Archaeological excavations on the north coast of Honduras at CR-337, an archaeological site we identify as the pre-Hispanic and colonial town Ticamaya (Figure 10.1), produced a stratigraphic record with radiocarbon dates as early as 1300–1400 ce and artifacts dating as late as the nineteenth century (Blaisdell-Sloan 2006; Wonderley 1984a, 1984b). According to sixteenth-century Spanish documents, Ticamaya was a critical settlement in Spanish and native military campaigns and political strategies in the early sixteenth century (Sheptak 2004, 2006, 2008).

The two parallel bodies of data produced by excavations and archival research are each material traces from the past, and each, we argue, is equally relevant archaeological data. Tacking back and forth between documents and other materials, we demonstrate that sexuality is a highly visible structuring principle in colonial Honduras, albeit more directly legible in documentary materials. That, we would suggest, is partly because the regulation of sexuality and the products of sexual liaisons was jurally relevant, requiring overt commentary (Brooks 2002; Twinam 1999).