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In the rolling countryside of the northern Yucatán, a team of researchers has brought to light the story of Hunacti—a short-lived 16th-century mission town whose stone streets and Spanish-style church mask a deeper narrative of relentless persecution, resilience and a quiet adherence to Maya religious traditions.

Led by UAlbany anthropologist Marilyn A. Masson, researchers from Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Morehead State University and the University of South Wales have pieced together a vivid portrait of Hunacti's 15-year lifespan, from its founding in 1557 to its abandonment by 1572.

Excavations of three elite residences, the central plaza and the church reveal a settlement that initially aligned itself with Spanish colonial expectations, only to maintain—and in some cases intensify—traditional Maya practices in the face of persecution and natural disaster.

Published in Latin American Antiquity, the study "Archaeological Perspectives on Confronting Social Change at the Sixteenth-Century Visita Town of Hunacti, Yucatán" offers an at how one short-lived Maya mission town navigated the upheavals of early Spanish colonial rule.

"Hunacti is a paradox," Masson said. "It was grandly built, with cooperative leaders at first, yet it became known for ongoing resistance, even when the costs were high."

A model town—and a target

Hunacti was established as a visita mission site—a satellite community visited periodically by Franciscan friars from larger convent centers. Its layout reflected Spanish ideals: Gridded streets radiated from a central plaza where a T-shaped church rose against the backdrop of pre-Hispanic pyramids and administrative buildings. Three large elite houses, built in a Spanish style with plastered walls, arched windows and niches, surrounded the plaza.

Historical records suggest the site's founding leaders enjoyed privileges rare for Maya elites under early colonial rule—access to horses, ownership of a cacao orchard and control over significant labor for construction.

"But Hunacti's prominence drew unwanted attention," explained Masson. "In the 1560s, the town figured prominently in the infamous Franciscan 'idolatry trials' led by Diego de Landa, which targeted Maya leaders for continuing traditional religious rites."

The research shows that in 1562, one Maya leader of the community, Juan Xiu, was arrested along with eight others and died under torture after being accused of human sacrifice. Later, in 1565 and 1570, subsequent leaders were punished for idolatry, including public lashings. Then, in 1572, famine struck and Hunacti was abandoned, with town residents likely relocating to nearby Tixmehuac.

A bizarre episode in 1561—when Xiu himself reported a stillborn infant with crucifixion-like marks—may have sealed the town's fate by drawing Franciscan scrutiny, according to the researchers.

The archaeology of resilience

According to the authors, excavations at the church and elite homes tell a story the Spanish chronicles only hint at: beneath the veneer of European architecture, Hunacti's residents held fast to Maya traditions.

The researchers found effigy censers—ceramic incense burners with modeled faces or figures representing ancient Maya deities— in all three elite houses and in several areas of the church.

"Many of the censers were found above the last colonial floors, suggesting their use continued until the settlement's end, despite Franciscan prohibitions," said Masson.

Other key findings include:

• Local production and provisioning: The stone tool assemblage relied on local chert and limestone; only one European metal tool was recovered (a hatchet)
• Sparse European goods: Unlike some contemporary mission towns, Hunacti yielded few imported items and little evidence of surplus production for Spanish markets
• Faunal remains: Mostly native species such as deer, peccary, and iguana; at least one horse—a status symbol for elites—was present

A calculated autonomy

While Hunacti's short occupation might be seen as a failure in colonial terms, Masson and her colleagues interpret it differently. The settlement's leaders appear to have shifted from early cooperation to a more self-sufficient, resistant stance, limiting engagement with Spanish trade networks and maintaining control over religious life.

This choice likely came at the expense of long-term stability and access to Spanish goods, but it preserved a degree of local autonomy—an outcome valued by many Indigenous communities navigating the pressures of colonization.

"Success in this context isn't just about wealth or imported goods," Masson noted. "It's also about sustaining your own traditions and making your own decisions, even under intense outside pressure."

Colonial-era Maya life

Hunacti's archaeology enriches our understanding of the diversity of experiences among Colonial-era Maya towns. While some communities embraced elements of Christianity and colonial governance to secure material benefits, others—like Hunacti—accepted the costs of resisting Spanish rule by maintaining pre-colonial Maya religious traditions.

The research also highlights the value of household archaeology in rewriting the narratives of Indigenous passivity that once dominated colonial histories.

"In the refuse of kitchens, the layout of houses and the hidden placement of ritual objects, we can see the subtle strategies of negotiation, adaptation and defiance," explained Masson.

For Hunacti, those strategies left a material record that still speaks, more than four centuries after the last residents walked away from their grand plaza.