Population geography of calamity: the sixteenth and seventeenth century Yucatan.

Abstract

"This historical demography for Yucatan [Mexico] at the time of Spanish contact presents a number of problems. There were multiple Maya-Spaniard contacts before the Spaniards established a continuous presence after the protracted conquest of the Yucatan. The area of Yucatan that was controlled by the Spanish at any one time is not precisely known, and Yucatan offered ¿refuge' areas where the indigenous population could avoid Spanish control and counts. These issues are addressed here by considering different regions of the Yucatan and using a numerical computer simulation to generate new estimates of population that result from migration, warfare, agricultural calamity, and epidemics."