Examining the long-lasting effects
of European colonization on Mexican populations
The Biocultural Consequences of
Contact in Mexico explores
how Mexican populations have been shaped both culturally and
biologically by
the arrival of Spanish conquistadors and the years following the defeat
of the
Aztec empire in 1521. Contributors to this volume draw on a diverse set
of
methods from archaeology, bioarchaeology, genetics, and history to
examine the
response to European colonization, providing evidence for the resilience
of the
Mexican people in the face of tumultuous change.
Essays focus on Central Mexico,
Yucatan, and Oaxaca, providing a cross-regional perspective, and they
highlight
Mexican scholars' work and viewpoints. They examine the effects of the
castas
system--which the colonizers used to organize society according to
parentage and
the social construction of race--on individuals' and groups' access to
power,
social mobility, health, and mate choice. Contributors illuminate the
poorly
understood extent that this system--and the national identity of
mestizaje that replaced it--caused inequality and the structural
violence of stress and health
disparities, as well as genetic admixture.
Five hundred years after the Spanish
first clashed with Aztec forces and began to influence modern Mexico,
this
volume adds to discussions of colonialism, the reconstruction of
biosocial
relationships, and the work of decolonization. Students and scholars
in
anthropology and history will gain insights into how human populations
transform
and adapt in the wake of major historical events that result in
migration,
demographic change, and social upheaval.
Contributors: Josefina Bautista Martínez Alfredo Coppa Andrea Cucina
Heather
J. H. Edgar Blanca Z. González-Sobrino María Teresa Jaén Esquivel
Haagen
D. Klaus Michaela Lucci Abigail Meza-Peñaloza Emily Moes Corey S.
Ragsdale Katelyn M. Rusk Robert C. Schwaller Julie K. Wesp Cathy
Willermet
A volume in the series Bioarchaeological Interpretations of the Human
Past: Local, Regional, and Global Perspectives, edited by Clark Spencer
Larsen
