Contextualización histórica clásica maya y presente de la comunidad La Linterna, Alta Verapaz: modelos económicos y sus implicaciones en la región

Abstract

The goal of this research and thesis is to recover and compare archaeological, historical and ethnographic evidence to better understand the impacts of economic exchange between more complex societies and less complex societies: this dissertation explores this at La Linterna, located in the area of the Northern Transversal strip of Guatemala. The result indicates that the preservation of both the pre-Hispanic historical reconstruction of a community with historical, and especially ethnographic survey and direct observation can be a fundamental factor in better understanding both the modern and ancient situation, its damaging impacts, and potential outcomes. This cross-border region has within it the economic processes both in the past at Mesoamerican level, as well as at present at global level, including interpretations here guided by economic theories, network theory, and anthropology. In particular, it also emphasizes the current role of extractivist and neo-extractivist actions in the region, the implications and impacts that the practices of both hydrocarbon extraction and oil palm monoculture have caused, mainly in the cultural heritage of the territory of the community of La Linterna. This study also argues how the cultural and historical value of the region is invisibilized by the expansion of these external factors within national and municipal development policies, reproducing the recurrent extractivist patterns in Latin America. It could contribute to ongoing ecological or activist efforts to preserve the ancient and Cultural Patrimony of many countries.