Outside the Hacienda Walls: The Archaeology of Plantation Peonage in Nineteenth-Century Yucatán

245 Pages·2012·3.83 MB·English

by  Allan Meyers

Outside the Hacienda Walls
The Archaeology of Colonialism in Native North America
Series Editors
Liam Frink and Aubrey Cannon
Editorial Board
Alice Kehoe
Patricia Rubertone
Stephen Silliman
Katherine Spielmann
Michael Wilcox
Outside the Hacienda Walls
The Archaeology of Plantation Peonage
in Nineteenth-Century Yucatán
Allan Meyers
tucson
© 2012 The Arizona Board of Regents
All rights reserved
www.uapress.arizona.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Meyers, Allan Dale.
Outside the hacienda walls : the archaeology of plantation peonage in nineteenth-century
Yucatán / Allan Meyers.
p. cm. — (The archaeology of colonialism in Native North America)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8165-2994-0 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8165-2995-7 (paper : alk. paper)
1. Mayas—Mexico—Yucatán (State)—Antiquities. 2. Indians of Mexico—Mixed descent—
Mexico—Yucatán (State)—Antiquities. 3. Plantation workers—Mexico—Yucatán (State)—
Social conditions—19th century. 4. Haciendas—Mexico—Yucatán (State)—History—19th
century. 5. Peonage—Mexico—Yucatán (State)—History—19th century. 6. Social status—
Mexico—Yucatán (State)—History—19th century. 7. Villages—Mexico—Yucatán (State)—
History—19th century. 8. Excavations (Archaeology)—Mexico—Yucatán (State) 9. Yucatán
(Mexico : State)—Antiquities. 10. Yucatán (Mexico : State)—Social conditions—19th century.
I. Title.
F1435.1.Y89M49 2012
305.8979427—dc23 2011032777
Manufactured in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
containing a minimum of 30% post-consumer waste and processed chlorine free.
17 16 15 14 13 12 6 5 4 3 2 1
A don Abelardo Marin Yam, doña Mari Brito Canché, sus hijos y nietas

Contents
Illustrations ix
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
1. The Death of Pablo Chan 1
2. The Birth of an Expedition 19
3. Chronicle of an Estate 35
4. Life and Debt beyond the Walls 56
5. A Village Rediscovered 74
6. The Social Order in Clay and Stone 97
7. Where the Garbage Went 120
8. If Floors Could Talk 136
9. Return to the Light 162
Notes 177
Works Cited 195
Index 213

Illustrations
Figures
1.1. Laborer on Yucatán plantation 3
1.2. Portion of 1879 census record from Hacienda Tabi 7
1.3. Main grounds and village of Hacienda Xucú 10
1.4. Main grounds and village of Hacienda Petectunich 11
2.1. Yucatán Peninsula’s Puuc region 20
2.2. Tabi Ecological Reserve in southwest Yucatán 23
2.3. Aerial view of Hacienda Tabi’s great yard, mid-1980s 25
2.4. Bird’s-eye sketch of Hacienda Tabi, 1985 30
3.1. Plan of Tabi estate, 1817 38
3.2. Late nineteenth-century owners of Hacienda Tabi 41
3.3. Copper token from Hacienda Tabi 44
3.4. Plantation servant exposes scars of a lashing 47
3.5. Announcement of fugitive peon 50
4.1. Population pyramids for Hacienda Tabi, 1879 and 1887 61
4.2. Cities and towns where Tabi laborers originated 63
4.3. Field laborers in 1901 at Hacienda Santa María 71
5.1. Elliptical house with masonry walls in Tabi woods 77
5.2. Limestone masonry walls enclose hacienda great yard 80
5.3. Tabi church framed by main north gate, 1998 80
5.4. Site plan of Tabi village 82
5.5. Plan of Chan Kom, Yucatán, 1930s 84
5.6. Examples of modern thatch-roofed housing in Puuc region 87
5.7. Frequency of elliptical house types in Tabi village 88
5.8. Comparison of elliptical house size by type 89
5.9. Plan of principal house’s first floor 92
5.10. Burro’s house, 2009 93
6.1. Tabi cemetery 98
6.2. Vaults 4 and 5 of Tabi cemetery, 1996 99
6.3. Laying out transect line in Tabi forest 102
6.4. Sifting soils from test pit in Block 7 103
6.5. Examples of ceramic fragments from Tabi village 106
ix