Benjamin F. Tillman, Department of History, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX 76129. E-mail: b.tillman@tcu.edu. The Miskito Settlement Landscape of Eastern Honduras, with Emphasis on the Moravian Contribution.

This research documents the influence of Moravian missionary activities on the Miskito settlement landscape in eastern Honduras—particularly in the areas of settlement morphology, housing, and agriculture. Moravian contributions to the settlement landscape were documented through field observations of material culture in sixty-four Miskito villages, and research in the Moravian Church archives. This information was used to map a hierarchy of Moravian centers illustrating spatially varying degrees of Moravian influence on the Miskito settlement landscape.

Principal findings include: (1) Missionaries modified Miskito settlement morphology by implementing a distinctive settlement type based on the Hurrnhut model whereby church buildings were located on a central square that was bisected by the principal village road; (2) Moravian church architecture in Honduras passed through three stages based on form and construction material. (3) Moravian alterations to Miskito housing included the installation of outside walls and inside partitions, frame construction raised above the ground on posts, and the addition of an external kitchen and gallery; and (4) Moravian influence on Miskito agriculture included the introduction of new seed crops, and the expansion of traditional dooryard gardens. Through the analysis of cultural landscapes this study builds a greater understanding of the role of religion in creating ethnic landscapes, and the historical and cultural processes involved in the development of a Protestant cultural region within Catholic Central America.

Keyword: Miskito Indians, cultural landscapes, Honduras