Las danzas indígenas del centro de México según las fuentes coloniales / The indigenous dances of Central Mexico according to colonial sources

El objetivo de este artículo es el estudio de las descripciones de la danza indígena del centro de México prehispánico según las fuentes coloniales escritas en español, latín y náhuatl. Por primera vez se hace una síntesis completa de la información de los exploradores, misioneros y cronistas españoles y de las fuentes escritas por indígenas o con indígenas acerca de la danza nativa. A través del análisis se puede observar cómo los soldados o conquistadores, los cronistas oficiales de la Corona española y los frailes ofrecieron una visión de acuerdo con sus intereses, creencias y modos de conceptualizar el mundo.Abstract: The aim of the present paper is to study the descriptions of the indigenous dance of Central pre-Hispanic Mexico according to the colonial sources written in Spanish, Latin and Nahuatl. For the first time, a complete synthesis of the information obtained by the Spanish explorers, missionaries, and chroniclers, and of the sources written by indigenous people or with indigenous people about the native dance is made. Through the analysis one can observe how the official chroniclers of the Spanish Crown, the friars and the soldiers or conquerors offered a vision in accordance with their interests, beliefs and their ways of conceptualizing the world.Keywords: dance; New World; Mesoamerican studies; historical records; worldview.Résumé : L’objectif de cet article est l’étude des descriptions de la danse autochtone du Mexique central à l’époque préhispanique selon les sources coloniales écrites en espagnol, latin et nahuatl. Pour la première fois, une synthèse complète est réalisée avec des informations des explorateurs, des missionnaires, des chroniqueurs espagnols ainsi que des sources écrites par, ou avec les peuples autochtones à propos de la danse indigène. Tout au long de cette analyse nous pouvons constater la manière dont les chroniqueurs officiels de la Couronne espagnole, les moines et les soldats ou conquérants ont offert une vision en fonction de leurs intérêts, croyances et façons de conceptualiser le monde.Mots-clés : danse ; Nouveau Monde ; études mésoaméricaines ; sources historiques ; vision du monde.

Conquest and Colony

How did Spain conquer the New Kingdom of Granada? In the wake of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the New World in 1492, Spanish explorers began traveling to the Caribbean coast of modern-day Colombia, looking for gold and slaves while continuing their quest to discover...

Ponce de León

Juan Ponce de León was an important figure in the early years of the Spanish exploration and conquest of the Caribbean. He participated in the conquest of Hispaniola, earning the title of deputy governor of the province of Higüey. He then moved on to the exploration and conquest of Puerto Rico in 1508. He established yucca farms and gold mines on the island and extended Spanish authority over the Taíno there, although there were armed uprisings in 1511 and 1513. In 1511, he lost his title as governor of the island to Admiral Diego Colón, the oldest son of Cristopher Columbus. Through the patronage of King Ferdinand, Ponce de León received a license to explore and settle the island of Bimini and any unclaimed islands north of Hispaniola. In 1513, he sailed north along the east coast of Florida, eventually claiming the land for Spain and naming it La Florida. He then sailed to Spain and received a second more expansive license to settle La Florida. In 1514, he led a campaign to subdue Carib resistance on the island of Guadeloupe. Ponce de León returned to Florida in 1521. This time he attempted to build a settlement on the southwest coast of Florida, but was shot by members of the Calusa chiefdom. The colonization attempt failed and he died from his wounds in Cuba shortly thereafter. These expeditions were recorded in a number of the early Spanish chronicles. Those chroniclers mixed history, gossip, and mythology and through their works, the 1513 expedition to Florida became associated with the pursuit of a mythical fountain of youth. Ponce de León’s original logs and report of the journey have been lost and no known archival documents mention the fountain. More historically significant was his discovery of the Gulf Stream, which became a major avenue of transatlantic shipping for centuries to follow. As the founder of Spanish society in Puerto Rico, Ponce de León’s legacy has been studied as part of the island’s history. He was also the first of many Spanish explorers to attempt to conquer and settle Florida, giving him a founding place in Florida history and in the history of the Spanish borderlands in the southeastern United States.

An Archaeology of Abundance

An Archaeology of Abundance focuses on the archaeology and historical ecology of a series of islands located off the Pacific Coast of Alta and Baja California, from the Channel Islands to Cedros Island. Compared to the adjacent mainland, these islands have long been considered marginal habitats for ancient hunter-gatherers, beginning with accounts of early Spanish explorers and by later naturalists, scientists, and government agents, as well as the anthropologists and archaeologists who followed. This perception of marginality has greatly influenced our interpretation of a variety of archaeological issues including the antiquity of first settlement; the productivity of island floras, freshwater, and mineral resources; human population density; and the nature of regional exchange, wealth, and power networks. Recent advances in archaeological and historical ecological research, combined with field observations of recovering ecosystems suggest that the California Islands may not have been the marginal habitats they once appeared to be. Severe overgrazing and overfishing during historic times heavily impacted local ecosystems, which are now recovering under modern management, conservation, and restoration practices. While older models developed through the perspective of island marginality may hold true for certain resources or islands, it is important to reconsider our interpretations of past and present archaeological data, and reevaluate long-held assumptions, given these new insights. Ultimately, a reexamination of the effects of perceived marginality on the history of archaeological interpretations on California's islands may have broad implications for other island archipelagos worldwide.

Introduction

Even before the waves of mass immigration to the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Greeks are known to have accompanied Spanish explorers and British colonists to the New World.1 Along with many other cultural elements, they brought their treasured music. Despite a substantial history, there has been little written about Greek music in America outside of a limited number of essays in relatively ephemeral or obscure sources. This volume is intended to provide a foundation for understanding the scope, practice, and development of Greek music in America through essays and profiles written by many of the principal scholars in the field....

Signs and Gestures

Early contact between native peoples and Spanish explorers, conquistadors, and missionaries was mediated by signs and gestures with mixed success. Visual symbols by themselves often conveyed the wrong message or none at all. Religious iconography would occupy a central place in the devotional life of the Mexican church. But from the first encounters with Caribbean islanders through the use of images of the Virgin Mary to Christianize pagan space, to the experiments with pictorial catechisms and sermons illustrated by scenes of heaven and hell, the Spanish learned that visual codes needed to be combined with verbal communication to reveal their meanings.

The Rise and Fall of Mississippian Ancient Towns and Cities, 1000–1700

The story of the pre-Columbian Mississippi Period (1000 ce–1600 ce) of the American South and parts of the Midwest is the story of the rise of the ancient Mississippian towns and cities and the world they made, the history of that world, and its collapse with European contact. First, however, readers must become acquainted with the chiefdom concept as it applies to these ancient towns and cities in order to outline some of the basic organizing structures of Mississippian political units. The Mississippi Period began with the rise of the great Indian city of Cahokia and the long reach of its influence over a vast region, resulting in a new social, religious, and political ordering across the land and the formation of numerous polities that archaeologists call “chiefdoms” (the Early Mississippi Period 1000 ce–1300 ce). The fall of Cahokia around 1300 ce cleared the way for the elaboration of these early chiefdoms and the rise of others throughout the Mississippian world (the Middle Mississippi Period 1300–1475 ce). Many of these grand Middle Mississippi chiefdoms, in turn, collapsed around 1450 ce. In the wake of this collapse, people regrouped and built new chiefdoms throughout the American South (the Late Mississippi Period 1475–1600 ce). These are the people that the early Spanish explorers met in the 16th century. Encounters with the Spaniards set in motion a series of colonial disruptions of warfare, disease, and commercial slave raiding that resulted in another collapse of the Mississippian world, only this time never to rise again. However, the survivors of these fallen chiefdoms regrouped and restructured their lives and societies for living in a new world order—this one being a colonial world on the margins of an expanding European empire.

Chance long-distance or human-mediated dispersal? How Acacia s.l. farnesiana attained its pan-tropical distribution

Acacia s.l. farnesiana , which originates from Mesoamerica, is the most widely distributed Acacia s.l. species across the tropics. It is assumed that the plant was transferred across the Atlantic to southern Europe by Spanish explorers, and then spread across the Old World tropics through a combination of chance long-distance and human-mediated dispersal. Our study uses genetic analysis and information from historical sources to test the relative roles of chance and human-mediated dispersal in its distribution. The results confirm the Mesoamerican origins of the plant and show three patterns of human-mediated dispersal. Samples from Spain showed greater genetic diversity than those from other Old World tropics, suggesting more instances of transatlantic introductions from the Americas to that country than to other parts of Africa and Asia. Individuals from the Philippines matched a population from South Central Mexico and were likely to have been direct, trans-Pacific introductions. Australian samples were genetically unique, indicating that the arrival of the species in the continent was independent of these European colonial activities. This suggests the possibility of pre-European human-mediated dispersal across the Pacific Ocean. These significant findings raise new questions for biogeographic studies that assume chance or transoceanic dispersal for disjunct plant distributions.

Precipitation as the main driver of Neoglacial fluctuations of Gualas glacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield

Glaciers are frequently used as indicators of climate change. However, the link between past glacier fluctuations and climate variability is still highly debated. Here, we investigate the mid- to late-Holocene fluctuations of Gualas Glacier, one of the northernmost outlet glaciers of the Northern Patagonian Icefield, using a multi-proxy sedimentological and geochemical analysis of a 15 m long fjord sediment core from Golfo Elefantes, Chile, and historical documents from early Spanish explorers. Our results show that the core can be sub-divided into three main lithological units that were deposited under very different hydrodynamic conditions. Between 5400 and 4180 cal yr BP and after 750 cal yr BP, sedimentation in Golfo Elefantes was characterized by the rapid deposition of fine silt, most likely transported by fluvio-glacial processes. By contrast, the sediment deposited between 4130 and 850 cal yr BP is composed of poorly sorted sand that is free of shells. This interval is particularly marked by high magnetic susceptibility values and Zr concentrations, and likely reflects a major advance of Gualas glacier towards Golfo Elefantes during the Neoglaciation. Several thin silt layers observed in the upper part of the core are interpreted as secondary fluctuations of Gualas glacier during the Little Ice Age, in agreement with historical and dendrochronological data. Our interpretation of the Golfo Elefantes glaciomarine sediment record in terms of fluctuations of Gualas glacier is in excellent agreement with the glacier chronology proposed for the Southern Patagonian Icefield, which is based on terrestrial (moraine) deposits. By comparing our results with independent proxy records of precipitation and sea surface temperature, we suggest that the fluctuations of Gualas glacier during the last 5400 yr were mainly driven by changes in precipitation in the North Patagonian Andes.