THE WARLIKE APPEASING THE GODS TIMETABLE he Aztecs were the last great civilization T c.1400 BC of central . They claimed descent uman lay at the heart of H The begin to farm from the , whom they believed must religion. At the Great of have been extremely strong and wise super- Tenochtitlán, priests performed 1000–800 to have built such enormous stone every day, cutting the hearts out of their The Maya settle the Yucatán peninsula monuments. They took over many aspects victims to offer them to the war god Huit- c.800 of culture, including the worship of zilopochtli. If this was not done, he would Origins of the Zapotec writing system many gods such as , the feath- lack the strength to battle with the forces c.AD 36 ered . In fact, the Aztecs migrated of the dark, and the would fail to rise The earliest Mayan calendrical into the after the decline of the next day. Other gods also demanded inscriptions date from this year the Toltec . In 1325, they settled at terrible sacrifices. To honor , a c.AD 150 god of springtime, captives were killed in Tenochtitlán on an island in The Pyramid of the Sun is built at and served as mercenary soldiers in neigh- mock battles by Aztec warriors. The skins Teotihuacán boring states before establishing a military were flayed from their bodies and worn empire in the Valley of Mexico during the by their victors to invoke the bursting of 411–57 , under Stormy Sky, is the reign of king (r.1427–40). The em- the corn seed from its husk. dominant Mayan in Petén pire grew under his successors, reaching its peak in the reign of Moctezuma II (r.1502– Left A figure of Xipe Totec wearing the flayed c.750 20). Like the Maya, the Aztecs needed to skin of a sacrificial victim. The city of Teotihuacán is destroyed by unknown invaders wage continual war, as their religion re- quired the constant taking of prisoners for 799–889 sacrifices. The Aztecs took care not in a particular quarter of Tenochtitlán, with THE FALL OF THE AZTECS The Mayan in the Petén lowlands to conquer all their enemies; some states, its own and schools. Members of decline and are abandoned such as Tlaxcallan, were allowed to survive the clan owned and farmed land in com- The Aztecs believed that the god Quetzal- c.900 so that they could be regularly raided for mon, while in wartime, the men of the clan coatl would one day come back in human The Toltecs establish their capital at sacrificial victims. fought together. Warriors could win fame form from the east. When a Spanish army 987 The Aztecs had a very complex and well- and glory by capturing prisoners. No man landed on the east coast of Mexico in 1519 A Toltec band conquers Chichén Itzá defined class system: an individual’s status was considered an adult until he had taken under the leadership of Hernán Cortés, it could instantly be known from their hair- a prisoner in battle. Below the commoners was rumored that the god—whom the leg- 1168 Tula is destroyed and the Toltec state style and other details of dress. At the top in rank was a class made up of conquered ends described as fairhaired and bearded— collapses Above Lady Wak Tun, in a trance, has a vision of a THE TOLTECS was the king, whose official title was “great peoples, who worked as tenant farmers and had returned. If this was so, the king was serpent—a scene from a Mayan glyph carving. speaker.” Below him was an elite rank of laborers. There were also slaves (prisoners- obliged to treat him with honor and res- c.1200–1300 Early in the 10th century the Toltecs, con- nobles who all claimed descent from the of-war and criminals) and a class of mer- pect. Moctezuma invited the Spaniard to a Aztecs migrate into the Valley of Mexico or to mark important events, such as royal sisting of two groups of people who migrat- first Aztec king. Commoners belonged by chants, who might be very rich but could meeting in Tenochtitlán, but Cortés, who 1221 funerals. Victims were tortured and muti- ed into central Mexico during the power birth to one of 20 clans, each of which lived not display their wealth. had made an alliance with Moctezuma’s The Toltec dynasty at Chichén Itzá is lated before having their hearts cut out. vacuum after the fall of enemies, responded overthrown by the Mayan Hunac Ceel Mayan themselves were expected to Teotihuacán, formed by taking him pris- 1325 participate in painful rituals; for example, their capital at Tula. oner. The Aztecs The Aztecs found Tenochtitlán in the their tongues were pierced with the spines From here they ext- resisted the inva- Valley of Mexico (now buried under of stingrays to allow them to communicate ended their influence ders bravely, but ) with ancestral spirits. throughout the Valley weapons of wood 1428–40 The Maya used a complex and highly of Mexico. Archeolo- and stone were no The reign of Itzcóatl marks the accurate , based on precise astro- gists believe that a band match for firearms, beginning of Aztec expansion nomical observations. They later produced of Toltec adventurers in- armor, swords, and 1502–20 written sacred books of bark, which they vaded Yucatán around horses. Though only The is at its greatest illustrated with intricate paintings. These, 987 and founded a dyn- a tiny band, the Span- under Moctezuma II and their stone carvings, tell us something asty that ruled the Mayan ish had 1519–21 of their violent cosmos and powerful gods. city of Chichén Itzá for 200 defeated the Aztecs by 1521. Within a few The Aztecs are invaded and Wars and brought about by over- years—many of its buildings were modeled years European diseases like and conquered by the Spanish cultivation of the land may have caused the on those of Tula. In the late had reduced the Aztec population rapid collapse and desertion of the lowland Tula was destroyed and the Toltec people from ten to only one million. 1524–1697 The Spanish conquer the Mayan Mayan cities after 800. Those in the high- scattered. Great temple pyramids and stone highland cities lands survived longer, but were conquered statues of warriors were all that remained of Left A ornament worn by an Aztec high by the Spanish in the 16th century. their former presence. priest, probably part of a treasure sent to Cortés.

106 THE MAYA & THE AZTECS 107