Haciendas and economic change in Yucatan: Entrepreneurial strategies in the Parroquia-de-Yaxcaba, 1775-1850 (Historical archaeology)

Using archaeological and historical data from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century haciendas in the Parroquia de Yaxcabá, Yucatán, this paper demonstrates how documentary records can be employed to create diachronic archaeological explanations. Both the organization of production on the hacienda and the entrepreneurial strategies pursued by the estate owners contribute to the form of the hacienda. The following analysis suggests quantitative and qualitative explanations for variation in hacienda size and architectural elaboration. The archaeological interpretations offer a reconsideration of processes of economic change in central Yucatán prior to the Caste War of 1847. © 1997 Plenum Publishing Corporation.