Art and Identity in Mexico, from Olmec Times to the Present

The Aztec

The use of the word Aztec derives from the word Aztlan, the Mexica legendary place of origin thought to be somewhere in northern Mexico. In many instances the Aztec nation refers to themselves as Mexica instead. The term Aztec came into common use in the 19th century. The Mexica Indians or Aztec migrated to Central Mexico at the beginning of the twelfth century where they slowly established themselves claiming and gaining land. The Aztec began their time in Central Mexico as outsiders but eventually rose to be the supreme power in the region, though both their successful marriage alliances and outright warfare. The Aztecs were known as excellent warriors.

The great expansion of Aztec power began in 1458; When Moctezuma 1 and the Triple Alliance sent military expeditions to acquire loot, to establish tributary relations with the subordinated populations, and to ensure the safety of Aztec merchants. The first expedition was launched against a Mixtec city-state in Oaxaca. After defeating it, the Aztec burned its temple, executed its ruler and negotiated a treaty with the Mixtec nobles who survived the battle. The treaty permitted the local ruling class to retain control…however its members were obliged to turn over specified quantities and kinds of goods to an Aztec collector……This became a model for subsequent in the Soconusco of coastal Chiapas……(Patterson, 318)

Benjamin Keen mentions in The Aztec Image in Western Thought… The Tlacuilo, the painter of the codices, enjoyed special respect not only because of the mystery that surrounded his work but also because of its importance is a vehicle for the transmission of tribal lore and religion.

      The good painter is a Toltec, an artist;
      He creates with red and black ink,
      with black water…
      The good painter is wise,
      God is in his heart.
      He puts divinity into things;
      he converses with his won heart.
      He knows the colors; he applies them and shades them;
      he draws feet and faces,
      he puts in the shadows, he achieves perfection.
      He paints the colors of all the flowers,
      as if he were a Toltec (Keen, 23)
    

In their capital city of Tenochtitlan the Aztec people that lived there were skilled artisans, and trades people such as cloth dyers, jewelers, potters, scribes, stone or metal experts, and tool makers. Each town was divided into neighborhoods grouped by families called calpultins. Those who were born into a calpultin were united by a common ancestor, the calpulteotl. The ancestor had given the descendant a specialized profession. The families would pass down these skills to their children.

Each calpulli consisted of a group of families who supposedly were united by a common deified ancestor, the calpulteotl. The ancestor had given his descendants a specialized profession, which augmented the cohesion of the group's members in production. The calpulli tended toward endogamy and endeavored to live in a coterminous territory. Thus, in the city each calpulli occupied a ward or neighborhood. Considered the property of the group, the ward was divided up and distributed among the constituent families. (Carrasco, 68-69)

Their architecture was geometric in shape and each structure had a purpose. The palace of Motecuhzoma, (not Montezuma, as many in the US call him), had some unusual additions. It had lush gardens and a zoo! The great capital center of Tenochtitlan must have amazed and scared the Spanish all at one time, as they first entered this city. There were gardens and something called the wall of flowers as well as a rack or wall of skulls! Imagine monumental temples, architecture and walls brightly decorated with colors and repetitive snake line designs. They had ball courts, huge market places, temples for worship and for sacrifices. They constructed man-made canals and inside-type latrines.

• The Spanish conquerors called the Aztec capital another Venice and they should have known for many of them had actually been to that place….Tenochtitlan and its satellite Tlatelolco was laid out on a grid running north and south were long canals thronged with canoe traffic and each bordered by a lane; larger canals cut these at angles. Between these watery streets were arranged in regular fashion plots of land with their houses.(Coe,190)
• The sacred precinct was on the higher ground at the center of Tenochtitlan, the focal point of all the main highways which led in from the mainland. It was dominated by the double temple of Huizilopochtli and Tlaloc (the great temple) its twin stairways reddened with the blood sacrificed captives. (Coe, 194)

The Aztec wrote books known today as codices (codex, singular) on deer skin, which would have been like European velum or parchment. There are very few original books, again due to the Spanish burning of their written works, but the ones that are in existence are quite different from Maya writing. Aztec codices look very stiff, small and un-natural. . Aztec books are more pictorial than their Maya counterparts; figures are more contrived and two dimensional, with shorter proportions (rather than a naturalistic Maya body length), and no foreshortening is used. Reading order even in a single book can vary from right to left, from top to bottom and from bottom to top. When read, they were as though a reference for someone to speak a memorized story. In class, this is a moment that one can speak about the need for the written language and why literacy and or illiteracy can help or hinder a society's growth and strength.

Each of these cultures preferred and valued particular materials to others. Some of the materials were cherished more than others. From the beginning the Olmec sought hard stones including basalt and jadeite. The Maya preferred jade and obsidian. The Aztec really thought a lot of feathers, not only were they particular about the ones that were exotic and hard to get, but they connected these with the Eagle or sky deities. They all seemed to love the cocoa bean, jaguar skins, animal pelts and other parts of predators. Gold was thought of, but not as revered as say, turquoise.. It is not clear why they valued these materials more than others. Was it the difficulty in obtaining it, or its scarcity, or spiritually because it was a natural material from the earth? However, gold is a product of the earth as is turquoise. What made turquoise more valuable than gold? This is a good opportunity to promote a discussion about the value of money and gold today and what makes a civilization decide what is valuable to them.