within Archaeology

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32886