Abstract

Culture change has traditionally been a major research problem in anthropology. Work on this problem has focused primarily on studies of internal and external factors which influence culture change. This discussion concerns external factors and focuses on changes that occur in one culture as the result of prolonged and continuous contact with a second culture. This paper addresses the question of why some populations adapt to culture contact by assimilation while others adapt through the maintenance of cultural distinctiveness. This problem is well- suited to analysis from an ecological perspective because it involves mutual adaptation to a new social environment brought on by the contact situation.

Keywords: Demography

How to Cite: Yarborough C., (1986) “Assimilation and Ethnicity: Ecological and Demographic Factors in Colonial Chiapas, Mexico”, Atlatl 6.