The trajectory of European health centres in Yucatan during the colonial period and the first indicators of change toward modern medicine

Abstract

With the arrival of the Spanish conquerors new methods of healing and previously unheard of medicines were added to the plethora of traditional alternatives that were available to the autochthonous peoples of the Yucatan peninsula. These included herbs, animals and native minerals that were applied in home remedies by healers with black or indigenous backgrounds, or products from more distant parts of the world (America, Europe, Asia or Africa) acquired in a pharmacy and applied by a religious man or trained medic in a hospital with European standards; centers that were often looked upon with suspicion by the Mayan population. The local medicinal plants that were obtained through the exploitation of indigenous labor enriched the pockets of ambitious Spaniards who took advantage of their growing demand. Towards the end of the colony this therapeutic medical system, dominant for so many centuries in Europe, began to be questioned by enlightened doctors, marking the beginning of the era of modern medicine.