Figure 12.5 The Aztec calendar stone (diameter 3.58 m) (photograph by Michael E. Smith; reproduced with permission of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia)
Figure 12.6 The Aztec calendar stone (drawing by Emily Umberger; reproduced with permission)
The 20 day names arranged in a circle around the central figures account for the popular name of the monument, but it did not function as a calendar. The day names merely indicated the passage of time and the link between time and power. Around the perimeter of the disk were carved two fire-serpents, xiuhcoatl, that related to Huitzilopochtli and sacred warfare. The eight triangular pointers were both solar rays and directional indicators. The four larger pointers indicated the four cardinal directions and served as a symbol for the entire earth. In short, the “Aztec calendar stone” conveyed the message that the Aztec Empire covered the whole earth (territory in all four directions), and that it was founded upon the sacred principles of time, directionality, divine warfare, and the sanction of the gods.
The calendar stone is the largest and best-known example of a group of monumental cylindrical sculptures created by imperial artists in Tenochtitlan during the expansion of the empire. One term for these monuments was temalacatl (“stone spindle whorl”), referring to the stone platform used during the gladiator sacrifice ceremony (chapter 10); they were also called cuauhxicalli (“eagle vessel”), a symbolic association with stone vessels used to hold the blood of sacrificial victims. Each Mexica emperor, probably starting with Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, had one of these stones carved for use at his ceremony of dedication for the expansion of the Templo Mayor. Several examples still survive, including the “Stone of Tizoc.”
Friar Durán describes Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin on his accession to power in 1502:
Motecuhzoma was always anxious to have his accomplishments well known throughout the entire land, and all the feats of earlier kings seemed of minor importance to him, from his own point of view of grandeur and fame. He considered that the sacrificial stone his grandfather had set up was too small and banal and that it did not conform to the magnificence and authority of his city. Therefore, he called a meeting of the chieftains of his council and spoke to them of making another stone, the widest and largest that would be found in the entire region.
The result of this meeting was the creation of the calendar stone, the largest and most magnificent of the imperial sacrificial stones.5
The imperial Tenochtitlan style of stone sculpture is so distinctive that it has not been difficult to identify examples at provincial sites. Unlike many Mexica material remains, such as ceramics or architecture, the imperial stone sculptural style was a late development. Therefore its occurrence in provincial areas cannot be attributed to broad cultural patterns or pre-imperial commerce or interaction; these sculptures were either carried to provincial areas, or carved by Mexica artists in the provinces, after the expansion of the empire. Given the intertwined political and religious symbolism of Mexican imperial sculptures, their occurrence in provincial cities signals processes of political diplomacy, legitimation, and propaganda. The relief of Tezcatlipoca shown in figure 12.7, for example, was recovered at Calixtlahuaca, along with a number of other sculptures in the imperial style. Although we cannot yet specify the historical details of the situation, the rulers of Calixtlahuaca were using these objects to make strong ideological statements of affiliation with the empire.6
Figure 12.7 Stone relief in the Tenochtitlan imperial style excavated at Calixtlahuaca; now in the Museo Román Piña Chán at the site of Teotenango, State of Mexico (height 63 cm). This relief depicts a smoking mirror, one of the symbols of Tezcatlipoca (photograph by Michael E. Smith; reproduced with permission of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia)
Literature and Poetry
Literature and poetry were oral arts practiced by priests and members of the nobility.7 The Aztecs greatly valued oratorical skill, and fine speakers and poets had high reputations. The Acolhua king Nezahualcoyotl, for example, was widely revered as a great poet. The Nahua informants of Friar Sahagún had this to say about orators:
The good narrator:
pleasing words, joyful words,
he has flowers on his lips.
His speech overflows with advice,
flowers come from his mouth.
His speech, pleasing and joyful as flowers;
from him come noble language
and careful sentences.8
Fortunately, many poems, histories, and formal speeches by such narrators were recorded in Nahuatl soon after the Spanish Conquest. Ethnohistorian Miguel León-Portilla divides Aztec literature into four categories: myths, sacred hymns, lyric poetry, and histories. I explore myths in chapter 9 and histories in chapter 1; here my discussion focuses on sacred hymns and poetry.
Sacred Hymns
Sacred hymns were chanted at ceremonies to honor the gods. Most were exhortations to the highest and most powerful deities, such as Ometeotl, Tlaloc, and Huitzilopochtli. The majority of hymns were dedicated to Tezcatlipoca, who was often addressed as “Giver of Life.” In the following hymn, the Giver of Life is invoked in his roles as both the creator and destroyer of the world:
With flowers you write,
Oh Giver of Life!
With songs you give color,
with songs you shade
those who must live on the earth.
Later you will destroy
eagles and tigers [jaguars];
we live only in your painting
here, on the earth.
With black ink you will blot out
all that was friendship,
brotherhood, nobility.
You give shading
to those who must live on the earth.
Later You will destroy
eagles and tigers [jaguars];
we live only in your painting
here, on the earth.9
Tezcatlipoca, the Giver of Life, is described here as both a poet (“With flowers you write”; see below) and a scribe (the black ink, colors, and painting).
Lyric Poetry
The Nahuatl phrase for poetry was in xochitl, in cuicatl, which translates as “flower and song.” Flowers and the beauty of the world were important themes of lyric poetry, as was the celebration of the singer or poet:
The flowers sprout, they are fresh, they grow;
they open their blossoms,
and from within emerge the flowers of song;
among men You scatter them, You send them.
You are the singer!10
Many poems dealt with the transience of life and the ability of poetry to transcend mortal limitations. The great Acolhua king Nezahualcoyotl expressed these ideas as follows:
My flowers shall not cease to live;
my songs shall never end:
I, a singer, intone them;
they become scattered, they are spread about.11
This concern for life's impermanence and the inevitability of death was a major preoccupation of Aztec literature and poetry. Nezahualcoyotl's poem quoted in chapter 1 is a good example: “Not forever on earth, only a little while.” But if our lives are short, we should enjoy them while we can:
One day we must go,
one night we will descend into the region of mystery.
Here, we only come to know ourselves;
only in passing are we here on earth.
In peace and pleasure let us spend our lives; come let us enjoy ourselves.
Let not the angry do so; the earth is vast indeed!
Would that one lived forever; would that one were not to die!12
Music and Dance
Music and dance were holy arts, performed mainly at rituals and ceremonies. Fortunately, many Aztec musical instruments have survived and specialists can reconstruct many aspects of Aztec music. Perhaps the most common instrument was the ceramic flute, which came in several varieties. Figure 12.8 shows a “flower flute” whose symbolism invoked the god Tez
catlipoca. At some ceremonies for the god flutes like this were broken on the temple steps; in others flutes were placed in buried offerings. The recovery of a group of these flutes from offerings at the Templo Mayor allowed music-archaeologist Arnd Adje Both to play the instruments and record the sounds for technical analysis. He determined that these instruments could play a variety of notes and scales, and were not limited to a simple five-note or pentatonic scale as some authors had suggested.
Figure 12.8 Ceramic “flower-flutes” (length approx. 22 cm) (2002:284; drawing by C. Koch; reproduced with permission)
Some Aztec musical instruments produced sounds that imitated natural sounds. For example, a type of ceramic whistle called a skull whistle made a distinctive noise like the wind, and rattles made from gourds and ceramics imitated rainfall. Small ceramic pellets were inserted in the long hollow handles of censers (figure 10.1), and their rattling imitated the warning signal of a rattlesnake. Percussion instruments included bone rasps (figure 9.11) and several types of drum. In figure 12.9 the instrument on the right is a large upright wooden drum with a skin head known as a huehuetl that was played with the hands. On the left is a horizontal drum (teponaztli) made of a single piece of wood that produced two tones when struck in different places with mallets. Below these, men are playing pottery flutes.
Figure 12.9 Ritual dance accompanied by drums (left, teponaztli; right, huehuetl) and flutes. The dancers, holding rattles and feathers, circle around an image of the god Macuilxochitl in the center (modified after Códice Tudela 1980:f.66r)
Most of the ethnohistorical information about music and dance pertains to public ceremonies, and nearly all of the whole instruments to survive are from offerings at temples. Although some authors assume from this that music was only used in public, temple, and court ceremonies, numerous fragments of musical instruments have been found in domestic trash deposits. I have excavated many pieces of flutes, rattles, and whistles at commoner and elite houses in both urban and rural settings. These items were most likely used in domestic rituals, although it is possible that people kept the instruments in their homes and brought them out for public ceremonies.13
Figure 12.9 illustrates a public dance accompanied by music. The dancers carry feather bundles and elaborate rattles. Many dances included both men and women, and the participants often moved in a circular pattern around the musicians in the center. Friar Durán was fascinated by Aztec dance and song, although he was scandalized by some of the dances of young people:
Young people took great pride in their ability to dance, sing, and guide the others in the dances. They were proud of being able to move their feet to the rhythm and of following the time with their bodies in the movements the natives used, and with their voice the tempo. The dances of these people are governed not only by the rhythm but by the high and the low notes in the chant, singing and dancing at the same time.
Thus these differences in songs and dances existed: some were sung slowly and seriously; these were sung and danced by the lords on solemn and important occasions and were intoned, some with moderation and calm, [while] others [were] less sober and more lively. These were dances and songs of pleasure known as “dances of youth,” during which they sang songs of love and flirtation, similar to those sung today on joyful occasions. There was also another dance so roguish that it can almost be compared to our own Spanish dance the saraband, with all its wriggling and grimacing and immodest mimicry. It is not difficult to see that it was the dance of immoral women and fickle men . . . it is highly improper.14
Chapter 13
Final Glory, Conquest, and Legacy
Nothing but flowers and songs of sorrow
are left in Mexico and Tlatelolco,
where once we saw warriors and wise men.
We wander here and there
in our desolate poverty.
We are mortal men.
We have seen bloodshed and pain
where once we saw beauty and valor.
We are crushed to the ground;
we lie in ruins.
There is nothing but grief and suffering
in Mexico and Tlatelolco,
where once we saw beauty and valor.
Have you grown weary of your servants?
Are you angry with your servants,
O Giver of Life?
Cantares Mexicanos
Aztec civilization reached the height of its development in the years following AD 1500, only to be cut short by a band of Spanish conquerors between 1519 and 1521. The coming of the Europeans in the aftermath of Christopher Columbus's voyages spelled doom for many hundreds of native cultures in North and South America. Some peoples, including the Aztecs, were conquered by force, others submitted peacefully, and still others resisted European advances for centuries. Some were wiped out by epidemic disease before they were able to choose resistance or submission. The Aztecs were the first urban, state-level society encountered by the European invaders, and the means of their conquest – military defeat combined with decimation by epidemics – were to be repeated many times across the New World.
There are no full-blooded Aztecs still alive, and nowhere are there any villages that preserve Aztec culture unchanged. Yet Nahuatl does survive as a living language for over one million people, and modern Nahua culture includes many traits preserved from the distant, pre-Spanish past. Beyond the boundaries of contemporary Nahua villages, Aztec traits have been interwoven into modern Mexican culture. Many Mexicans look to the Aztecs for the origin of their cultural heritage and take pride in the achievements of Aztec civilization. The Aztec heritage belongs to us all, however, and the Aztecs can teach us much about human society and its diversity of lifeways and practices.
The Final Century: 1428–1519
Most of this book describes Aztec civilization during the 91 years between the formation of the Triple Alliance Empire in 1428 and the arrival of the Spaniards in 1519. In many ways this interval, the Late Aztec B period, represented the pinnacle of cultural development in ancient Mesoamerica. The expansion of the empire brought peace and order to central Mexico. The explosive growth of markets and craft production joined diverse regions and sectors together in a burgeoning economy that brought prosperity and opportunity to many people. Cities flourished and rural pioneers opened up new land to cultivation to feed a growing population. Political and economic successes were aided by a vigorous state religion, which in turn allowed learning and the arts to thrive. Important intellectual advances were made in the diverse fields of history, poetry, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, and engineering. Painting, sculpture, and other visual arts were elevated to new aesthetic heights under the patronage of the state and religion. These developments came at a cost, however.
Aztec society was sharply divided by class. Economic and cultural rewards were not evenly distributed. Human sacrifice was used by the state to terrorize commoners, whose voice in the arena of politics was limited. Nobles controlled most of the wealth and had more freedom than did commoners. Prosperity benefited all classes in some way (except perhaps the slaves), but ultimately, the economy rested upon the backs of the peasants in the field. As the empire expanded, some of this burden was shifted from the Valley of Mexico to more distant provinces through the system of imperial taxes. Nevertheless, the tax system was not productive enough to fully compensate for the rapid growth of the Aztec population.
Population growth stimulated the growth of markets, commerce, and craft production, but economic prosperity, in turn, may have encouraged people to have larger families. Demographic growth was a major factor pushing the expansion of cities, city-states, and the empire, which furthered the evolution of religion and intellectual life. The most immediate and direct effect of the Aztec population explosion was the intensification of agriculture. During the Late Aztec B period, however, society began to show signs of stress. Feeding the three million Aztecs was increasingly difficult, and famines occurred with more frequency. Archaeological reconstructions of life
at rural sites point to sharp declines in the standard of living of Aztec peasants under the empire, owing most likely to declining agricultural productivity and increased tributary exploitation by city-states and the empire.
These processes of change and growth were not limited to central Mexico. In fact they were occurring throughout Mesoamerica in the Late Postclassic period. Populations increased, agriculture intensified, local dynasties consolidated their power, and cities and towns flourished. One of the largest and most powerful cities outside the empire was Tzintzuntzan, capital of the Tarascan Empire (see chapter 7).1 The main state temple complex in Tzintzuntzan consisted of a huge platform upon which rested five large keyhole-shaped temples called yacatas (figure 13.1). In terms of its horizontal extent, this structure dwarfed the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. The development of Tarascan civilization paralleled Aztec growth in many ways, and this is just one example of the widespread growth and dynamism in Late Postclassic Mesoamerica.
Figure 13.1 Religious center of the Tarascan capital Tzintzuntzan. Five circular temples – called yacatas – sit on top of a massive platform (modified after Marquina 1951:256)
The Late Postclassic period was remarkable for the high levels of communication and interaction that linked polities and peoples in all corners of Mesoamerica.2 Long-distance commercial exchange reached the highest level of the Mesoamerican past in Late Postclassic times; areas outside central Mexico had professional merchants similar to the Aztec pochteca and tlanecuilo, other towns had markets and craft specialists, and money in the form of cacao beans and cotton quachtli were ubiquitous from the Maya realm to the Tarascan Empire. The commodities discussed in chapter 5 (Table 5.1) were traded throughout all of Mesoamerica, and a common set of luxury goods were used by local elites in virtually every city and town. But economic exchange was not the only type of long-distance contact binding Mesoamerica into a single unit, or world system, in Postclassic ties.
The Aztecs Page 30
