Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Material Culture of Conversion: Early Franciscan Religious Sites at Tula de Allende, Hidalgo

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Though religion is a crucial aspect of identity for most of the world's population and has played a major role in most historical conflicts and conquests throughout history, archaeological research and theory has not adequately considered religion's role in remaking social worlds. A material-cultural perspective on this topic could augment or challenge understandings of religious change, just as historical archaeology has challenged standard narratives of history. To that end, this dissertation project focuses on religious identity and agency within the unequal power structures of the early colonial period in central Mexico. The research focuses on two early Franciscan sites in Tula de Allende, Hidalgo (Mexico): a chapel constructed in 1530 A.D. (at which researchers recently excavated the remains of forty-five individuals) and a cathedral constructed in 1550 A.D. Though built within two decades of one another, the chapel and the cathedral exhibit strikingly different architectural styles, modes of access, relationship to the urban landscape, and may reveal very different artifact assemblages. Under the direction of Dr. Enrique Rodriguez-Alegría, Shannon Dugan Iverson will employ a detailed geodatabase; fine-grained architectural, bioarchaeological, and artifactual analysis; and archival research in order to observe the ways that religious identities were renegotiated over time.Spanish conquistadors justified the conquest of the New World because it entailed the conversion of "pagans" to Christianity. In 1524, twelve Franciscan friars arrived in Central Mexico in the first wave of an ambitious conversion program that would eventually spread throughout New Spain. Secondary historical and linguistic models of Indigenous responses to this program have tended to vary along a spectrum ranging from "accommodation" to "conflict," terms that refer to the intentions, actions, and misunderstandings of both the mendicant and Indigenous communities. The goals of this project are to expand upon and challenge these models by using material culture and landscape studies as additional sources of knowledge about the negotiation of religious identity, to expand the notion of "religious" material culture, and to apply an innovative theoretical framework that considers religion as an aspect of identity.Tula has been the site of nearly continuous religious and political importance in central Mexico since the Toltec period (circa 950-1150AD), and likely had important religious connotations for the Aztecs before the Spanish conquest (1428-1521 AD). Despite this rich history, no study focusing exclusively on the colonial period has been published to date. The research will therefore extend the history of a city that is considered by archaeologists, historians, and tourists alike to be one of the most important sites in Mexico's past and present. Iverson is committed to fostering collaboration with international and local researchers by sharing her results in publications in English and Spanish and by making her databases publicly accessible. Further, she will publicize the research by giving lectures and tours to students, congregants, and communities in Tula. These efforts will complicate notions of conversion practices for researchers and the general public alike. This award will also further Ms. Iverson's academic and intellectual development.