The Aztec are a complex and fascinating people that inhabited Mesoamerica during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Despite their lack of formal script and official currency, a significant amount of information has been obtained through their artifacts and from foreign accounts of their society. Just before the invasion of the Spanish, the population was around twenty-five million people. The capital, Tenochtitlan, was home to two hundred thousand. With all these mouths to feed, the Aztec had creative ways of obtaining and producing food for all of its citizens. A close examination of agricultural methods, domestication, and crops give an overview of Aztec diet and methods of acquiring subsistence. This will be followed by an assessment of social stratification and roles, tribute, craft production, markets, and currency will flesh out the economy.
[...] The pochteca lived in their own neighborhoods, and were an integral part of all the large Aztec cities. The career was one of family tradition; however, an emperor could appoint a commoner to pochteca status. They had their own courts and laws, and were led by two primary merchants. Though not aristocratic, the pochteca were permitted to wear clothing generally reserved for the elite. They would start off their careers by selling cheap items either door to door or in small-scale markets, and eventually be able to sell more exotic items (Tuerenhout 2005: 101). [...]
[...] More specifically, macehualtin were the free commoners of Aztec society; they filled the roles of farmers, fisherman and artisans within the calpulli (Fagan 1984: 175). Under the macehualtin were the mayeque, assumed by most scholars to be “free but landless citizens bound to the service of a noble” (Fagan 1984: 177). In place of paying tribute to the state, they paid the noble they were bound to. Last in the social order were the slaves, tlacotin, which were generally commoners who were convicted of crimes or not paid taxes. [...]
[...] These floating gardens were used most frequently in the southern part of the Aztec empire, and were also used in cities like Tenochtitlan. They would be built in lakes, with stakes driven into the underwater soil and vines used to make an enclosure. Huejote trees were planted around the enclosure (Fagan 1984: and it was filled with fertile soil from between the enclosures to maintain the canals. These fields produced high yields, turning over up to four crops each year. [...]
[...] The Aztec did not use the wheel due to lack of burden animals, and instead the carrying expertise of tlamemes were used. They used woven-cane containers attached to wooden frames and tumpline straps to transport items on their backs (Tuerenhout 2005: 95). It is estimated that tlamemes were expected to be able to carry an average of fifty pounds over a thirteen to eighteen mile distance. The fees of tlamemes restricted transport greatly; “some researchers have calculated the minimum cost to carry maize to the market amounted to thirty percent of the value of the load per day's distance from the market” (Tuerenhout 2005: 95). [...]
[...] The second level markets were in other Aztec cities, such as Texcoco and Xochimilco. Next were Acolman, Otumba, and Coyoacan as the third-level markets. Finally, the smallest markets were in the Valley. The quantity and variety of goods slowly descended along the hierarchy (Tuerenhout 2005: 87). Local markets had a more basic selection, while regional markets had more exotic items for purchase by the elite. Many of the provincial markets were specialized. Otumba was the ideal source for obsidian, Coyoacan for wood, and Cholula for chiles and maguey honey. [...]
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