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Paper Information:
Type: Paper
Paper Title: CLASS DIFFERENTIATION AND TOWN DESIGN IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY MEXICO
Author: CHRIS KYLE   
Date/Time: Sat., 2:15 PM
Co-Author(s): CHRIS KYLE 
Abstract: The forced relocation of indigenous populations in sixteenth century New Spain was accompanied by the creation of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of planned settlements. The efforts were directed by Spanish clergy and civil authorities and were guided by instructions on town design issued by the Spanish Crown. These instructions are notable for their lack of provisions for either ethnic or socioeconomic divisions within the resettled populations. Instead, local authorities were instructed to partition residential lots into units of uniform size and to insure that street-facing facades were built in a uniform style. In the research reported here, I examine modifications to the generic instructions that were made by local authorities to give material expression to social divisions that existed at the time of the settlements' creation and create explicit zones of exclusion and incorporation. These divisions appear to be constructed at least in part on the basis of class, an important realm of social identity. Using a combination of documentary sources and visual inspection of high resolution aerial and satellite imagery, I examine variation in socioeconomic differentiation that existed within a selection of sixteenth century indigenous communities.

Program Number: 4-0775
Session Title: THE ARCHITECTURE OF IDENTITY
Session Sponsor: Archaeology Division
Session Date/Time: Sat., 1:45 PM-5:30 PM
Organizer(s): KATHRYN SAMPECK (Illinois State University) 
Chair(s): ELIZABETH SCOTT  
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