Archaeology of Early Colonial Interaction at El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba

Download or read book Archaeology of Early Colonial Interaction at El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba written by Roberto Valcárcel Rojas and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2016-01-19 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During Spanish colonization of the Greater Antilles, the islands’ natives were forced into labor under the encomienda system. The indigenous people became "Indios," their language, appearance, and identity transformed by the domination imposed by a foreign model that Christianized and "civilized" them. Yet El Chorro de Maíta retained many of its indigenous characteristics. In this volume--one of the first in English to examine and document an archaeological site in Cuba--Roberto Valcárcel Rojas analyzes the construction of colonial authority and the various attitudes and responses of natives and other ethnic groups. His pioneering study reveals the process of transculturation in which new individuals emerged--Indians, mestizos, criollos--and helps construct the vital link between the pre-Columbian world and the development of an integrated and new history.