Recent calls to extricate the Maya from the stereotype of collapse have singled out cultural resilience as the viable new brand for the political present. In this paper I examine two episodes of Maya collapse and reorganization in Yucatan: the Spanish invasion (A.D. 1511–1546) and the Caste War (A.D. 1847–1901). Using the framework of resilience theory, I explore archaeological evidence of settlement aggregation and dispersal, reorganization of the built environment, and household production to reveal how strategies enacted before each catastrophe compare with those of their aftermaths. My evidence suggests that some native communities pursued consistent strategies that maintained or increased resilience of historic-period socioecological systems, whereas others suffered losses of autonomy under the Spanish colonial and post-independence regimes.