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Early Modern History: Society and Culture
Bonds of Blood: Gender, Lifecycle, and Sacrifice in Aztec Culture
The history of the Aztecs has been haunted by the spectre of human sacrifice. As bloody priests and brutal warriors, the Aztecs have peopled the pages of history, myth and fiction, their spectacular violence dominating perceptions of their culture and casting a veil over their unique way of life. Reinvesting the Aztecs with a humanity frequently denied to them, and exploring their religious violence as a comprehensible element of life and existence, Caroline Dodds Pennock integrates a fresh interpretation of gender with an innovative study of the everyday life of the Aztecs. This was a culture of contradictions and complications, but in amongst the grand ritual we can find the personal and private, the minutiae of life which make the world of these extraordinary people instantly familiar. Despite their violent bloodshed, the Aztecs were a compassionate and expressive people who lived and worked in cooperative gendered partnership.
241 pages, Hardcover
First published December 9, 2008
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April 21, 2021Dnf
June 26, 2016
This was a useful introduction to the role of sacrifice in Aztec culture.
Key highlights for me:
Aztec civilization flourished from about 1350; at the time of conquest Tenochtitlan was the heart of the empire, with 400 cities sending tribute and captives, "tribute to fulfil the religious obligations of a society centered on human sacrifice." Emphasizes that human sacrifice was widely practiced and "brutal religious zeal was apparent in the awe-inspiring displays of violence which shaepd thelives of the men and women of Tenochtitlan" (2)
"Although [Aztec] acquiescence is such spectacular bloodshed is certainly unusual, the Aztecs were not dehumanized by the horrors of their culture. Pity, sorrow, love, grief and joy were all deeply felt and powerfully expressed" (3)
"To refrain from trying to understand pre-contact Latin American cultural history so as to avoid Eurocentric misrepresentation of the 'other' is . . . to foreclose all hope of ever perceiving the full range and nature of human representational practices.' We are right to fear inaccuracy, misapprehension and presumption . . . but it seems unlikely that the view of Aztec society [the alphabetic texts] present was invented by the Spanish" (9)
"All men were warriors, but in their everyday lives, they were also farmers, craftsmen, administrators and workers, roles which they shared with their wives and daughters. For the average Aztec, everyday activity revolved around the household, the family and the calpulli, or district. The term calpulli probably originally designated a tribal clan, but after hte settlement in the Valley of Mexico," were rather associated with geographical locations. Each capulli was allotted rights to use certain portions of land, which was owned communally and allotted to families to use. The calpulli "regulated and monitored the lives of its members but also provided for their well-being, ensuring access to essential resources and arranging communal labor" (11)
"The reciprocal nature of the Aztec state, which bound its members in a cycle of obligation. Each person paid tribute only according to his ability under a carefully controlled levy, and inhabitants were to labour and undertake military service in exchange for the advantages of citizenship: access to land; the right to access official hierarchies and institutions; the protection of personal rights and possessions; and the support of community and city in times of hardship" (11-12)
Men and women were encouraged to see each other as complementary allies; reciprocity was a fundamental tenet of state-citizen and male-female relations. (12)
"Every Aztec felt himself or herself to be part of a greater cycle, a repeated and recreated universe in which successive worlds were born, lived and died. Their part in this evolution of worlds was temporary and transient. They were spokes of a wheel which continually turned, essential yet tiny parts of a larger system. As individuals they were insignificant, but their shared activity perpetuated their world and sustained the gods.
Words spoken to captives as they entered Tenochtitlan: "Do not think that you have been brought here by mishap, nor that you have come here to seek a living; you have come to die [for Huitzilopochtli], to offer your chests and throats to the knife. Only in this way has it been your fortune to know and delight in this great city . . . We welcome you and say to you that you should be consoled that no womanly nor infamous deed has brought you here, but manly feats [have been responsible]. you will die here but your fame will live forever" (14)
"shared identity and principle, victims implicated in a reciprocal relationship of shared honour and obligation." Fate made plain, but tempered in context of affirmation of courage, masculinity, and participation in cycle of perpetual glory and spiritual survival (14)
War structured society; lines of captives returning to city would have been a familiar sight. When warriors brought home human tribute, "their duty to the community, to the gods and to their families had been fulfilled." Captives were not to be ashamed, "crossing the causeway to the Aztec capital symbolized a transition from warrior to victim, indicating an end to their social, familial and personal ties and preparing them to die as sacrificial offerings" (15)
"The relationship between captor and captive was extremely intimate and one which was promoted by a system of sacrifice in which the prestige of a warrior was located in the valour of his captive" (17) Warrior accompanied captive to sacrifical stone, witnessed, returned home with the body, "a portion of which was sent to the emperor and the remainder consumed in ceremonial cannibalism by the captor's family and friends" (17). But the captor refrained, saying "'Shall I perchance eat my very self?' For when he took [the captive], he had said: 'He is as my beloved son.' And the captive had said: 'He is my beloved father' (17). By not participating, the warrior also reminded his family and himself that "such a poignant end was also very probably his own fate" (17)
All men in the society, including landless peasants excluded from other forms of citizen participation & taxation, were required to perform military service. Only the pochteca, "powerful class of merchants who controlled the broader networks of travelling raders," were exempt. They "rang[ed] widely in both friendly and hostile territory, often in disguise and fully armed, [living] a difficult and sometimes dangerous life, and so was permitted to count himself a true man, almost a warrior" (18)
Both death on battlefield and as sacrifice led to privileged afterlife. In early years nobles may have been exempt, but after 1415 even noble warriors were subject to sacrifice. Captives were frequent victims, but so were nobles and slaves. Slaves became so as punishment or "voluntarily" due to laziness, fatigue, poverty, or debt (!19). Could sell themselves, with right to spend amount received before beginning servitude. Or family might sell member into slavery and take turns "sharing the burden" for a number of years. Slaves could marry whom they wished and children were born free. Masters often set slaves free in their wills and kings also freed slaves at various festivals. "Only an idle and delinquent slave could be sold, and not until he or she had been declared delinquent and traded three times did a slave become eligible to be sold as a human sacrifice" (19) This was not the detached killing of strangers but "killing of familiar members of the community" (19)
Some were victims of gladiatorial sacrifice, "adorned as warriors, furnished with weakened weapons . . . tethered to the round gladiatorial stone." Confronted with a series of warriors, fought valiantly and ultimately "weakening him sufficiently to be thrown across the stone and have his heart torn out to honour the Sun" (20). Captor held vigil with captive night before. "Following the final gashing of the chest, a green bowl edged with feathers was filled with the gushing blood, and the captor, adorned in his warrior's insignia, went throughout the city, daubing the lips of each of the images of the gods with blood" (20). Captive then flayed and captor wore flayed skin throughout city begging for gifts for 20 days. "Without conceding his own honour, the cpative served to bring esteem to his captor by his behavior" (21).
"In a typical ritual, the victim ascended a great pyramid, through the blood which flowed from the summit to the base, perhaps even passing the bodies of previous victims which had been cast down the steep steps. Reaching the temple platform, the helpless individual was confronted with the sight of the great sacrificial stone, stained with the blood, which also mated the hair of the magnificently adorned priests . . . the victim was stretched backwards over the stone altar, each limb extended by a priest so that the back was arched and the chest stretched taut and raised high toward the heavens. A fifth priest struck open the chest with an obsidian knife, excised the heart with knife and hands and raised the fertile offering to the heavens, displaying to the gods the sacrificial fruit. . . . even as they climbed the steep pyramid, every person still possessed a degree of power, the ability to choose the manner in which they faced their death" (21).
"And when some captive lost his strength, fainted, only went continually throwing himself on the ground, they just dragged him. But when one made an effort, he did not act like a woman; he became strong like a man, he bore himself like a man, he went speaking like a man, he went exerting himself, he went strong of heart, he went shouting. He did not go downcast; he did not go spiritless; he went extolling, he went exalting his city" (21)
About 90 victims required during annual calendar round, usually victims, slaves, or captives. Usually gender did not matter, but 21 ceremonies required male victims and 16 required female (23).
Regular death brought a rather grim post-death life in "the land of the dead, a realm of gloom under the disc of the earth in which misery and deprivation reigned. " That "eternity of darkness" could be escaped by a "warrieor who died in battle or as a sacrifice at the hand of a p riest [and] received 'the flowered death by the obsidian knife." Such a warrior was elevated to the sky to drink the fragrant juices of the gods and accompany the sun from its rise to noon (36) Women who died in childbirth carried the sun from noon to sunset. "The land of the dead lay under the disk of the earth, and the Sun had to fight his way through this dread land every night, before finally emerging triumphant to celebrate with his warriors at daybreak . . . [thus] the women bore a potentially dreadful responsibility (for the Aztecs lived in fear that the Sun would fail to arise victorious) (37)
"The earth was universally acknowledged as a place of suffering and affliction, and the harsh realities of life were revealed to children from the very hour of their birth" (40).
Restrictions on use of alcohol -- generally limited to elderly; intoxication brought one closer to the gods and too much contact with them could be dangerous
Childbirth: "the physical aspects of the process were well understood, the environment was clean and arranged, the pain was eased by massage and herbs, and the pregnant woman was surrounded by caring support" (41).
banquet held when a woman's pregnancy became evident, "with celebration and speeches accompanying the feasting." (41) Another family gathering held in 7th/8th month and midwife carefully selected by family. Ritual discourse exchanged at each phase of pregnancy and birth, called "speeches of the elders" or "ancient words" that structured Aztec life.
One expectant mother said "Our hands are together; we go holding hands. Perhpas he will see and behold the face of that which is his blood, his color, recognizable as his. Perhaps it will be his image. but on the other hand, the lord of the near, of the night, may laugh at us. Perhaps our lord will completely destroy the tender thing. Perhaps something will cause it to be stillborn; our lord will leave us [still] desiring a child . . . Let us have faith in our lord; perhaps something is our desert, perhaps something is our merit" (44)
For birth, midwife summoned, woman bathed, dressed, house swept. At moment of birth midwife made war cries, for the mother had "become a brave warrior, had taken a captive, captured a baby" (46) male umbilical cord buried by warriors on the battlefield; female near hearth of home. Babies ritually bathed at birth and then also again for naming ceremony shortly after; sacrificial victims also bathed beforehand.
Nice details of naming ceremony, boy children offered to the gods, their duty to "provide thee drink, food, offerings . . . he belongeth to the battlefield" (50)
inheritance passed through both male and female lines; both parents had to be noble for nobility to be conferred (58). Land was used rather than inherited (belonged to capilli, temples, or the city itself). Both birth and accomplishment were important for leadership, both for men and women.
at twenty days children dedicated to the temple. Calmecac dedicated to the god of the priests, Quetzalcoatl; ears cut and blood cast onto the idol of the god. Was school both for nobles and priests. Telpochcalli handed to masters of the youths, service of Tezcatlipoca, Smoking Mirror, god of rulers, sorceres, and warriors. Lips pierced to insert lip plug that indicated warrior status. Could advance through either one, but the calmecac was to some extent more presetigious (73)
Every four years in ceremony of the Growing, small children were hung high by their necks & ears so they would grow talll; "at midnight, the children were taken to the temple and, in the early hours of the morning, their ear lobes were pierced with a pointed bone. A thread of unspun cotton was drawn thorugh the small hole and tied to their bloodied ear. Unsurprisingly, these tiny children 'raised a yell' as their heads were daubed with yellow parrot feathers and they were 'singed' over a fire of incense as they were dedicated to the gods" (63). Home for vigil until daybreak, when festivities, dancing began and everyone, even children, got drunk.
Children petted and loved and indulged until about 3, when they began eating tortillas. "Having eaten maize, the Aztec staple and a grain of both spiritual and practical importance, the children had accepted the benefits of their community's efforts and were bound to corresponding obligations." Early began to participate in work of household and calpulli, accompanying parents and observing their work. "Six year olds gathered maize nad beans spilled by traders in the marketplace and took these small offerings home, beginning to contribute to their household economy" (67). Children early encouraged to be active.
Would have gone to schools around age 13 (73), represented a break with family life to rigorous priestly or warrior training. Some nobles entered temple training and then left to marry, but "An Aztecx priest was the human intermediary with a hostile and foreboding force, which required constant appeasement with gifts of blood . . . priests were permanently marked with the filth of their duty. Forbidden from combing or cleaning their hair, and occupied in private and in public with violent rituals, the priests were covered with both their own and their victims' blood. Their hair was matted with the blood that dripped from their ears, pierced where they had offered themselves as a sacrifice" (75) . . . . "eventually these priests would struggled under the weight of their hair, which was increasingly weighed down with the soot with which they smeared themselves from head to foot. This experience of filth, mingled with blood, must have been a profound experience for a young priest, especially when vegetable growth began to appear on the moist soot which caked their braided hair. The offering of blood also came to form a regular and structured component of their daily existence." (77). Cut holes in penis and pulled long ropes through. "For the boys who suffered this torture, this was a way to learn to accept pain, blood, and prolonged suffering, and perhaps, by offering themselves in such a brutal fashion, to come to terms with the necessity to offer others" (77).
One of the codices shows a female manuscript painter, and women spoke occasionally in ritual discourse. The priestly schools seem to have taught boys understanding and artisanship and girls "embroidery, dyeing and working with feathers" . . . "an important objective of . . . 'religious instruction' was to stimulate the technical skills and aesthetic sensibilities required for a specific craft'" (81)
Both girls and boys were required to attend "houses of song" where they learned ritual discourse, songs, and dances, and had the opportunity to mingle with each other and engage in personal expression through music and dance that were otherwise tightly constrained (85).
Female priests had less emphasis on suffering in their service; "they wove plain blankets for everyday use and others in gaudy colours for the use of the temple. At midnight each night they threw incense on the braziers before the idols and in the morning they made a hot meal of tortillas and chicken stew -- the steam nourished the idols, and the priests consumed the rest" Women accompanied male priests to the feet of the idols in processions, and each swept certain portions of the temple steps (86).
Story of a female captive who was allowed to finish her two years' dedication to the temple fasting and praying before marrying the ruler (90).
Time: The Aztecs "understood the present in cyclical terms which drew insight from the actual and mythical pasts, religious and metaphysical interpretations, and projections of the future" (90).
Descriptions of young men and women singing and dancing, practising hte skills learned at the cuicalcalli in open and expressive festivals, raise tantalizing possibilities: eager girls flirting vivaciously, and immature warriors flaunting their burgeoning physicques, displaying tehir budding femininity and masculinity in the most liberated forum available" Sometimes a young couple would become fond of each other when a young boy held a girls' hand at a feast, and "every time the boy came to that place, he sought her out and made it a point to hold her, and no other, by the hand, and she felt the same about him. In this way they went along and suffered until their time came. This was when he had reached th eproper age or had performed some notable feat" (92).
"the lingering glances and meaning ful touching of hands betweenthese adolescent Aztecs are easy to imagine. The young couple may have managed a few stolen words [within the controlled confines of school], whispering between dances, passing messages through friends, meeting in the marketplace, perhaps even exchanging promises of marriage" (92)
Marriage was central and necessary for full membership in the capulli. Old women matchmakers approached the girls' family on four successive mornings; the first three times they were rejected, but accepted the fourth. "The discussions may, in fact, have been rather heated at times, but the appearance of goodwill was doubtless preserved by long-instilled traditions of rhetoric. Eloquent disagreement and persuasive speeches were permitted, but outright argument flouted rigid expectations of courtesy" (95).
Weddings: Guests arrived at midday bringing gifts of food, tobacco, flowers, and capes, though poor may have brought only maize. All gifts placed before the hearth. Guests drank chocolate while elderly got drunk. Toward evening bride washed and pasted with red feathers. Ceremonial speeches by groom's family welcoming her and ceremonially asking her to turn from her birth family to her new responsibilities. At nightfall woman was wrapped in a black cloth and hoisted on back of older woman, carried to groom's home and welcomed in front of the hearth, where "the elderly matchmakers tied them together. They took the corner of the man's cape; also they drew up the woman's shift; then they tied these together" (99). Mother in law fed bride four mouthfuls of food, then bride fed husband four mouthfuls. Then four days of official seclusion and fasting before cohabiting.
See rest of notes in Google docs.
Key highlights for me:
Aztec civilization flourished from about 1350; at the time of conquest Tenochtitlan was the heart of the empire, with 400 cities sending tribute and captives, "tribute to fulfil the religious obligations of a society centered on human sacrifice." Emphasizes that human sacrifice was widely practiced and "brutal religious zeal was apparent in the awe-inspiring displays of violence which shaepd thelives of the men and women of Tenochtitlan" (2)
"Although [Aztec] acquiescence is such spectacular bloodshed is certainly unusual, the Aztecs were not dehumanized by the horrors of their culture. Pity, sorrow, love, grief and joy were all deeply felt and powerfully expressed" (3)
"To refrain from trying to understand pre-contact Latin American cultural history so as to avoid Eurocentric misrepresentation of the 'other' is . . . to foreclose all hope of ever perceiving the full range and nature of human representational practices.' We are right to fear inaccuracy, misapprehension and presumption . . . but it seems unlikely that the view of Aztec society [the alphabetic texts] present was invented by the Spanish" (9)
"All men were warriors, but in their everyday lives, they were also farmers, craftsmen, administrators and workers, roles which they shared with their wives and daughters. For the average Aztec, everyday activity revolved around the household, the family and the calpulli, or district. The term calpulli probably originally designated a tribal clan, but after hte settlement in the Valley of Mexico," were rather associated with geographical locations. Each capulli was allotted rights to use certain portions of land, which was owned communally and allotted to families to use. The calpulli "regulated and monitored the lives of its members but also provided for their well-being, ensuring access to essential resources and arranging communal labor" (11)
"The reciprocal nature of the Aztec state, which bound its members in a cycle of obligation. Each person paid tribute only according to his ability under a carefully controlled levy, and inhabitants were to labour and undertake military service in exchange for the advantages of citizenship: access to land; the right to access official hierarchies and institutions; the protection of personal rights and possessions; and the support of community and city in times of hardship" (11-12)
Men and women were encouraged to see each other as complementary allies; reciprocity was a fundamental tenet of state-citizen and male-female relations. (12)
"Every Aztec felt himself or herself to be part of a greater cycle, a repeated and recreated universe in which successive worlds were born, lived and died. Their part in this evolution of worlds was temporary and transient. They were spokes of a wheel which continually turned, essential yet tiny parts of a larger system. As individuals they were insignificant, but their shared activity perpetuated their world and sustained the gods.
Words spoken to captives as they entered Tenochtitlan: "Do not think that you have been brought here by mishap, nor that you have come here to seek a living; you have come to die [for Huitzilopochtli], to offer your chests and throats to the knife. Only in this way has it been your fortune to know and delight in this great city . . . We welcome you and say to you that you should be consoled that no womanly nor infamous deed has brought you here, but manly feats [have been responsible]. you will die here but your fame will live forever" (14)
"shared identity and principle, victims implicated in a reciprocal relationship of shared honour and obligation." Fate made plain, but tempered in context of affirmation of courage, masculinity, and participation in cycle of perpetual glory and spiritual survival (14)
War structured society; lines of captives returning to city would have been a familiar sight. When warriors brought home human tribute, "their duty to the community, to the gods and to their families had been fulfilled." Captives were not to be ashamed, "crossing the causeway to the Aztec capital symbolized a transition from warrior to victim, indicating an end to their social, familial and personal ties and preparing them to die as sacrificial offerings" (15)
"The relationship between captor and captive was extremely intimate and one which was promoted by a system of sacrifice in which the prestige of a warrior was located in the valour of his captive" (17) Warrior accompanied captive to sacrifical stone, witnessed, returned home with the body, "a portion of which was sent to the emperor and the remainder consumed in ceremonial cannibalism by the captor's family and friends" (17). But the captor refrained, saying "'Shall I perchance eat my very self?' For when he took [the captive], he had said: 'He is as my beloved son.' And the captive had said: 'He is my beloved father' (17). By not participating, the warrior also reminded his family and himself that "such a poignant end was also very probably his own fate" (17)
All men in the society, including landless peasants excluded from other forms of citizen participation & taxation, were required to perform military service. Only the pochteca, "powerful class of merchants who controlled the broader networks of travelling raders," were exempt. They "rang[ed] widely in both friendly and hostile territory, often in disguise and fully armed, [living] a difficult and sometimes dangerous life, and so was permitted to count himself a true man, almost a warrior" (18)
Both death on battlefield and as sacrifice led to privileged afterlife. In early years nobles may have been exempt, but after 1415 even noble warriors were subject to sacrifice. Captives were frequent victims, but so were nobles and slaves. Slaves became so as punishment or "voluntarily" due to laziness, fatigue, poverty, or debt (!19). Could sell themselves, with right to spend amount received before beginning servitude. Or family might sell member into slavery and take turns "sharing the burden" for a number of years. Slaves could marry whom they wished and children were born free. Masters often set slaves free in their wills and kings also freed slaves at various festivals. "Only an idle and delinquent slave could be sold, and not until he or she had been declared delinquent and traded three times did a slave become eligible to be sold as a human sacrifice" (19) This was not the detached killing of strangers but "killing of familiar members of the community" (19)
Some were victims of gladiatorial sacrifice, "adorned as warriors, furnished with weakened weapons . . . tethered to the round gladiatorial stone." Confronted with a series of warriors, fought valiantly and ultimately "weakening him sufficiently to be thrown across the stone and have his heart torn out to honour the Sun" (20). Captor held vigil with captive night before. "Following the final gashing of the chest, a green bowl edged with feathers was filled with the gushing blood, and the captor, adorned in his warrior's insignia, went throughout the city, daubing the lips of each of the images of the gods with blood" (20). Captive then flayed and captor wore flayed skin throughout city begging for gifts for 20 days. "Without conceding his own honour, the cpative served to bring esteem to his captor by his behavior" (21).
"In a typical ritual, the victim ascended a great pyramid, through the blood which flowed from the summit to the base, perhaps even passing the bodies of previous victims which had been cast down the steep steps. Reaching the temple platform, the helpless individual was confronted with the sight of the great sacrificial stone, stained with the blood, which also mated the hair of the magnificently adorned priests . . . the victim was stretched backwards over the stone altar, each limb extended by a priest so that the back was arched and the chest stretched taut and raised high toward the heavens. A fifth priest struck open the chest with an obsidian knife, excised the heart with knife and hands and raised the fertile offering to the heavens, displaying to the gods the sacrificial fruit. . . . even as they climbed the steep pyramid, every person still possessed a degree of power, the ability to choose the manner in which they faced their death" (21).
"And when some captive lost his strength, fainted, only went continually throwing himself on the ground, they just dragged him. But when one made an effort, he did not act like a woman; he became strong like a man, he bore himself like a man, he went speaking like a man, he went exerting himself, he went strong of heart, he went shouting. He did not go downcast; he did not go spiritless; he went extolling, he went exalting his city" (21)
About 90 victims required during annual calendar round, usually victims, slaves, or captives. Usually gender did not matter, but 21 ceremonies required male victims and 16 required female (23).
Regular death brought a rather grim post-death life in "the land of the dead, a realm of gloom under the disc of the earth in which misery and deprivation reigned. " That "eternity of darkness" could be escaped by a "warrieor who died in battle or as a sacrifice at the hand of a p riest [and] received 'the flowered death by the obsidian knife." Such a warrior was elevated to the sky to drink the fragrant juices of the gods and accompany the sun from its rise to noon (36) Women who died in childbirth carried the sun from noon to sunset. "The land of the dead lay under the disk of the earth, and the Sun had to fight his way through this dread land every night, before finally emerging triumphant to celebrate with his warriors at daybreak . . . [thus] the women bore a potentially dreadful responsibility (for the Aztecs lived in fear that the Sun would fail to arise victorious) (37)
"The earth was universally acknowledged as a place of suffering and affliction, and the harsh realities of life were revealed to children from the very hour of their birth" (40).
Restrictions on use of alcohol -- generally limited to elderly; intoxication brought one closer to the gods and too much contact with them could be dangerous
Childbirth: "the physical aspects of the process were well understood, the environment was clean and arranged, the pain was eased by massage and herbs, and the pregnant woman was surrounded by caring support" (41).
banquet held when a woman's pregnancy became evident, "with celebration and speeches accompanying the feasting." (41) Another family gathering held in 7th/8th month and midwife carefully selected by family. Ritual discourse exchanged at each phase of pregnancy and birth, called "speeches of the elders" or "ancient words" that structured Aztec life.
One expectant mother said "Our hands are together; we go holding hands. Perhpas he will see and behold the face of that which is his blood, his color, recognizable as his. Perhaps it will be his image. but on the other hand, the lord of the near, of the night, may laugh at us. Perhaps our lord will completely destroy the tender thing. Perhaps something will cause it to be stillborn; our lord will leave us [still] desiring a child . . . Let us have faith in our lord; perhaps something is our desert, perhaps something is our merit" (44)
For birth, midwife summoned, woman bathed, dressed, house swept. At moment of birth midwife made war cries, for the mother had "become a brave warrior, had taken a captive, captured a baby" (46) male umbilical cord buried by warriors on the battlefield; female near hearth of home. Babies ritually bathed at birth and then also again for naming ceremony shortly after; sacrificial victims also bathed beforehand.
Nice details of naming ceremony, boy children offered to the gods, their duty to "provide thee drink, food, offerings . . . he belongeth to the battlefield" (50)
inheritance passed through both male and female lines; both parents had to be noble for nobility to be conferred (58). Land was used rather than inherited (belonged to capilli, temples, or the city itself). Both birth and accomplishment were important for leadership, both for men and women.
at twenty days children dedicated to the temple. Calmecac dedicated to the god of the priests, Quetzalcoatl; ears cut and blood cast onto the idol of the god. Was school both for nobles and priests. Telpochcalli handed to masters of the youths, service of Tezcatlipoca, Smoking Mirror, god of rulers, sorceres, and warriors. Lips pierced to insert lip plug that indicated warrior status. Could advance through either one, but the calmecac was to some extent more presetigious (73)
Every four years in ceremony of the Growing, small children were hung high by their necks & ears so they would grow talll; "at midnight, the children were taken to the temple and, in the early hours of the morning, their ear lobes were pierced with a pointed bone. A thread of unspun cotton was drawn thorugh the small hole and tied to their bloodied ear. Unsurprisingly, these tiny children 'raised a yell' as their heads were daubed with yellow parrot feathers and they were 'singed' over a fire of incense as they were dedicated to the gods" (63). Home for vigil until daybreak, when festivities, dancing began and everyone, even children, got drunk.
Children petted and loved and indulged until about 3, when they began eating tortillas. "Having eaten maize, the Aztec staple and a grain of both spiritual and practical importance, the children had accepted the benefits of their community's efforts and were bound to corresponding obligations." Early began to participate in work of household and calpulli, accompanying parents and observing their work. "Six year olds gathered maize nad beans spilled by traders in the marketplace and took these small offerings home, beginning to contribute to their household economy" (67). Children early encouraged to be active.
Would have gone to schools around age 13 (73), represented a break with family life to rigorous priestly or warrior training. Some nobles entered temple training and then left to marry, but "An Aztecx priest was the human intermediary with a hostile and foreboding force, which required constant appeasement with gifts of blood . . . priests were permanently marked with the filth of their duty. Forbidden from combing or cleaning their hair, and occupied in private and in public with violent rituals, the priests were covered with both their own and their victims' blood. Their hair was matted with the blood that dripped from their ears, pierced where they had offered themselves as a sacrifice" (75) . . . . "eventually these priests would struggled under the weight of their hair, which was increasingly weighed down with the soot with which they smeared themselves from head to foot. This experience of filth, mingled with blood, must have been a profound experience for a young priest, especially when vegetable growth began to appear on the moist soot which caked their braided hair. The offering of blood also came to form a regular and structured component of their daily existence." (77). Cut holes in penis and pulled long ropes through. "For the boys who suffered this torture, this was a way to learn to accept pain, blood, and prolonged suffering, and perhaps, by offering themselves in such a brutal fashion, to come to terms with the necessity to offer others" (77).
One of the codices shows a female manuscript painter, and women spoke occasionally in ritual discourse. The priestly schools seem to have taught boys understanding and artisanship and girls "embroidery, dyeing and working with feathers" . . . "an important objective of . . . 'religious instruction' was to stimulate the technical skills and aesthetic sensibilities required for a specific craft'" (81)
Both girls and boys were required to attend "houses of song" where they learned ritual discourse, songs, and dances, and had the opportunity to mingle with each other and engage in personal expression through music and dance that were otherwise tightly constrained (85).
Female priests had less emphasis on suffering in their service; "they wove plain blankets for everyday use and others in gaudy colours for the use of the temple. At midnight each night they threw incense on the braziers before the idols and in the morning they made a hot meal of tortillas and chicken stew -- the steam nourished the idols, and the priests consumed the rest" Women accompanied male priests to the feet of the idols in processions, and each swept certain portions of the temple steps (86).
Story of a female captive who was allowed to finish her two years' dedication to the temple fasting and praying before marrying the ruler (90).
Time: The Aztecs "understood the present in cyclical terms which drew insight from the actual and mythical pasts, religious and metaphysical interpretations, and projections of the future" (90).
Descriptions of young men and women singing and dancing, practising hte skills learned at the cuicalcalli in open and expressive festivals, raise tantalizing possibilities: eager girls flirting vivaciously, and immature warriors flaunting their burgeoning physicques, displaying tehir budding femininity and masculinity in the most liberated forum available" Sometimes a young couple would become fond of each other when a young boy held a girls' hand at a feast, and "every time the boy came to that place, he sought her out and made it a point to hold her, and no other, by the hand, and she felt the same about him. In this way they went along and suffered until their time came. This was when he had reached th eproper age or had performed some notable feat" (92).
"the lingering glances and meaning ful touching of hands betweenthese adolescent Aztecs are easy to imagine. The young couple may have managed a few stolen words [within the controlled confines of school], whispering between dances, passing messages through friends, meeting in the marketplace, perhaps even exchanging promises of marriage" (92)
Marriage was central and necessary for full membership in the capulli. Old women matchmakers approached the girls' family on four successive mornings; the first three times they were rejected, but accepted the fourth. "The discussions may, in fact, have been rather heated at times, but the appearance of goodwill was doubtless preserved by long-instilled traditions of rhetoric. Eloquent disagreement and persuasive speeches were permitted, but outright argument flouted rigid expectations of courtesy" (95).
Weddings: Guests arrived at midday bringing gifts of food, tobacco, flowers, and capes, though poor may have brought only maize. All gifts placed before the hearth. Guests drank chocolate while elderly got drunk. Toward evening bride washed and pasted with red feathers. Ceremonial speeches by groom's family welcoming her and ceremonially asking her to turn from her birth family to her new responsibilities. At nightfall woman was wrapped in a black cloth and hoisted on back of older woman, carried to groom's home and welcomed in front of the hearth, where "the elderly matchmakers tied them together. They took the corner of the man's cape; also they drew up the woman's shift; then they tied these together" (99). Mother in law fed bride four mouthfuls of food, then bride fed husband four mouthfuls. Then four days of official seclusion and fasting before cohabiting.
See rest of notes in Google docs.
May 16, 2021
Firstly I do appreciate the deep dive into gender roles in Nahua society l that Pennock lays out here. However, I am a bit disappointed with the way she seems to frame the topics of her research, through her own conclusive lens. Many times she refers to Nahua society with words like 'brutal' and 'violent', strong words that seem like they are coming from Pennock's own conclusions about this precolonial society. If she means these words as expressions of a reaction to precolonial Nahua society from a modern perspective, she doesn't say. It rather seems like expressions of her own view, and thus her research is an exploration of what lies behind these assumptions which for me personally makes me question the validity of her research just a but.
This is also somewhat reflected in her conclusions about homosexuality and/or lgbtq matters in nahua society. While she does discuss the validity of the sources, she concludes that lgbtq matters were heavily frowned upon given that multiple sources say so. However, the sources she uses are heavily influenced by Christian thinking or was gathered or approved by Christians at the time of writing, so they are dubious at best. And there exists accounts of conquistadors describing so-called 'sodomy' as a common ucurrence in mesoamrica. I think she could have benefitted from including these sources as well as sources from surrounding cultures were non-cis people and identities were more accepted.
This is also somewhat reflected in her conclusions about homosexuality and/or lgbtq matters in nahua society. While she does discuss the validity of the sources, she concludes that lgbtq matters were heavily frowned upon given that multiple sources say so. However, the sources she uses are heavily influenced by Christian thinking or was gathered or approved by Christians at the time of writing, so they are dubious at best. And there exists accounts of conquistadors describing so-called 'sodomy' as a common ucurrence in mesoamrica. I think she could have benefitted from including these sources as well as sources from surrounding cultures were non-cis people and identities were more accepted.
October 22, 2023
The structure of this book is to follow from birth to death what we know about what an ordinary Aztec's daily life might have been like. The author also focuses heavily on the similarities and differences between the genders as they follow their life's path in the Aztec world.
Dodds Pennock has produced a highly readable and fascinating book. She makes excellent use of primary sources, using quotes well, and examining the credibility of her sources thoughtfully. One gets a real sense of what might have been the mental space that the average Aztec inhabited as they interpreted the events that came at them on a day to day basis. I have read dozens of books on the Aztecs and this is one of the ones I feel brought me closest to what their daily life, and their likely attitudes to that life, might possibly have been.
Dodds Pennock has produced a highly readable and fascinating book. She makes excellent use of primary sources, using quotes well, and examining the credibility of her sources thoughtfully. One gets a real sense of what might have been the mental space that the average Aztec inhabited as they interpreted the events that came at them on a day to day basis. I have read dozens of books on the Aztecs and this is one of the ones I feel brought me closest to what their daily life, and their likely attitudes to that life, might possibly have been.
October 17, 2022
A very well-researched work of social history that is let down by its dry, academic style of writing.
August 20, 2016
This could have been a lot better with a little tidying up. The content was undeniably fascinating but often the descriptions were too long-winded and could have been more concise to make for much more pleasant reading.
As a history student, I enjoyed how the author detailed how they analysed the sources and the other interpretations there were out there, it was quite helpful but to the average reader this will probably get on your nerves if it's not something you're interested in.
The book was primarily about gender, in fact, a more apt title would have been 'Gender Roles in Aztec Society' which was a little disappointing as I was expecting more from it than that. It was however, an excellent way to showcase the Aztec culture in a way that shows them as a sophisticated, communal and devout civilisation rather than the stereotyped image of the Aztecs engaging in human sacrifice and doing little else which is often seen in most representations. This is something Pennock emphasised in the introduction that she hoped to achieve and I think she did it wonderfully, its only failing is the disproportionate emphasis placed on gender throughout, even a single chapter that didn't analyse sources through how they showed gender roles would have been enough to make it more of a well-rounded read.
The structure of the book is great with it starting with a chapter the archetypal Aztec stereotype of human sacrifice and then following the life milestones of the average Aztec person. It was a very accessible read despite being a little on the pretentious side when it comes to vocabulary. I'd definitely recommend this to students as an introduction to Aztec culture or to someone who already has an interest in Mesoamerica and can put the content of this book into greater context of their own.
My favourite thing about the book is that it steers directly away from playing up the human sacrifice image of the Aztecs and their reputation for being terrifying savages when portrayed in popular media. Instead, it offers a much deeper and richer understanding of their culture and their practices.
As a history student, I enjoyed how the author detailed how they analysed the sources and the other interpretations there were out there, it was quite helpful but to the average reader this will probably get on your nerves if it's not something you're interested in.
The book was primarily about gender, in fact, a more apt title would have been 'Gender Roles in Aztec Society' which was a little disappointing as I was expecting more from it than that. It was however, an excellent way to showcase the Aztec culture in a way that shows them as a sophisticated, communal and devout civilisation rather than the stereotyped image of the Aztecs engaging in human sacrifice and doing little else which is often seen in most representations. This is something Pennock emphasised in the introduction that she hoped to achieve and I think she did it wonderfully, its only failing is the disproportionate emphasis placed on gender throughout, even a single chapter that didn't analyse sources through how they showed gender roles would have been enough to make it more of a well-rounded read.
The structure of the book is great with it starting with a chapter the archetypal Aztec stereotype of human sacrifice and then following the life milestones of the average Aztec person. It was a very accessible read despite being a little on the pretentious side when it comes to vocabulary. I'd definitely recommend this to students as an introduction to Aztec culture or to someone who already has an interest in Mesoamerica and can put the content of this book into greater context of their own.
My favourite thing about the book is that it steers directly away from playing up the human sacrifice image of the Aztecs and their reputation for being terrifying savages when portrayed in popular media. Instead, it offers a much deeper and richer understanding of their culture and their practices.
March 25, 2020
This was a great book. It taught me so much about how gender and sexuality played out in the Aztec culture which was very sexist and heterosexist in many ways. It also provided a gripping image of human sacrifice as it was understood by the people of that culture, as something that would bring them closer to the gods and was a beautiful thing and not something to be feared as we would fear it.
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