The Postclassic to Spanish-Era Transition in Mesoamerica: Archaeological Perspectives

EIGHT. Mayas, Spaniards, and Salt: World Systems Shifts in Sixteenth-Century Yucat

E I G H T Mayas, Spaniards, and Salt World Systems Shifts in Sixteenth-Century Yucatán Susan Kepecs 117 Abstract: The arrival of the Spaniards in Mesoamerica precipitated changes that eventually subordinated native economies to the interests of an incipient global capitalist system. Chikinchel (northeast Yucatán) is an ideal place to examine economic aspects of the shift from Maya to Spanish rule, since this territory contains a key commercial resource—vast coastal flats of pure white salt. The documentary record—for reasons set out in the introduction to this volume—is equivocal on the nature of native economy, and also on the details of Spanish economic policies. Without understanding the prehispanic baseline, we cannot evaluate the impact of the European-driven, transoceanic world system of the Spanish Colonial period on the native world. And, lacking material evidence on the native economy under Spanish authority, we cannot be certain we have nailed down how things changed. The archaeological record provides an independent line of evidence with which to evaluate document -driven interpretations of the Maya economy on both sides of the Spanish divide. In this chapter, I compare both written and material evidence from the Late Postclassic and the Spanish colonial era to the basic tenets of world systems theory. This systematic method allows me to marshal my data toward a new interpretation of the native economic transition in the age of Spanish authority. Resumen: La llegada de los españoles a Mesoamérica ocasionó cambios económicos en la sociedad indígena, subordinandola a los intereses de un sistema incipiente de capitalismo global. Chikinchel, un territorio indígena del siglo dieciséis en el noreste deYucatán, es ideal para estudios sobre la transformación de la economía indígena, ya que la costa de esta región cuenta con grandes yacimientos de sal, blanca, cristalina y de calidad superior. En las fuentes documentales se encuentran muchas contradicciones sobre el índole de la economía indigéna y también sobre los detalles de las doctrinas económicas de los españoles. Sin entender la base prehispánica no podemos evaluar el impacto del sistema económico trans-oceánico de los europeos sobre el mundo indígena durante la colónia.Además, sin evidencias materiales sobre la economía indígena bajo el régimen español es imposible evaluar el índole del cambio . El regístro arqueológico proporciona una línea de evidencias independientes que nos permite evaluar las interpretaciónes de la transformación de la economía indigéna basadas en las fuentes españolas del siglo dieciséis. En este capítulo considero las fuentes y el regístro arqueológico, desde el Postclásico Tardío hasta mediados del siglo diecisiete. Ofrezco una comparación entre la información empírica de ambas lineas y los puntos básicos de la teoría de sistemas mundiales. Esta metodología sistemática me permite enfocar mis datos hacía una nueva interpretación de la transición de la economía indigéna en la época colonial. 118 / SUSAN KEPECS The true subject of historical archaeology, according to cutting-edge theorist Charles Orser (1996:71–72; see also Trigger 1980, 1989; Wolf 1982:ix) is the juncture of Eurocentrism, colonialism, capitalism, and modernity. Until recently, Mayanists—generally a conservative group (Kepecs 1999; Marcus 1983a)—have been slow to pick up on this politically charged theme. Nevertheless Orser’s juncture is crucial, since it is the foundation of today’s neoliberal economy. In this chapter I offer new, empirically based insights on the nature of the colonial crossroads. I take world systems theory (Wallerstein 1974, 1976, 1979, 1982) as my point of departure.Against the quintessentially economic concepts of the world systems framework, I test archaeological and documentary information from Chikinchel (Figure 8.1), a sixteenth-century native territory that occupied the northeast corner of the modern state of Yucatán. Chikinchel’s extraordinarily rich natural salt flats make this region an ideal laboratory for studies of economic change. The written record provides only limited insights into the late prehispanic native economy or the process of its alteration under Spanish administration. As Alexander and I note in our introduction to this volume ,archaeology is the key to understanding economic change for two reasons. First, the native economy was shaped by shifting political-economic cycles over the 1,500-year course of prehispanic complex society. The native economy in the Spanish...