Historical development of settlement, Bay Islands, Honduras
Creators: name: Watt, Ian
Publisher: name: University of Calgary
Year: 1973
Subjects: subject: F 1509 B3 W288 1973 Microfiche
subject: Land settlement - Honduras
subject: Colonization - Honduras

description: Bibliography: p. 248-263.
description: The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse the historical development of settlement in the Bay Islands. Chapter 1 contains a general introduction to the study area. Previous academic research and other relevant literature is discussed, as are significant methodological developments in historical and settlement geography. Study aims and methods are then outlined. Chapter 2 describes the physical backgrormd of settlement, while Chapter 3 outlines pre­Columban settlement and the impact of Spain. Chapter 4 describes the various foTillS of settlement attempted by the British in the Islands between 1638 and 1859, particular attention being given to the politico­legal conditions influencing British settlement of the Islands between 1830 and 1859. Chapter 5 details the chronology of settlement since 1830. Firstly factors inducing migration to the Islands are outlined; then, using data derived from local birth registers and government publica­tions, the spatial and temporal evolution of settlement was mapped and described. Four stages in settlement evolution are recognized: a colonization stage (1830-1859); an initial diffusion stage (1860-1889); a second diffusion stage (1890-1919) and lastly a stage characterized not only by diffusion but also by the disappearance of settlements and urbanization. Chapter 6 contains a typology in which the region's settlements are classified according to site, situation, form, size, age, function and ethnic composition. Having tlrus determined the general nature of the region's settlements, case studies of six broadly representative settlements were undertaken, the results being presented in Chapter 7. Chapter 8 attempts to synthesize the writer's findings at both the regional and local scales. Concluding remarks are restricted to the form and structure of settlements, the temporal nature of Bay Islands settlement process and lastly to the pattern of settlement evolution. The dominant coastal linear settlement form is shown to exhibit consid­erable internal variation when studied at a scale larger than the regional, while neighbourhood segregation, principally along racial lines is shown to characterize the Islands' agglomerated settlements. Examina­tion of time series of population, settlement foundation, and major regional economic indicators reveal close interaction between the three. Banana cultivation is shown to have been a major spur to the creation of new settlements, whereas coconut farming and conunercial fishing have promoted agglomeration and urbanization. Finally in re-examining the evolution of settlement the temporal priority of certain factors is recognized. These form the basis of a 3-stage idealized model of the evolution of Bay Islands settlement pattern. In the concluding section it is predicted that urbanization will continue, rural settlement decline, and that the Islands will persist as an English speaking culture enclave of Honduras.