The Aztecs of Central Mexico: An Imperial SocietyThis case study is about the Aztecs of central Mexico, a people who dominated a vast area of what is now Mexico when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in AD 1519, but who had humble beginnings as despised nomads. The story of the confrontation and the defeat of the Aztecs by the small force of Spaniards led by Hernan Cortes is told in the last chapter. The larger part of this book is devoted to an ethnographic reconstruction of Aztec culture as it flourished in the period immediately preceding the conquest. |
Contents
Mexico and the Mexica | 1 |
A Note on Methods | 15 |
Social Structure and Dynamics | 51 |
Copyright | |
9 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
activities agricultural apparently areas artisans Azcapotzalco Aztec Basin of Mexico Berdan cacao calendar calmecac calpulli central Mexico ceremonies Chapter chiles chinampa cihuacoatl city-state cloaks clothing Codex Mendoza colonial commoners conquest Cortés cotton cultivation culture dancing Durán empire example feast feathers featherworkers Figure friars goddess gods groups honor household Huitzilopochtli human sacrifice ibid Indian indigenous labor Lake Texcoco land Lockhart Lord luxury macehualtin maguey maize major marketplace mayeque Mesoamerica Mexica Mexica ruler Mexico City military Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin Nahuatl native nobility nobles offered Otomí palace patron deity persons pipiltin pochteca political population priests production professional merchants provinces pulque Quetzalcoatl Rabbit religious ritual rule Sahagún served sixteenth century slaves social Spain Spaniards Spanish status stone tamales tecutli telpochcalli temple Tenochtitlan Texcoco Tezcatlipoca thou tion Tlacopan Tlaloc Tlatelolco tlatoani tlatoque Tlaxcallans tonalpohualli tribute Triple Alliance Triple Alliance capitals urban warfare warriors women