ANTH265 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Aztec Warfare, Huitzilopochtli, Macuahuitl

• School: University of Delaware
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: ANTH265
• Professor: Custer Jay

Document Summary

1150 and begin a 200 year long journey in and around the valley of. Mexico: during their wanderings they were led by the god huitzilopochtli aka hummingbird on the left . Hummingbirds are important to aztecs: hummingbirds are aggressive because of their constant need to eat, huitzilopochtli embodies this idea and that"s why aztecs chose him as a god. 1300 ad: tenochtitlan bigger than tlatelolco, separate but clearly linked groups of people/urban areas, sense of difference and identity between tenochtitlan and tlatelolco, think boroughs of new york city. At first the aztec are weak, but they grow in population and by 1360 are important mercenaries of the larger city of the tepanecs at azcapotzalco: aztec become good fighters. To accomplish the goals of aztec warfare, the aztec did not have a standing army. War 2: bad idea because if the aztec lost a fighting unit, they lost entire male populations of villages/neighborhoods.