Toltec | Mixtec | Chichimec | Aztec | Maya | Structure Table | Mythological Background
They were also known as the Tolteca-Chichimeca. Their territory spanned from the midpoint of the Sierra Madre Occidental (at Alta Vista) to the end of the Sierra Madre del Sur mountain ranges (a little south of Monte Alban); and some of their sitesdid push into Maya lands (e.g. Chichen Itza). However, the heart of their territory was based in the Valley of Mexico.
Their society was militaristic and included several different warrior orders. Originally the society came about through the banding together of different tribes for some inexplicable reason. The two dominant tribes were the Tolteca-Chichimeca and the Nonoalca. It was the Tolteca-Chichimeca who were the more barbaric people, while the Nonoalca were the artisans and scholars. So esteemed were the Toltecs after theircollapse of power that not only did later groups in Central Mexico claim descent from them, but Maya groups did as well.
They lived in the mountainous terrain of the western and northern parts of the Oaxaca Valley, which is located in the southern portion of Mexico, called Mixteca. Occupation began in the Classic with settlements established in the mountains; however,they later moved into the valley (around the end of the Post-Classic).
Socially the were organized as complex chiefdoms. They had no large scale cities, but multiple kingdoms each with their own ruler. Apparently, due to the lack of arable land warfare was constant between the kingdoms. However by the Post-Classic,they reached a state level organization as seen in the conquest of Zapotec territory. (The Zapotecs lived in the southern Gulf Coast region).
A people of nomadic, non-agriculturalists (i.e. hunter-gatherers). A 'barbaric' people by Aztec eyes. They lived to the north of the Aztec Empire. Apparently, two groups of Chichimecs existed -- Teochichimeca and Tamime. The Teochichimeca "lived in caves and clothed themselves in animal skins and yucca-fiber sandals, subsisting on wild fruits, roots, and seeds and on the meat of [small game] like rabbit" (Coe, 130,1993). The Tamime Chichimeca were a step up the social ladder; having picked up language and other forms of culture from their civilized southern neighbors. Their clothing was a little bit more than the animal skins that their Teochichimecas wore and their subsistence strategy did include some farming in addition to hunting and gathering.A state of peace or war existed depending on the amount of rainfall. If it was a bad year, then they would raid their agriculture practicing neighbors.
The people that dominated the Central Mexico basin at the time of Contact. They believed that they were descendant of the Toltecs. According to their accounts, they originally came from Aztlan (Land of the Herons'), an island in a lake in the west or northwest part of Mexico. One legend has it that Huitzilopochtli (in 1111 AD) lead them on their journey to the Valley of Mexico. (It seems that Huitzilopochtli knew that this land was fertile). During their migration, Huitzilopochtli gave them a new name --Mexica. However, they were not welcomed when they first arrived and kept wandering throughout the Valley until a prophecy told them to locate on the exact spot where an eagle, holding a snake in its mouth, has perched itself on a cactus.
By 1344/1345, two groups of Aztecs existed with their own separate governments; the southerners with their capital at Tenochitlan and the northerners with their capital at Tlatelolco. Consolidation of the two did not take long to occure. In 1367, they become mercenaries for the Tepanec kingdom at Atzcapotzalco. It would be from them that the Aztecs learned how to create a state system and the strength needed in building an empire. During this time,however, they were still an egalitarian society.
In 1427, the current Aztec king, Itzcatl, along with his advisor, Tlacaelel, declare war on the Tepanecs, who had become recently hostile towards them. After their victory, Tlacaelel completely altered the face of Aztec society. It is to Tlacaelel's credit that the Aztecs are remembered as they are today.
The setting for the rise of the Maya is on the Yucatan Peninsula where the ocean, flatland, and mountains all work together to form a complex topography and geography for climatic conditions. This allows for very small degrees of variation in climatic conditions to create abrupt changes in the weather. The area we are concerned with usually has a summer rainy season followed by a winter dry season, although the amount of rainfall varies from one area of the lowlands to other parts in the Maya territory.
The birds, which are more predominant than mammals, are a natural source of plummage for clothing, decoration, and export as well as food. The limestone is good for construction and can also be used to produce lime plaster. Things of major importance, like salt or obsidian, needed to be had from elsewhere. (Culbert, 1974:11) Undoubtedly the Mayan must have had to adjust socially, politically, and geographically in order to obtain the necessary resources.
The Classic period is where the Maya civilization really takes off in terms of increasingly complexity, organization, and production. It consists of the Early Classic period (250-600 AD) and the Late Classic period (600-900 AD) after which the Postclassic (900-1500 AD) lasted until Spanish conquests in the 1500's. The traditional view of the Maya is a "romantic and impressionistic one based on limited archaeological data from the centers of large sites." (Sabloff, 1990:22) The cornerstone of this view is that the Maya were merely a rural civilization which did not live in the larger sites that archaeologists were finding. The dominant thought at the time said that only priests and rulers of the culture lived in these vacant "ceremonial centers," as they came to be known. Quite to the contrary, these sites were often large, inhabited by multitudes of people, and somewhat akin to full-fledged cities. Regular markets and religious festivals would draw peasantry from all over the region into these "centers" for short periods of time. Until the collapse, these "urban centers" could be considered as cosmopolitan as any other similar sized city, with the same political, economic, and social mechanics as any other.
These were a Maya subgroup that occupied the highland valley of Guatemala. Their capital was Utatlan (or Gumarcaj in Quiche Maya). They employed a caste system in thier society. From the top to the bottom: royalty, vassals, merchants, artisans, serfs, and slaves. The state took one of two forms in organization. One: a king, a king-elect, and two captains holding the reigns of power. Two: a quadripartite consisting of four chiefs, one taken from the four dominant royal lineages (out of a total of 24). They claimed descent from the exiled Toltecs; however, Dr. Robert Carmack traces them to "Toltecized Chontal-Nahua speakers (in other words, Putun Maya) from the Gulf Coast of the border region of Veracruz and Tabasco" (Coe, 162, 1993).
| 1 | Heaven | Ometeotl |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Tonacatecuhtli; Tonacacihuatl | |
| 3 | Xipe; Quetzalcoatl; Tezcatlipoca | |
| 4 | Ehecatl; Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli; Xolotl | |
| 5 | Itzapaplotl | |
| 6 | Tlaloques; Tlaloc; Chalchiuhtlicue |
This is a partial table taken from that of Portilla, with further detail available in the references section.
Aztec. There exists two accounts to how the Aztecs saw the Creation myth. One comes from the Legend of the Suns and the other from the Latin Vatican Codex 3738.
Legend of the Suns:
Latin Vatican Codex 3738
Similar concept, but with only 4 eras. Each eon measured 13 baktuns totaling approximately 5200 years. Using the Thompson correlation, Michael D. Coe has calculated that the beginning of the present era was in 3114 BC while its end is on December 23 2012 AD.
Aztec: A primordial serpent was divided into three sections and each section had a special domain -- the Head held the thirteen levels of Heaven; the Center was the Earth; and the Tail made up the nine levels of the Underworld.
Each of the three had their own cardinal directions and were connected at the center.
Maya: The primordial crocodile rests in a pool filled with water- lilies. On its back is the Earth. Flat, it has four corners corresponding to four colors. (White = North, Yellow = South, East = Red and West = Black; Green is associated with the center). The Sky were created form a double- headed serpent. On the body of this serpent were the paths crossed by the sun, moon, planets, etc. The Heavens were thirteen tiered. It was supported either by four skybearers or five trees ( four in each cardinal direction and one in the center). One god was assigned to each level. The Underworld also assigned one god to each of its nine levels.
Throughout Mesoamerica a similar notation of time called the Calendar Round was used. It was based off of the coordination of two wheels, one contianing the numbers 1 through 20 and the other containg the thirteen day names, that combined to form the tonalpohualli (Almanac Year). Trecena refers to the groupings of the thirteen days.
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