Diane Lynn Slocum

GRANTEE EMAILED REPORTS: This project explores the contradiction between colonial mission sites as both controlling forces and celebratory spaces through an investigation of the relationship between residents and their mission church in Tahcabo, Yucatán, Mexico. The 16th-century Spanish arrival in Yucatán brought political, economic, and social changes to Maya societies, which were enacted through the creation of pueblos centered around mission churches. While traditionally seen as tools of oppression, today these places serve as sites of identity and historical remembrance for Yucatecans. This project centers on the theme of persistence to understand ties that people maintained to their church despite socio-political disruptions since the Colonial period. Through a collaborative archaeological framework, this study integrates architectural analysis, digital 3D modelling, oral histories, and ethnography to identify 1) how changes in the built environment at mission sites reflect and shape local histories and 2) how residents of historical mission sites in Yucatán experience the multi-temporal built environment in which they live.