Historical Archaeology of Indigenous Culture Change in Mesoamerica

This essay outlines recent archaeological research on post-Columbian (c. A.D. 1500–1925) indigenous sites in Mexico and Central America. Historical archaeology is a growing field in Mesoamerica, and over the last 20 years investigations of native culture change have increased, especially in rural areas. Contemporary research contributes new insights on indigenous responses to Spanish colonization over a long period. This work also is reassessing chronologies and examining the diversity of indigenous behavior from late preconquest to historic times. Indigenous adaptations to culture contact and social change are characterized by three general stages: conquest, colonization, and independence. Although I do draw on other regions, the focus of the article is the Maya area and Central America, where more investigations have taken place.     

Book reviews

Franz von Benda‐Bepkmann. Property in social continuity: continuity and change in the maintenance of property relationships through time in Minangkabau, West Sumatra. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1979. xviii, 455pp. (Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal‐, Land‐ en Volkenkunde, 86.)

Karl J. Pelzer. Planter and peasant: colonial policy and the Agrarian struggle in east Sumatra, 1863–1947. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1978. xii, 163 pp. (Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal‐, Land‐ en Volkenkunde 84.)

G. W. J. Drewes (ed. and tr.). Hikajat Potjut Muhamat: an Achehnese epic. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1979. 286 pp. (Bibliotheca Indonesica, 19.)

Willem Meijer. Indonesian forests and land use planning. Report on a fact‐finding tour aimed towards a co‐ordinated development of forest resources in Indonesia. Lexington, Kentucky: Thomas Hunt Morgan School of Biological Sciences, University of Kentucky, 1975. 112 pp. $3.50, inc. postage. (Available from: University of Kentucky Book Store, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA).