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The Canek Manuscript in Ethnohistorical Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Grant D. Jones
Grant D. Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28036, USA
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Abstract

The Canek Manuscript describes a visit by Fray András de Avendaño y Loyola, two Franciscan companions, and ten Maya sacristans from the town of Tipu to the towns of Chacan on the western shore of Lake Peten Itza and Noh Peten (Tah Itza or Tayasal) on the island that today is Flores, Peten, Guatemala. This visit probably occurred in January or February, 1695, two years before the Spanish conquest of Noh Peten. The four-folio manuscript is a fragment of a larger document, the remainder of which is lost. The Franciscan author, a lay brother, was probably Fray Alonso de Vargas. This contribution places the manuscript in its ethnohistorical context, describes it content, and discusses its significance.

Type
Special Section: The Canek Manuscript
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , Fall 1992 , pp. 243 - 268
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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