On the Periphery of the Periphery: Household Archaeology at Hacienda San Juan Bautista Tabi, Yucatán, Mexico

276 Pages·2012·4.019 MB·English

by  Sam R. Sweitz (auth.)

On the Periphery of the Periphery
CONTRIBUTIONS TO GLOBAL HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
Series Editor:
Charles E. Orser, Jr., New York State Museum, Albany, New York, USA
For further volumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/5734
Sam R. Sweitz
On the Periphery
of the Periphery
Household Archaeology at Hacienda
San Juan Bautista Tabi, Yucatán, Mexico
Sam R. Sweitz
Department of Social Sciences
Michigan Technological University
Houghton, MI 49931, USA
[email protected]
ISSN 1574-0439
ISBN 978-1-4614-1495-7 e-ISBN 978-1-4614-1496-4
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-1496-4
Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011939301
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012
All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written
permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York,
NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in
connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software,
or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden.
The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they
are not identifi ed as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are
subject to proprietary rights.
Printed on acid-free paper
Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
This book examines from an archaeological perspective the social and economic
changes that took place in Yucatán, Mexico beginning in the eighteenth century, as the
region became increasingly articulated within global networks of exchange. In this
work I am particularly interested in the formation and ultimate supremacy of the haci-
enda system in Yucatán and the effect that new forms of capitalist organized production
had on constructions of indigenous Maya social organization. I use household archae-
ology and spatial analysis, conducted on the grounds of the former Hacienda San Juan
Bautista Tabi, to provide the data for analyzing the results of this change on the daily
lives and existence of those individuals incorporated within the hacienda system.
The historical perspective and interpretations regarding the evolution of social
and economic organization on the Yucatán Peninsula outlined in this book are the
result of my own personal history and evolution as a scholar. As a way of better posi-
tioning the reader to understand the “how” and “why” of this work, it might be fruit-
ful to briefl y trace the “what,” “where,” and “when” that have infl uenced my
perspective on the past and as a consequence have infl uenced the interpretations
expressed in the following pages. As an undergraduate at Boston University, my fi rst
foray into archaeological fi eldwork involved excavations at pre-Hispanic Maya sites
in northern Belize under the direction of Patricia McAnany and Norman Hammond.
This experience left an indelible mark on me, not only by initiating a lifelong interest
in Mayan, Mesoamerican, and more generally Latin American culture, but also more
importantly by inspiring me to pursue a career in archaeology. An interest in Mayan
lithic studies led me to peruse graduate studies in the Anthropology Department at
Texas A&M University under the guidance of Harry Shafer. However as often happens
in graduate studies, a chance opportunity to do a summer of exploratory fi eldwork
ultimately led to a dissertation project and a shift in concentration. In my case the
shift was from an interest in pre-Hispanic Mayan culture to historic period Mayan
culture in northern Yucatán during the rise, hegemony, and decline of the hacienda
system from the Colonial period through the Mexican Revolution.
In hindsight, my transition and attraction to doing historical archaeology seems
a natural one; I had after all also earned a major in History as an undergraduate and
had always been interested in how the historical record was used to understand past
v
vi Preface
human experiences. At the time however I simply reasoned that an identifi ed fi eld
project that dealt with Maya culture, even if it was historical in period, was better
than the uncertain potential for a pre-Hispanic project. It was also during this period
that my advisor David Carlson introduced me to the world-systems perspective and
that by chance I came across a book on the Annales School approach in historiogra-
phy. These two perspectives would come to form the basic framework with which
I would interpret the archaeological record of the households at Hacienda Tabi .
The features and components of the world-system perspective aid me in placing
local household change within a global context, articulating the Mayan workers at
Hacienda Tabi within the larger global economic, social, and political networks of
that system. Central to this understanding is a discussion of the concept of produc-
tion and how local relations of production, which at fi rst blush seem antithetical to
capitalism, are in fact key components in global commodity chains within a capital-
ist world-economy. This book outlines the initial articulation of capitalist and non-
capitalist modes of production and documents the nature of the changes associated
with economic and social organization before and after the rise of the hacienda.
The A nnales school concept of “total history” includes an examination of the inter-
woven periods of time including the long d ureé (i.e., geohistory, cultural histories, etc.
that operate over millennia), conjunctures (i.e., social, economic, and political cycles
that operate over centuries or generations), and événements (i.e., the events of everyday
life represented by individual human actions) that represent the structures, processes,
and events that distinguish the cultural and social history of a particular place or region.
The Annales conception of time allows this work to place the archaeological record of
Hacienda Tabi within the historically particular context of the rise and development of
the hacienda system in Yucatán. In this book archaeological data provide insight
into the daily existence of individuals, whose actions are then correlated to larger
local, regional, and global historical trends operating at various wavelengths of time.
Of particular importance in this work is the use of the Annales “problem history”
approach in order to understand the critical social, political, economic, and environ-
mental events that created the historical moment in which the hacienda system along
with its attendant processes of change could rise to dominance on the peninsula.
The current volume represents 15 years of study and contemplation regarding the
rise of the modern world-system and how particular sites like Hacienda Tabi can
inform our understanding of the chains that have increasingly come to link nearly
every man, woman, and child in the world today. The modern era is distinguished by
the increasing articulation of people and places within a globalizing world, character-
ized by a capitalist world-economy that links the local and regional to the global
within an integrated world-system. Essential to this system is a worldwide division of
labor that organizes individuals and households into exploitative relationships within
global commodity chains. Haciendas and plantations, as some of the earliest capitalist
enterprises, illuminate the fundamental social changes associated with the historic
spread and growth of capitalism and therefore have relevance to contemporary people
who are still living and functioning under the realities of the modern world-system.
Houghton, MI, USA Sam R. Sweitz
Acknowledgments
This book, as I expect most books are to their authors, is very personal. It represents
years of thought and action distilled into the comparatively momentary act of writ-
ing. As is the case with many long projects, numerous people and institutions have
played a part in the completion of this work. First, I would like to thank the Texas
A&M University College of Liberal Arts and the following programs at Texas A&M
which supported the Hacienda Tabi Project and the research that has contributed to
this work, including the International Education Fee Scholarship Program, the
Scholarly and Creative Activities Program, the Interdisciplinary Research Initiatives
Program, Graduate Student Research and Presentation Program, and the L.T. Jordan
Institute Fellowship Program. I also want to thank the Department of Social Sciences
at Michigan Technological University for supporting the research and writing I have
done over the last 5 years and for supporting further research opportunities in Latin
America.
I am grateful to the Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Historia (INAH) of
México for sanctioning archaeological work at Hacienda Tabi and to anthropologist
Lourdes Rejón Patrón of Centro INAH Yucatán for the invaluable archival research
she undertook for the Hacienda Tabi Project and for her prior ethnographic work
focusing on Hacienda Tabi. I would also like to recognize the former Fundacíon
Cultural Yucatán and Director Leticia Roche for allowing archaeological investiga-
tions to be undertaken at Hacienda Tabi.
Dr. David Carlson, Dr. Allan Meyers, Dr. Jason Barrett, and Ben Woltz, M.A. all
contributed to the Hacienda Tabi Project and helped conduct various aspects of the
archaeological work that informs this volume. I would also like to thank my fi eld
crew for their dedication to this project, including Fredy Espejo Chi, Edgar Ismael
Hau Poox, Jorge Antonio Ek Tuz, Carlos Manuel Cetina Espejo, Juan Gonzalez
Canche, Henri Michael Marin Brito, and Pascual Ek. I certainly owe a great debt of
gratitude to Hacienda Tabi caretakers Abelardo Marin Yam, his wife Maria de los
Angeles Brito, and to their children Henri, Janette, and Christian. They were my
family away from family, giving me much companionship, joy, and assistance over
the months we spent together. I will not forget their kindness. I also want to thank
vii
viii Acknowledgments
Dr. Shawn Bonath Carlson for traveling to Yucatán to assist with the identifi cation
and classifi cation of artifacts.
I thank Dr. David Carlson, Dr. Lori Wright, Dr. Harry Shafer, and Dr. Henry
Schmidt for the insight and support they variously offered concerning the execution
of archaeological work at Hacienda Tabi and with earlier written drafts from which
this work grew. I also thank Dr. Charles Orser, Jr. for his encouragement and for
supporting the inclusion of this volume within the Contributions to Global Historical
Archaeology series. I am also grateful to Springer Archaeology and Anthropology
Senior Editor Teresa Krauss and Editorial Assistant Morgan Ryan for helping to
bring this project to conclusion.
Special thanks are due those individuals who have supported this work in a
broader sense through their love and friendship. I thank Jason, the Cavalier
Archaeologist, for his comradery, encouragement, and continued support. His
friendship has been a constant that I can count on. Many thanks to Scott, Mark,
Rhonda, and Cindy for the companionship, repose, and levity you have given me
over these years. Your friendship has truly enriched my life. I thank my extended
family for all the love and support they have shown me over the years. It has been
a comfort knowing I have such a large number of people on which I can truly rely.
I thank my father Gene, my mother Julie, my sister Amy, and my brother-in-law
Nash. Your support and continued belief in me has been a lasting source of strength.
I would especially like to thank my parents for encouraging both my sister and me
to follow whatever path would bring us happiness. I hope they all realize what a
profound part they have played in my life. Finally, I will thank Anna Lee Sweitz,
M.A., my “editor-in-chief,” who has been my constant companion and friend
through the high times and the low times. Your love and friendship has been a main-
stay of strength and support and this work is dedicated to you
Contents
1 On the Periphery of the Periphery ...................................................... 1
Introduction........... ................................................................................... 1
Historical Archaeology in Mexico and Yucatán ...................................... 2
Household Archaeology at Hacienda Tabi ............................................... 4
The Work at Hand .................................................................................... 9
References ................................................................................................ 10
2 A Theoretical Context for Documenting Social Change
in Yucatán: Changing Modes of Production and the Entry
of the Yucatec Maya into the World System ........................................ 13
Introduction.............. ................................................................................ 13
The Unifying Value of World-Systems Theory ....................................... 15
The World System: Defi nitions and Components .................................... 16
The Concept of Production and Modes of Production ............................. 19
The Coexistence of Modes of Production ................................................ 21
Modes of Production: Kin-Ordered, Tributary,
and Capitalist Production ......................................................................... 24
The “Local” in a Capitalist World-System .............................................. 26
Plantations as Capitalist Industrial Institutions ........................................ 29
References ................................................................................................ 31
3 A Theoretical Context for Documenting Social Change
in Yucatán, Part 2: Culture Change, Social Stratifi cation,
and Power Relationships ....................................................................... 35
The Character of Social Stratifi cation ...................................................... 38
Occupation and Status .............................................................................. 41
Power Relationships ................................................................................. 43
Domination and Resistance ...................................................................... 45
Public Versus Hidden Transcripts ............................................................ 48
Public Versus Hidden Transcripts on the Hacienda ................................. 50
The Nature of the System in Yucatán ...................................................... 51
References ................................................................................................ 52
ix