Aztec

ANTHROPOLOGY 329

THE AZTEC EMPIRE

ANTHROPOLOGY 329

THE AZTEC EMPIRE

Office: Bondurant 23W

SPRING 1996

OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE

Much of what distinguishes modern Mexico from its Latin American neighbors is the result of the preservation of elements of its Indian past. No Indian group was more important to that past then were the Aztec. An understanding of the Aztec and the empire which they created in the last century before the arrival of Hernan Cortes is essential to an understanding of Mexico's cultural distinctiveness. The image of modern Mexico and its citizens as the descendants of the Aztec has been manipulated for political and nationalistic purposes by the Mexican government.

The marvels of Aztec Mexico have intrigued Europeans since the first accounts sent back to Spain in letters from Cortes to the Emperor Charles V. The interest in the Aztec was rekindled in the last century by the publication of W.H. Prescott's History of the Conquest of Mexico (1849). This interest has been stimulated in recent years by the astounding discoveries from the excavation of the Templo Mayor in the heart of Mexico City and by the publication of Hugh Thomas' massive work entitled Conquest; Montezuma, Cortes, and the Fall of Old Mexico.

The Aztec Empire, the Triple Alliance of the Mexica of Tenochtitlan and their principal allies, controlled much of Mexico at the time of the Spanish Conquest (A.D. 1519-21). Control of this vast empire fell into the hands of Hernan Cortes and his lieutenants with the defeat of the Mexica.

Who were these Mexica? From whence did they come? How were they able to establish the largest and most powerful PreColumbian Mexican empire? What was the economic and political basis for this empire? What were the artistic and intellectual achievements of this empire? These are the principal questions with which this course will be concerned.

The course will be multidisciplinary in that it will draw on data from history, archaeology, and art history. These data will be combined to give the student a basic understanding of the history and nature of the society which Cortes and his men encountered. The literature on the Aztec is enormous. It will not be able to cover all aspects of Aztec society in any depth. For this reason, the student will be assigned a research paper. The purpose of this paper is to enable the student to delve more deeply into a limited aspect of Aztec society.

At the end of the course, the student should be able to read intelligently and evaluate all literature on the Aztec with the exception of the highly technical. The student can then pursue the study of the Aztec on his own as his interests dictate.

TEXTS

There will be two required texts for the course and supplemental readings from three additional books.

Required

Jacques Soustelle - Daily Life of the Aztecs on the Eve of the Spanish Conquest. Stanford University Press,

1961.

Richard Townsend - The Aztecs. Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1992.

Supplemental Readings

Geoffrey Conrad - Religion and Empire: The Dynamics of Aztec and

Arthur Demarest Inca Expansionism. Cambridge University Press,

1984.

Eduardo Matos - The Great Temple of the Aztecs: Treasures of Tenochtitlan. Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1988.

Esther Pasztory - Aztec Art. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1983.

GRADING

Grades will be assigned on the basis of three criteria: (1) performance on three quizzes; two of these will be given during the semester and one will be given during the final exam period; each of these quizzes will be worth 22 points for a total of 66 points; (2) a research paper on some aspect of Imperial Aztec society; the topic of this paper will be selected in consultation with the instructor; the paper will be worth 24 points; (3) class attendance and participation; students are expected to attend class and be prepared by reading to take part in class discussions of the topics assigned in the SCHEDULE which follows.

Quiz I 22 points

Quiz II 22 points

Quiz III 22 points

Paper 24 points

Class Participation 10 points

Total 100 points

Past Quizzes

Quiz 1,
Quiz 2,
Quiz 3

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