Plate XLIV.

Fig. 71. Details from the Stone of Tizoc:a, Huitzilopochtli, Aztec War God;b, Figures representing a captured town;c, Name of the captured town (Tuxpan, place of the rabbit).

Fig. 71. Details from the Stone of Tizoc:a, Huitzilopochtli, Aztec War God;b, Figures representing a captured town;c, Name of the captured town (Tuxpan, place of the rabbit).

The newly discovered “National Stone” of Mexico. The front view shows the Calendar Stone in position and the year signs 1 Rabbit and 2 Reed (1506 and 1507 A. D.). The sculpture on the back is an eagle on a cactus, recording the foundation of Mexico City (Tenochtitlan). On all the other surfaces priests and religious symbols are drawn.

The newly discovered “National Stone” of Mexico. The front view shows the Calendar Stone in position and the year signs 1 Rabbit and 2 Reed (1506 and 1507 A. D.). The sculpture on the back is an eagle on a cactus, recording the foundation of Mexico City (Tenochtitlan). On all the other surfaces priests and religious symbols are drawn.

On the top of the Stone of Tizoc is a representation of Tonatiuh, or the sun’s disk, much less complex than that which we have seen on the Calendar Stone but with many similar parts. On the sides of the stone are fifteen groups of figures, each group representing a conqueror and his captive. The victorious soldier appears each time in the guise of the war god, Huitzilopochtli, or his wizard brother Tezcatlipoca. The left foot of the figure ends in two scroll-like objects that may represent the humming bird feathers that formed the left foot of Huitzilopochtli. But Tezcatlipoca also had a deformed foot. Moreover, on the side of the headdress is a disk with a flame-shaped object coming out of it. This may represent the smoking mirror of Tezcatlipoca. The captive wears costumes that change slightly from one figure to the next. Over the head of the captive in each instance is the hieroglyph of a captured town or district.

Nearly all the place name hieroglyphs have been deciphered. The list is interesting historically because it gives the principal conquests up to the reign of Tizoc. Starting at the side directly across the stone from the groove or drain we see that the figure of the victor has behind his head a hieroglyph that represents a leg. This is the hieroglyph of Tizoc and the victim in this case represents the district of Matlatzinco in the Valley of Toluca. This district was brought under subjection by Tizoc himself. Among the other conquered cities are such well-known ones as Chalco, Xochimilco, and Colhuacan in the vicinity of Lake Texcoco and Ahuilizapan (Orizaba) and Tuxpan that are more distant.

Monstrous Sculpture representing Coatlicue, the Serpent-Skirted Goddess, who was regarded as the Mother of the Gods.

Monstrous Sculpture representing Coatlicue, the Serpent-Skirted Goddess, who was regarded as the Mother of the Gods.

The famous statue of the Earth Goddess, Coatlicue, “the goddess with the serpent skirt,” is one of the most striking examples of barbaric imagination. The name Teoyamiqui is often given to this uncouth figure, but the identification is faulty. Like the other great sculptures we have just examined, it doubtless occupied an important place in the great ceremonial center of Tenochtitlan, but no ancient reference to it is extant. This goddess is reported to have been the mother of the gods.

Fig. 72. Detail showing the Construction of the Face of Coatlicue from Two Serpent Heads meeting End to End.

Fig. 72. Detail showing the Construction of the Face of Coatlicue from Two Serpent Heads meeting End to End.

The statue may be described as follows: The feet are furnished with claws. The skirt is a writhing mass of braided rattlesnakes. The arms are doubled up and the hands are snake heads on a level with the shoulders. Around the neck and hanging down over the breast is a necklace of alternating hands and hearts with a death’s head pendant. The head of this monstrous woman is the same on front and back and is formed of two serpent heads that meet face to face. The forked tongue and the four downward pointing fangs belong half and half to each of the two profile faces.

The means of record employed in Mexican codices are in part pictographic and in part hieroglyphic. The sequence of the historical events in these native manuscripts is oftenindicated by a line of footprints leading from one place or scene of action to another. Historical records of this type resemble old-fashioned maps and some are actually called maps. The names of towns in these documents are represented by true hieroglyphs and often the character of the country is indicated by pictures of typical vegetation, such as maguey plants for the highlands and palms for the lowlands. The day or the year in which took place the foundation of the town or whatever event is intended to be recorded is usually placed in conjunction with the hieroglyph or picture. Conquest is indicated by a place name hieroglyph with a spear thrust into it or by a temple on fire, while warfare is a shield and bundle of lances encircled by footprints.

Fig. 73. Hieroglyphs of Precious Materials: left to right, gold; turquoise; mosaic of precious stones;chalchihuitl, or jade; mirror of obsidian.

Fig. 73. Hieroglyphs of Precious Materials: left to right, gold; turquoise; mosaic of precious stones;chalchihuitl, or jade; mirror of obsidian.

Fig. 74. Phonetic Elements derived from Pictures and used in Mexican Place Name Hieroglyphs.

Fig. 74. Phonetic Elements derived from Pictures and used in Mexican Place Name Hieroglyphs.

A few examples of Nahuan hieroglyphs will now be given to illustrate this interesting method of writing. It must be remembered that there is nothing in the nature of a connected narrative.The hieroglyphs or word pictures are limited to geographical and personal names, including the names of gods, to months, days, numbers, objects of commerce and a few objects or ideas of ceremonial import. Some of the signs are in no degree realistic and have a definite meaning by common consent alone, such as the symbol for gold (Fig. 73). Others are abbreviated and conventionalized pictures of objects. Thus the head of a god or of an animal frequently appears as the sign of the whole. But the most important and interesting word signs are rebuses in which separate syllables or groups of syllables are represented by more or less conventionalized pictures. The whole word picture is a combination of syllable pictures which indicate phonetically the word as a whole. Very often advantage is taken of puns on whole or partial words, while color and position are also employed to indicate sounds and syllables.

Fig. 75. Aztecan Place Names.

Fig. 75. Aztecan Place Names.

InFig. 74are given a few of the more common syllable pictures. The name of the object represented is cut down by the elimination oftl,li, etc., that form the nominal endings. Thus, the picture of water,atl, becomes the sign for the sounda, that of stonetetlis cut down to the syllablete. Several of these syllable pictures are combined to represent a whole word.

Fig. 76. Aztecan Day Signs.

Fig. 76. Aztecan Day Signs.

Fig. 77. Variant Forms of Aztecan Day Signs:a, acatl, arrow;b, mazatl, deer foot;c, malinalli, jaw bone;d, itzcuintli, dog’s ear;e, ozomatli, monkey’s ear;f, ocelotl, jaguar’s ear.

Fig. 77. Variant Forms of Aztecan Day Signs:a, acatl, arrow;b, mazatl, deer foot;c, malinalli, jaw bone;d, itzcuintli, dog’s ear;e, ozomatli, monkey’s ear;f, ocelotl, jaguar’s ear.

Fig. 78. Aztecan Numbers and Objects of Commerce:a, 1;b, 20;c, 400;d, 8,000;e, ten faces carved from precious stone;f, twenty bags of cochineal dye;g, one hundred bales of cocoa;h, four hundred bales of cotton;i, four hundred jars of honey of tuna;j, eight thousand leaf bundles of copal gum;k, twenty baskets each containing sixteen hundred ground cacao nibs;l, four hundred and two blankets.

Fig. 78. Aztecan Numbers and Objects of Commerce:a, 1;b, 20;c, 400;d, 8,000;e, ten faces carved from precious stone;f, twenty bags of cochineal dye;g, one hundred bales of cocoa;h, four hundred bales of cotton;i, four hundred jars of honey of tuna;j, eight thousand leaf bundles of copal gum;k, twenty baskets each containing sixteen hundred ground cacao nibs;l, four hundred and two blankets.

The hieroglyphs of the twenty days of the month (seeFig. 76) are frequently represented, but those of the eighteen months are not nearly so well known. As for the gods, the faces are usually pictured, especially when these are grotesque, but sometimes details of dress or an object connected with a special ceremony is sufficient to recall the divinity. The Mexican system of numbers was based on twenties. The units were figured by dots, the twenties by flags, the four hundreds by a device like a tree that represented hair, and the eight thousands by the ceremonial pouches in which copal incense was carried.

Page from theTonalamatlSection of the Codex Borbonicus. The thirteen days run along the bottom of the page and up the right side of the large division. The period covered is one-twentieth of theTonalamatlof 260 days. At the left of each day is seen one of the nine Lords of the Night, so-called, in orderly succession. In the divisions above or to the left of the days are the thirteen gods of the Hours of the Day in connection with the Thirteen Birds. The patron goddess of this division of theTonalamatlis Itzpapalotl, the obsidian butterfly. The other pictures relate mostly to mythological instances and the details of ceremonies. For instance, the broken tree represents Tamoanchan, a legendary site, and the sacrifice of twenty birds is indicated by the flag attached to the bleeding head of a decapitated bird.

Page from theTonalamatlSection of the Codex Borbonicus. The thirteen days run along the bottom of the page and up the right side of the large division. The period covered is one-twentieth of theTonalamatlof 260 days. At the left of each day is seen one of the nine Lords of the Night, so-called, in orderly succession. In the divisions above or to the left of the days are the thirteen gods of the Hours of the Day in connection with the Thirteen Birds. The patron goddess of this division of theTonalamatlis Itzpapalotl, the obsidian butterfly. The other pictures relate mostly to mythological instances and the details of ceremonies. For instance, the broken tree represents Tamoanchan, a legendary site, and the sacrifice of twenty birds is indicated by the flag attached to the bleeding head of a decapitated bird.

The religion of the Aztecs, like that of the Mayas, was a polytheism in which special divinities controlled the powers of nature and the activities of men. The gods were perhaps further advanced towards human form and attributes than were those of the earlier culture to the south, but definite characterization was still accomplished by grotesque features and certain animal connections were still evident. The matter is confused beyond the point of analysis. The mythologies often ascribe different origins to the same deity. One god is addressed by many names, descriptive or figurative, that are intended to bring out the various aspects of his power. Overlapping functions make it impossible to assign each god to his special province. There are universal gods, there are special gods, and there are patron gods of trade guilds. Moreover, there are foreign gods, some recent, some ancient.

The religion of central Mexico had its objective, ritualistic side, which appealed directly to the understanding of the masses, and its more subtle theological or philosophical side seen, for instance, in the poems written by priests and rulers. It was a mixture of spirituality and the grossest idolatry. The ceremonial calendar, with a description of the feasts and sacrifices occurring at different times of the year, has been preserved in a number of documents. Pageants, incense-burning, and human sacrifice gave a strong dramatic quality to the religious rites.

(a) Pictures of Tlaloc, the God of Rain, and of Ehecatl, the God of Winds, in the Codex Magliabecchiano.

(a) Pictures of Tlaloc, the God of Rain, and of Ehecatl, the God of Winds, in the Codex Magliabecchiano.

(b) Mexican Genealogical Table on Bark Paper. The names of most of the individuals are given by hieroglyphs attached to the head or the seat. Original in the American Museum.

(b) Mexican Genealogical Table on Bark Paper. The names of most of the individuals are given by hieroglyphs attached to the head or the seat. Original in the American Museum.

The conception of a supreme deity is seen inOmeteuctli, the Lord of Duality, a vague god-head and creator who is sometimes addressed in some of the religious poems as the “Cause of All.” In the background of the popular religion was the belief in the Earth Mother and the Sky Father and in the divinity of the Sun, the Moon, the Jaguar, the Serpent, and whatever else was beautiful, powerful, and inexplicable. Tezcatlipoca, by reason of his magic and his omniscience, was placed at the head of the pantheon of active gods. Huitzilopochtli was, however, the favorite god of the Aztecs through his relation to war. Tlaloc, the god of rain, was naturally of great importance to agriculturists living in a rather arid region. Tonatiuh, the Sun God, was a more or less abstract deity who acted in part through other gods. But the list is too long to be repeated here.

Fig. 79. Analysis of Mexican Record. 1, the year Two Reed, 1507; 2, eclipse of the sun; 3, earthquake at place pictured at 4; 5, the town, of Huixachtitlan. In the temple (6) was held (7) the new-fire ceremony at the beginning of a 52-year period. In this year were also drowned in the River Tuzac (8) two thousand warriors (10) which the vultures devoured (9).

Fig. 79. Analysis of Mexican Record. 1, the year Two Reed, 1507; 2, eclipse of the sun; 3, earthquake at place pictured at 4; 5, the town, of Huixachtitlan. In the temple (6) was held (7) the new-fire ceremony at the beginning of a 52-year period. In this year were also drowned in the River Tuzac (8) two thousand warriors (10) which the vultures devoured (9).

The special gods of principal Mexican cities were as follows:—

Of gods with a foreign origin perhaps the most important were Quetzalcoatl and Xipe. The former was introduced long before the Aztecs raised their banner of war and was the Long-nosed God of the Mayas, introduced under the patronage of Quetzalcoatl, the powerful emperor of the Toltecs. The worship of Xipe is said to have originated in a town in southern Mexico. It had certainly taken a strong hold on the Aztecs of Mexico City and was likewise known as far south as Salvador. It has recently been demonstrated that the people of Yopico, specially given to the worship of Xipe, originated in Nicaragua.

Fig. 80. Chalchuihtlicue, Aztecan Goddess of Water.

Fig. 80. Chalchuihtlicue, Aztecan Goddess of Water.

Cosmogonic myths, the world over, are unscientific attempts to explain the creation of the universe, to outline the powers of the gods and to trace the development of nature. The cosmogonic myths of Mexico and Central America are characterized by multiple creations. The Aztecan belief in five suns each standing for a worldepoch is paralleled in fragments of Mayan mythology. Creation is not emphasized so much as destruction. The sequence of the suns is figured on the Calendar Stone, and in one of the codices, besides being explained in some of the early writings of Spanish priests and educated natives. The first sun was devoured by a jaguar and in the resulting darkness the inhabitants of the earth were devoured by jaguars. The second sun was destroyed by a hurricane, the third by a rain of fire, and the fourth by a flood. One human pair escaped each cataclysm and lived to repopulate the world. The fifth or present sun will be destroyed by an earthquake.

Notions of the shape and character of the universe are pretty well defined in Aztecan lore. The widespread belief that the universe consists of three superimposed worlds, the upper or sky world, the middle world of living men and the under world of the dead, is found in a developed form. The upper world is divided into thirteen levels. The uppermost four levels are calledTeteocan, the abode of the gods, and are considered to be invisible. The creator of all, Ometeuctli, Lord of Duality, dwells with his spouse in the highest heaven and under him in order are the Place of the Red God of Fire, the Place of the Yellow Sun God and the Place of the White Evening Star God. The inferior heavens, calledIlhuicatl, are given over to the visible celestial activities. There is one heaven for the storms, another for the blue sky of the day, the dark sky of the night, the comets, the evening star, the sun, the stars, etc.

The under world isMictlan, the Place of the Dead. Nine divisions are commonly given and in the lowermost of these livesMictlanteuctli, the Lord ofDeath, and his mate. The idea of future blessing or punishment is not entirely absent from the minds of the Aztecs. Warriors killed in battle go to the House of the Sun, in one of the upper worlds, as do women who die in childbirth.Tlalocan, the lowermost heaven, is a sort of terrestrial paradise for others.Mictlanis, however, the common abode of the dead, and the wretched soul can reach it only after a journey set with horrors.

The cult of the quarters is intimately associated with the concept of the universe. With the four cardinal points a number of others are sometimes taken including the zenith, the nadir, and the middle. The sacred numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7 may thus conceivably be derived from the points of space, but it would be very unsafe to assume that they are necessarily so derived. The general concept of a universe divided into quarters, fifths, or sixths is a powerful conventionalizing factor in mythology, religion, and art. Prayers, songs, and important acts are repeated in identical or in systematically varied form for each point of space. In Mayan and Aztecan codices the symbolism of the four directions is often manifest.

Ceremonialism was intensely developed in Mexico and the dramatic quality of many Aztecan rites of human sacrifice has probably never been equaled. We are apt to think only of the gruesome features of human sacrifice and to overlook the spiritual ones. The victim was often regarded as a personification of a god and as such he was fêted, clothed in fine garments, and given every honor. Efforts were made to cause the victim to go willingly to his death uplifted by a truly religiousecstasy. It was considered unlucky that he should grieve or falter.

The religious calendar was given over to fixed and movable feasts. The fixed feasts were eighteen in number and each came on the last day of a twenty-day period and gave its name to that period. These eighteen periods correspond with the Mayan uinals or months, but since dates were rarely given in relation to them, they do not have the same calendrical importance. The five days that rounded out the 365-day year were considered unlucky.

Each of the eighteen feasts of the year was under the patronage of a special divinity and each had a set of ceremonies all its own. In some cases the ceremonies were really culminations of long periods of preparation. Thus, on the last day of the month Toxcatl there was sacrificed a young man, chosen from captured chieftains for his beauty and accomplishments, who for an entire year had been fitting himself for his one turn on the stage of blood and death. This intended victim, gayly attired and accompanied by a retinue of pages, was granted the freedom of the city. When the month of Toxcatl entered he was given brides, whose names were those of goddesses, and in his honor was held a succession of brilliant festivals. On the last day there was a parade of canoes across Lake Texcoco and when a certain piece of desert land was reached, the brides and courtiers bade farewell to the victim. His pages accompanied him by a little-used trail to the base of an apparently ruined temple. Here he was stripped of his splendid garments and of the jewels that were symbols of divinity. With only a necklace of flutes he mounted the steps of the pyramid. At each step he broke one of the flutes and hearrived at the summit, where the priests waited, knife in hand, a naked man whose heart was to be offered to the very god he had impersonated. This ceremony is given only as an example, but it illustrates two characteristics that are seen in several other sacrifices, namely, the paying of homage and honor to the intended sacrificial victim, and, secondly, the necessity of keeping the victim in a happy frame of mind.

The eleventh feast of the year was called Ochpaniztli, “the feast of the broom” and was celebrated in honor of the goddess known as Toci, or Teteoinnan. The first of these names means “our female ancestor” and the second one means “the mother of the gods.” She was a goddess of the earth and her symbol was the grass broom with which the earth was swept. She also exerted an influence over the arts of the hearth, such as weaving. Her pictures in the codices show her with a broom in one hand and a shield in the other while about her head is a band of unspun cotton into which are stuck spindles wrapped with thread.

During this month the roads were repaired, the houses and plazas swept, and the temples and idols refurbished. According to the text in the Codex Magliabecchiano there were human sacrifices in the temples which fronted on the roads and there were great dances and carousals. Those sacrificed were afterwards flayed as in the feast of Xipe and their skins worn by dancers. The picture that accompanies this revolting admission is itself devoid of any morbid symbols. It shows a kneeling woman holding out the broom and shield. She wears a white dress and a neckless of jade beads with golden bells for pendants. Below her are two standingmen who bear in their hands offerings of ripe fruit.

Sahagun gives details of a terrible drama that was enacted during this twenty-day month. For the first eight days there was dancing without song and without the drum. After this prologue a woman was chosen to impersonate the patron goddess and to wear her characteristic dress and ornaments. With her was a retinue of women skilled in medicine and midwifery. For four days these persons divided in opposing ranks and pelted each other with leaves and flowers. While this harmless ceremony and others like it were being acted out, the greatest care was taken that the woman who played the rôle of the goddess and who was marked for death should not suspect her fate. It was considered unlucky, indeed, if this victim wept or was sad. When her time to die had come she was clothed in rich garments and given to understand that she should be that night the bride of a rich lord. And under such a beguiling belief she was led silently to the temple of sacrifice. There without warning an attendant lifted her upon himself, back to back, and her head was instantly struck off. Without delay the skin was stripped from her warm body and a youth, wearing it as a garment, was conducted in the midst of captives to the temple of the War God, Huitzilopochtli. Here in the presence of this mighty god the youth himself tore out the hearts of four victims and then abandoned the rest to the knife of the head priest. Thus closed the terrible drama which began with an innocent battle of flowers and ended in an orgy of blood.

The twelfth month passed under two names. It was called Pachtli after a plant with which the temples were decorated and Teotleco which signifies“the arrival of the gods.” The principal feast was held, as usual, on the twentieth day when the great company of gods was supposed to return from a far land. One god, very youthful and robust, arrived on the eighteenth day, being able to outwalk the others, while a few very old and infirm divinities were late in getting to the feast. The one who arrived first was called Telpochtli or Titlacauan but in reality he was the great Tezcatlipoca in disguise.

In anticipation of this return, the temples, shrines, and household idols were decorated with branches. The youths who did this work were repaid in corn, the amount varying from a full basket to a few ears. A novel manner of attesting the earliest presence of divinity is related. Some cornmeal was spread in a circular mass upon the ground. During the night the high priests kept vigil and from time to time visited this circle of cornmeal. When he saw a footprint in the center he cried out, “Our master has come.” Then there was a burst of music and everyone ran to the great feast in the temple. Much native wine was drunk, for this was considered equivalent to washing the tired feet of the travel-worn gods. As a final act of the celebration there was a dance in costume around a great fire and several unfortunates were tossed alive into the flames.

Space will not permit a further examination of the eighteen fixed feasts. The movable feasts were mostly in definite relation to thetonalamatland were thus subject to repetition every 260 days. The permutation of twenty day names and thirteen numbers is pictured in Mexican codices in two or more stereotyped forms, but these are very complete. In the commonest form the entire cycle isdivided into twenty groups of thirteen days each and each group is presided over by a special divinity. There are other repeating series of gods, sacred birds, etc., that preside over the individual days in these groups. Thetonalamatlwas much used in Mexico in connection with foretelling events. The days were lucky, indifferent, or unlucky, and the future life of a child was believed to be locked up in the horoscope of his birthday.

Other feasts were held in relation to longer time periods. There were important festivals held in connection with the planet Venus with especially elaborate ones falling at intervals of eight years. Still another ceremony was held at the completion of a fifty-two year period, when the set of years were figuratively bundled up and laid away and a new sacred fire lighted.

The languages of Central America were capable of considerable literary development. This is seen especially in the songs that were used in different religious ceremonies of the Aztecs, as well as in the reflective poems written by educated natives. Several very fine pieces have been preserved, and while there is no rhyme, there is much rhythm. When recited by a person speaking fluently the native tongue these poems are very impressive. Of course, translation is always hazardous, and fundamental differences in language, such as exist between English and Aztecan, make it almost impossible. The most famous poet whose name has come down to us was Nezahualcoyotl, or Famishing Coyote, who was a ruler of Texcoco and died at the advanced age of eighty years in 1472. A few verses from one of his poems on the mutabilityof life and the certainty of death have been translated as follows:—

All the earth is a grave, and naught escapes it; nothing is so perfect that it does not fall and disappear. The rivers, brooks, fountains and waters flow on, and never return to their joyous beginnings; they hasten on to the vast realms of Tlaloc, and the wider they spread between their marges the more rapidly do they mould their own sepulchral urns. That which was yesterday is not today; and let not that which is today trust to live tomorrow.The caverns of earth are filled with pestilential dust which once was the bones, the flesh, the bodies of great ones who sat upon thrones, deciding causes, ruling assemblies, governing armies, conquering provinces, possessing treasures, tearing down temples, flattering themselves with pride, majesty, fortune, praise and dominion. These glories have passed like the dark smoke thrown out by the fires of Popocatepetl, leaving no monuments but the rude skins on which they are written.

All the earth is a grave, and naught escapes it; nothing is so perfect that it does not fall and disappear. The rivers, brooks, fountains and waters flow on, and never return to their joyous beginnings; they hasten on to the vast realms of Tlaloc, and the wider they spread between their marges the more rapidly do they mould their own sepulchral urns. That which was yesterday is not today; and let not that which is today trust to live tomorrow.

The caverns of earth are filled with pestilential dust which once was the bones, the flesh, the bodies of great ones who sat upon thrones, deciding causes, ruling assemblies, governing armies, conquering provinces, possessing treasures, tearing down temples, flattering themselves with pride, majesty, fortune, praise and dominion. These glories have passed like the dark smoke thrown out by the fires of Popocatepetl, leaving no monuments but the rude skins on which they are written.

Another example will serve to emphasize the strain of sadness and the vision of death that characterize so many Aztecan poems.

Sad and strange it is to see and reflect on the prosperity and power of the old and dying king Tezozomoc; watered with ambition and avarice, he grew like a willow tree rising above the grass and flowers of spring, rejoicing for a long time, until at length withered and decayed, the storm wind of death tore him from his roots and dashing him in fragments to the ground. The same fate befell the ancient King Colzatzli, so that no memory was left of him, nor of his lineage.

Sad and strange it is to see and reflect on the prosperity and power of the old and dying king Tezozomoc; watered with ambition and avarice, he grew like a willow tree rising above the grass and flowers of spring, rejoicing for a long time, until at length withered and decayed, the storm wind of death tore him from his roots and dashing him in fragments to the ground. The same fate befell the ancient King Colzatzli, so that no memory was left of him, nor of his lineage.

Fig. 81. A Mexican Orchestra: 1, log drum; 2, kettle drum; 3-4, flageolets; 5, gourd rattle; 6, turtle shell. Manuscrit du Cacique.

Fig. 81. A Mexican Orchestra: 1, log drum; 2, kettle drum; 3-4, flageolets; 5, gourd rattle; 6, turtle shell. Manuscrit du Cacique.

The Aztecs held concerts in the open air where poems were sung to the accompaniment of the drum and other simple instruments. Songs were also sung at banquets and in the stress of love and war. The common musical instruments of the Aztecs vary but little from those in use elsewhere in Mexico and Central America. There were two kinds of drums. One was a horizontal hollowed-out log with an H-shaped cutting made longitudinally on its upper surface so as to form two vibrating strips which were struck with wooden drumsticks having tips of rubber. The second sort of drum was an upright log also hollowed out and covered with a drumhead of deerskin. Conches were used for trumpets. Resonator whistles with or without finger holes were made of clay in fanciful shapes. Flageolets were constructed of clay, bone, or wood and flutes were made of reed. Resounding metal disks and tortoise shells were beaten in time. Many sorts of gourd and earthenware rattles were employed as well as notched bones which were rasped with a scraping stick. Copper bells of the sleigh bell typewere exceedingly common. The marimba, however, that is such a favorite musical instrument today in Central America is of African origin and fairly recent introduction. No stringed instruments were known to the ancient Mexicans nor does the pan-pipe appear to have been used in this area although common in Peru.

Some of the great sculptures of Tenochtitlan have already been described and references have been made to the native books painted in brilliant colors on paper and deerskin. Objects of minor art comprise pottery vessels, ornaments of gold, silver, copper, jade, and other precious materials, textiles, pieces of feather work, etc.

The best known ceramic products are made of orange colored clay and carry designs in black that sometimes are realistic, but more often not. The tripod dishes with the bottoms roughed by cross scoring were used to grind chili. Heavy bowls with loop handles on the sides and a channel across the bottom were seemingly made to be strung on ropes. They may have held pitch and been used for street lights. The pottery figurines of the Aztecan period are nearly all moulded and lack the sharp detail of the earlier examples. They often represent deities wearing characteristic dress and carrying ceremonial objects.

Comparatively few specimens of ancient gold work in Mexico escaped the cupidity of the Spanish conquerors, but these attest a remarkable proficiency in casting. The moulds were made of clay mixed with ground charcoal and the melting of gold was accomplished by means of a blow pipe. The technique seen in Costa Rican gold work accordingto which details falsely appear to be added by soldered wire, was followed in Mexico. Modern Mexican filigree bears little relation to the ancient Indian work, but is probably of Moorish origin. The examples of Aztecan gold work include finger rings, earrings, nose and lip ornaments, necklaces, and pendants.

Among the precious and semi-precious stones known to the Aztecs, the most valuable in their eyes was turquoise. This was probably obtained by trade from the Pueblo Indians. It was mostly cut into thin plates and used in the manufacture of mosaic objects. Red jasper, green jade, jet, gold, and shell of various colors was also used in these mosaics. Jade was highly prized and was known aschalchihuitl. Ornaments of obsidian, a black volcanic glass, and of crystal quartz, are fairly common and others of opal and amethyst have been found. Pearls and emeralds were secured in trade from the south.

Fig. 82. Mexican Blanket with the Design that represents interlacing Sand and Water called “Spider Water.”

Fig. 82. Mexican Blanket with the Design that represents interlacing Sand and Water called “Spider Water.”

The textile decorations in vogue at the coming of the Spaniards can be restored from the pictures in codices. Mantles were often demanded as tribute and the designs are given on the conventional bundles in the tribute lists. Garments with certain designs served as insignia of office for several of the priesthoods. Feather mosaic was highly prized and was made according to several methods. Capes as well as shields andother objects were covered with brilliant feathers so arranged as to bring out designs in the natural colors.

The Aztecs while by far the most important tribe in the fifteenth century did not dominate all the surrounding peoples. For instance, most of the State of Michoacan was controlled by the Tarascan tribe who defeated every expedition sent against them. The list of Tarascan towns is a long one but Tzintzuntzan which means the “Place of the Humming Birds” was the capital and principal stronghold. The ancient history of the Tarascans is little known. Large and striking specimens of archaic art were formerly accredited to this people, but without good reason. It is likely that archaic characters in art were maintained in Michoacan after they had passed away in central Mexico, but we cannot be sure that the Tarascans were the ancient inhabitants. There is some evidence, however, of culture which can be associated with them. The peculiar T-shaped mounds calledyatacas, which rise in terraces and are faced with stone slabs laid without mortar, may have been built by this tribe. Sculptures of rather fine quality are occasionally found, an example being a reclining god of the type made famous by the “Chacmool” of Chichen Itza. Many fine copper celts have been unearthed in this highly mineralized mountain region. When the Spaniards came the Tarascans were skilled in weaving and were particularly famous for feather mosaics and feather pictures made largely of the brilliant plumage of humming birds. The use of theatlatlor spear-thrower survives among the present-day Indians who also makegourd vessels covered with colored clays in pleasing geometric and floral designs.

The Otomis are a tribe of central Mexico even less cultured than the Tarascans and there is some evidence that they entered this region from the south only a few centuries before the Spaniards. Their relatives, the Matlatzincas of the Valley of Toluca, had more interesting arts.

Fig. 83. The Year Symbol of southern Mexico. It is combined with the four year bearers, House, Rabbit, Reed, and Stone. In the second detail the day 6 Serpent in the year 12 Rabbit is recorded.

Fig. 83. The Year Symbol of southern Mexico. It is combined with the four year bearers, House, Rabbit, Reed, and Stone. In the second detail the day 6 Serpent in the year 12 Rabbit is recorded.

Somewhere about the middle of the fifteenth century Moctezuma I planted an Aztecan colony at Uaxyacac on the edge of the Zapotecan territory to protect the trade route to Tabasco. This name gave rise to the modern Oaxaca. From this point expeditions were sent out which harrassed the Zapotecs to the south and the Mixtecs to the west. In the Tribute Roll of Moctezuma II more than twenty Zapotecan towns are listed as paying tribute that consisted of gold disks and gold dust, jadeite beads, quetzal feathers, cochineal dye, fine textiles, etc. Very little is preserved concerning the traditional history of southern Mexico, but it is presumed that the Zapotecan culturebefore the Aztecan ascendency was a development of that implanted many centuries before when Monte Alban flourished and which we have already examined. As for the Mixtecs we only know that they produced pottery of great beauty somewhat similar to that of Cholula.

Fig. 84. Year Bearers in the Codex Porfirio Diaz ascribed to the Cuicatecan tribe: Wind, Deer, Herb, and Movement.

Fig. 84. Year Bearers in the Codex Porfirio Diaz ascribed to the Cuicatecan tribe: Wind, Deer, Herb, and Movement.

Some of the finest pre-Cortesian codices that have come down to us are probably of Zapotecan and Mixtecan origin although reflecting to some extent the religion of the Aztecs. Several of these have been interpreted by Doctor Seler in terms of Aztecan religion and art. Among the documents from southern Mexico that belong to the late period are:—

Fig. 85. A Page from the Codex Nuttall, recording the Conquest of a Town situated on an Island of the Sea. The conquerors come in boats and the conquest is indicated by a spear thrust into the place name hieroglyph. The crocodile, flying fish, and the sea serpent are represented in the water.

Fig. 85. A Page from the Codex Nuttall, recording the Conquest of a Town situated on an Island of the Sea. The conquerors come in boats and the conquest is indicated by a spear thrust into the place name hieroglyph. The crocodile, flying fish, and the sea serpent are represented in the water.

Severallienzosor documents written on cloth are also from this region. The Lienzo of Amoltepec which is a fine example of this class is conserved in the American Museum of Natural History. The documents from southern Mexico are distinguished by details of geometric ornament that resemble the panels of geometric design on the temples of Mitla. They record historical events, give astronomical information and present much pictographic evidence on various ceremonies and religious usages. In giving a date a somewhat different method is used than we have seen in the historical records from the Valley of Mexico. There is a definite year sign (Fig. 83) and with it is combined the year bearer, or initial day of the year, and often the particular day of the event. Unfortunately, this is not entirely satisfactory because no month signs are recorded and a day with a certain name and number frequently occurs twice in one year. The yearbearers are the same as among the Aztecs for most of the documents, namely, Knife, House, Rabbit, and Reed, but in a manuscript ascribed to a tribe in southern Mexico called the Cuicatecs, the year bearers are Wind, Deer, Herb, and Movement (Fig. 84). Conquest of a town is shown by a spear thrust into the place name. Individuals are often named after the day on which they were born. Thus 8 Deer is a warrior hero in the Codex Nuttall and 3 Knife is a woman who also plays a prominent part. In some of the manuscripts from southern Mexico we see details that are very close to those in the codices of the Mayas.

Fig. 86. The God Macuilxochitl, Five Flower, as shown in a Mexican Codex and in Pottery from southern Mexico.

Fig. 86. The God Macuilxochitl, Five Flower, as shown in a Mexican Codex and in Pottery from southern Mexico.

... and in Pottery.

The influence from the late Mexican cultures can be traced far to the south.Decorative motives that show affiliations to those of the Aztecs and their immediate predecessors are found as far south as Costa Rica but the strain is thin and not to be compared with the evidences of culture connection over wide territories that are found on earlier horizons. There was clearly a brisk trade in gold in Aztecan times between the Isthmus of Panama and Mexico.

After the breakdown of the civilization of the humid lands of Central America, following the Mayan cataclysm, the abandoned regions appear to have been repopulated by a stream of tribes from South America who swept up the coast of the Caribbean Sea and across the peninsula of Yucatan, as far as Tehuantepec. There was also a strong northern movement of tribes along the Pacific Coast seen most clearly in the distribution of languages belonging to the Chiapanecan or Chorotegan stock. The early historic records show the Mazateca in transit from their old home in Costa Rica to their new one in northern Oaxaca. Cortez in 1526 found these Indians in Yucatan.

This survey of ancient history in Mexico and Central America discloses a condition which doubtless holds true of the archæological record in other parts of the world. The earliest sedentary culture was by far the most homogeneous and widespread. This means it modified slowly and lasted for ages. At the same time, owing to the connection of the archaic complex with agriculture, the initial spread may have been rapid. The plants domesticated by the American Indians were developed far beyond the wild types, much farther indeed, than the domesticplants of the Old World. This development must have extended over many centuries. The first horizon of agriculture was based on plants of an arid highland environment. The second horizon of agriculture was based on these same plants after they had been slowly modified to fit a humid lowland environment, as well as on certain new plants of humid lowland origin.

The Maya civilization was specialized to the wet lowlands of the tropic zone and while the influence exerted by this dominant culture of the New World was felt over a great area, the exact characters were not reproduced elsewhere. Trade relations can be traced from Yucatan to Colombia on the one hand and on the other to New Mexico. The cycle of the Mayan civilization was comparatively short and the cycles of the resultant civilizations were even shorter. All New World history must be referred ultimately to the horizons of culture described above, with the standard chronology of the Mayas as the only definite scale.

In the cross-section of New World history presented herewith the horizontal measures represent space and the vertical measures represent time. The line A-B-C-D begins at Victoria Island and ends at Cape Horn, cutting across the culture areas named on the diagram. Over a large part of this cross-section the “horizon of recorded history” is in fact the time of the first European exploration, but in Colombia and Peru, there are well-defined traditions giving lists of kings, while in Central America there is exact chronology going back 2000 years before the coming of the white man. Below this and within it there are archæological records of culture sequence which in some regions, such asthe Pueblo Area, have been nicely classified. On the basis of trade relations and diffused ideas in material and esthetic arts the marginal chronology can be tied in with that of the central standard section of history. Of course, all dates earlier than the first recorded ones are theoretical. The beginning of agriculture in America is put at 4000 B. C.—it may be earlier, but can hardly be much later.

In the Pueblo or Southwest Area a single type of flint corn, doubtless introduced from the south, appears on the first agricultural level. Contacts with Mexico and Central America are inferable during Basket Maker II and III, the latter stratum having female fetishes roughly comparable with those of the Archaic Horizon of Mexico. Later Southwest evolution is autochthonous until the end of Pueblo III when the concepts of the Plumed Serpent, the Eagle Man, Four-direction symbolism, etc., come from Mexico with Toltec trade. Culture sequence in the Southwest is about as follows:—

In Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru culture successions are now being worked out. The best criterion of age is found in metals which enter Central America from South America after the fall of the First Mayan Empire, i.e., after 630 A. D. The technologyof metal working is continuous from southern Colombia to central Mexico. Negative painting with wax has a wider and perhaps earlier distribution, reaching Ecuador and Peru in association with tripod pottery which is otherwise rare in the Andean region. Various motives of design link the two continents, especially on the Toltec-Chorotegan level. Between 1000 and 1200 A. D. civilization seems to have been generally stabilized, but this halcyon age was followed by disorganization and far-reaching migrations. The pre-Spanish horizons of southern Peru are tentatively arranged as follows by A. L. Kroeber, the apparently earlier material of Ancon being omitted for lack of the cross-ties.

The early Nasca civilization was far from primitive being characterized by pyramids, fine textiles, and some metal. Mayan strains have been recognized in Chavin and Recuay in Peru and various sites in Ecuador.

The dynamic forces in the history of man in the New World have a tremendous bearing upon the present and future state of the world. The debt which we owe to the ancient civilizations of Mexico and Central America becomes apparent when we list the more important agricultural plants, fibers, gums, dyes, etc., which were taken over by Europeans from the American Indians.


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