[Aztlan] Blood For the Gods - Some basic arithmetic/ Questions

[David Hixson]

Fritz is most certainly correct.  And please note that the ethnohistoric literature (including dynastic records for the Aztec Empire) does not fill even the smallest thimble of data regarding the long-term development of complex society in the Basin of Mexico.  The Aztec culture did not arise out of hunter-gatherers and suddenly develop into a massive empire.  It built upon millenia of cultural development within (and outside) the basin of Mexico.

Perhaps a review of Sanders, Santley and Parson's various publications (both their collaborative and independent works) would be an appropriate reading list for those interested in this topic.  A (relatively sad, but appropriate) reading list is located within the recent obituary of Bill Sanders.

http://publishingarchaeology.blogspot.com/2008/07/william-t-sanders.html

-Dave



----- Original Message ----
From: John F. Schwaller <schwallr at potsdam.edu>
To: Sven Röhrig <sven at 3phase.de>
Cc: aztlan at lists.famsi.org
Sent: Thu, January 7, 2010 10:31:05 PM
Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Blood For the Gods - Some basic arithmetic/ Questions


Tenochtitlan [the Aztec capital] was founded in 1325, or thereabouts,
making 200 years before the arrival of the Spanish.  The Mexica (Aztecs)
used techniques developed by other Valley civilizations over several
centuries prior to their arrival to expand their city and build on the
swampy soil of the Valley.

For the first 100 years they served as vassals of the more powerful state
of Azcapotzalco, until they created an alliance with Texcoco and Tlacopan
and threw off the domination of Azcapotzalco, about 100 years before the
Spanish arrived

So the idea that they achieved everything in barely a century is not
really accurate.  They inserted themselves into a system of warfare,
tribute, and dominance that was many centuries old.