From the Cuchcabal Cochuah to the Subdelegación de los Beneficios Altos: Villages, Territory and Frontier in Eastern Yucatán, 1527-1812.
This research uses archaeological, historical, and geographic data to explore the history of the pre-Columbian territory known as Cochuah and its transition to colonial rule under the name of Beneficios Altos. It narrates the history of a pre-Hispanic Maya micro-region as its residents worked to adapt, survive, and fight the colonial conditions imposed on their territory beginning in the mid-16th century, with a particular focus on the dynamics of a colonial frontier. The investigation explores the interrelationships between Mayas, mestizos, Spaniards, pardos, mulatos, Blacks, Mosquito Indians, and the English in this disputed area and the implications of these interactions for the landscape.
Professional Biography
Fabián A. Olán is a Master’s student in History at Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social (CIESAS Peninsular). He is an archaeologist who graduated from Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. He has principally worked on pre-Hispanic sites in the Puuc región of Yucatan with the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, but is interested in the historical archaeology of the Maya area.