DOCSLIB.ORG

Chinampa Agriculture: the Operation of an Intensive Pre Industrial Resource System in the Valley of Mexico

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Chinampa Agriculture: the Operation of an Intensive Pre Industrial Resource System in the Valley of Mexico CHINAMPA AGRICULTURE: THE OPERATION OF AN INTENSIVE PRE INDUSTRIAL RESOURCE SYSTEM IN THE VALLEY OF MEXICO by ALASTAIR J. ROBERTSON B.A., The University of British Columbia, 1976 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of Geography) We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA October 1983 © Alastair J. Robertson In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of G&OCrgflPHV The University of British Columbia 1956 Main Mall Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Y3 Date (3/81) ABSTRACT During the 14th and 15th Centuries the complex of marshes and shallow lakes that occupied the low elevations of the Valley of Mexico were thoroughly modified by the construction of thousands of small agricultural platforms known as chinampas, and of an elaborate network of dykes, canals and aqueducts. A quantified model of the hydrological systems of the Valley indicates that under natural conditions water levels fluctuated to such an extent that the productivity of chinampa platforms would have been limited. The larger hydraulic installations smoothed these fluctuations in the upstream portions of the lake complex and so permitted the agricultural exploitation of these areas. On the platforms seedbedding and other intensive horticultural techniques were employed which allowed the maximum utilization of the controlled hydrau• lic environment. Canals were exploited not only for irrigation water but also as reservoirs for plant nutrients, which promoted a conserva• tive use of materials in the system as a whole. Communities of non- crop plants were maintained on the platform border and these protected crops from climatic extremes, and may also have been important in regu• lating populations of insect pests. The hydraulic installations were managed by high-ranking officials of the Aztec state, while the chinampa platforms were to a large extent managed by their cultivators. Although managerial decisions were made by individuals of widely different rank, there was a tendency for decision-making to occur at the lowest hierar• chic level compatible with the ability of the manager to command the ii labour and materials necessary to implement the decision. This allowed managers to respond rapidly and efficiently to small variations in the conditions of the physical systems that they managed. The available data indicate that the chinampas produced high and sustained yields per unit area and did so without requiring large subsidies of energy and materials. The physical, ecological and managerial principles of chinampa agriculture are therefore relevant to the design of modern agricultural systems that seek to exhibit these general properties. i i i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT i i LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENT xi i i CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER II. THE HYDROLOGY OF THE BASIN OF MEXICO 9 CHAPTER III. THE COLONIZATION OF THE LAKE COMPLEX 44 Chinampa Agriculture without Water Level Control 44 Chinampa Agriculture and Water Level Control in Limited Areas 59 Chinampa Agriculture and Water Level Control in Large Areas 65 Late Aztec Hydraulic Installations 73 CHAPTER IV. THE ECOLOGY OF CHINAMPA AGRICULTURE 92 The Chinampa Platforms 92 Flora and Fauna 101 Seedbeds and Transplanting 120 Weeding and Pest Control 126 Material Cycles 130 Agricultural Calendar 136 iv Paje Yields and Energy Ratios 145 The Principles of Chinampa Agriculture 150 CHAPTER V. THE MANAGEMENT OF CHINAMPA AGRICULTURE The City State 158 The Confederation and the Tribute State 162 The Lake Aztec State 166 The Construction of Hydraulic Installations 172 The State and its Hydraulic Installations 178 The Management of Agriculture 183 The Evaluation of Aztec Management 188 CHAPTER VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 198 APPENDIX. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE 16TH CENTURY HYDROLOGY OF THE BASIN OF MEXICO 211 Part I. The Use of Modern Data in Reconstructing 16th Century Conditions 212 Part II. Derivation of Mean Annual Values for the 16th Century Hydrological System 222 1. Drainage Basins 222 2. Physiographic Regions 222 3. Precipitation 222 4. Evapotranspiration 223 5. Agricultural Evaporation Supplement 224 v Page 6. Surface Discharge 225 7. Undifferentiated Runoff 226 8. Lake Discharge 226 9. Mean Annual Totals 226 Part III. Estimation of Mean Monthly Distributions 229 1. Monthly Distribution of Precipitation 229 2. Monthly Distribution of Surface Discharge 230 3. Primary and Secondary Evaporation 233 4. Monthly Distribution of Evaporation 238 5. Monthly Distribution of Surplus 238 6. Monthly Distribution of Undifferentiated Runoff 244 7. Lake Tlahuac and Lake Chalco 251 . Part IV. Estimates of Variation in Lake Stage 262 1. Assumptions 262 2. Estimated Variations of Lake Stage with Normal Precipitation 262 3. Estimates of Variations of Lake Stage with Precipitation at Exceptionally High or Low Values 264 BIBLIOGRAPHY 266 vi LIST OF TABLES Page TABLE I. Absolute Chronology and Period Designations for the Valley of Mexico 45 TABLE II. Widths of Canals in the Chinampas of San Luis and San Gregorio 99 TABLE III. Common Aquatic Plants of the Chinampas 103 TABLE IV. Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Chinampas 108 TABLE V. Common Highland Mesoamerican Crops 112 TABLE VI. Consumptive Use of Water in Centimeters for Localities at Low Elevations in the South of the Valley of Mexico 132 TABLE VII. Nutrient Content of Organic Fertilizers 134 TABLE VIII. Aztec Agricultural and Ritual Calendars 139 TABLE IX. Yields of Shelled Corn, Mixquic 146 TABLE X. Yields of Saleable Portions of Selected Vegetables, Mixquic 147 TABLE XI. Summary of Estimates of 16th Century Mean Annual Water Balance, Basin of Mexico 227 TABLE XII. Stations Used in Calculating Monthly Values of Climatic Variables 231 TABLE XIII. Primary Evaporation as a Proportion of Total Evaporation 237 vii Stations Used in Estimation of Distribution of Secondary Evaporation Estimated 16th Century Mean Monthly Water Balance, Basin of Mexico Assumed Areas and Elevations of the Antique Lakes viii LIST OF FIGURES No. Page 1. The watershed of the Basin of Mexico in the 16th Century 10 2. Estimated annual water transfers in the Basin of Mexico during the 16th Century 13 3. Subsidiary drainage basins and physiographic regions in the Basin of Mexico in the 16th Century 15 4. Mean annual isohyets in the Basin of Mexico, 1920-1959 17 5. Mean monthly precipitation averaged for seven stations throughout the Basin of Mexico 19 6. Average mean isotherms in the Basin of Mexico, 1920-1958 20 7. Average monthly temperatures, Moyoguarda, 1951-1975 21 8. Average monthly potential evaporation, Moyoguarda, 1951-1975 21 9. Estimated monthly variation in stage of Antique lakes 21 10. Average minimum isotherms in the Basin of Mexico, 1920-1958 22 11. Maximum, mean and minimum temperatures, Moyoguarda, 1951-1975 24 12. Frequency of frosts, Moyoguarda, 1951-1975 25 13. Mean adjusted potential evaporation in the Basin of Mexico 27 14. Daily discharge of Rio Amecameca, 1947 30 ix No. Page 15. Schematic section of spring in Sierra Ajusco 32 16. Annual precipitation at Tacubaya, 1878-1975 36 17. Variability and precipitation for selected stations in the Basin of Mexico 37 18. Annual values for adjusted potential evaporation and precipitation at Moyoguarda, 1951-1975 40 19. Estimated variations in stage of Lake Chalco for varying annual precipitation values 50 20. Estimated variations in the extent and location of the inundated margins of Lake Chalco 52 21. Length to area ratios of hypothetical dykes in Lakes Xochimilco and Chalco 64 22. Chinampa platforms in the vicinity of Xochimilco 67 23. Chinampas of San Gregorio Atlapulco, on the southern shore of Lake Xochimilco 69 24. Lake Aztec hydraulic installations 74 25. Reconstructions of 16th Century aqueducts 76 26. The effects of dyking on normal variations in the stage of the Central and Southern Lakes 81 27. Estimated normal variations in the stage of the Southern and Central Lakes with water levels controlled 84 28. Estimated interannual variations of stage in the controlled lake complex, without centralized management 85 x No. Page 29. Estimated interannual variations of stage of the controlled lake complex, with centralized management 89 30. Schematic representation of nutrient transport in chinampa agriculture 137 31. Principal settlements of the Valley of Mexico during the 16th Century 159 32. Changing lake levels and precipitation in the Basin of Mexico, 1600 B.C. to present 213 33. Geological sections of the Basin of Mexico 218 34. Location of meteorological stations in the Basin of Mexico 232 35. Precipitation and discharge for Xochimilco and Chalco basins 234 36. Water balance diagrams for selected stations in the Basin of Mexico 240 37. Surplus and discharge for the Basin of Rios Magdalena and Esclava, Basin of Mexico 242 38. Surplus and Discharge for Xochimilco and Chalco basins, Basin of Mexico 243 39. Estimated mean monthly discharge of Rios de la Compana and San Francisco, Valley of Mexico 245 40. Estimated mean monthly discharge of Rio Amecameca, Chalco basin 246 xi No. Page 41. Observed yields of springs in the Xochimilco and Chalco basins, 1903-04 248 42. Graphs used for estimates of monthly distributions of infiltrated flows (I) and indirect flows (J) 250 43. Estimated monthly distribution of surplus and runoff, Chalco basin 250 44. Observed stage of Lake Tlahuac and estimated inputs of Lake Chalco 261 xii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank the many individuals who have helped me in the course of this work.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Social Economic and Environmental Impacts of Trade
    Journal of Business and Economics, ISSN 2155-7950, USA June 2020, Volume 11, No. 6, pp. 655-659 Doi: 10.15341/jmer(2155-7993)/06.11.2020/003 Academic Star Publishing Company, 2020 http://www.academicstar.us The Environmental Problematic of Xochimilco Lake, Located in Mexico City Ana Luisa González Arévalo (Institute of Economic Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico) Abstract: This article presents the geographical location of Lake Xochimilco, some economic and social characteristics of the mayoralty of Xochimilco are mentioned; the inhabitants living in poverty. Subsequently, the serious pollution of this lake and its impact on the health of the inhabitants living near the lake is. Finally, it puts forward some proposals to get started, albeit very slowly reversing this problem Key words: pollution; environment; water; lake; aquifers; geographical location of Lake Xochimilco JEL code: Q53 1. Introduction In this work is geographically located to Lake Xochimilco within the mayoralty of the same name belonging to Mexico City. Subsequently factors are presented such as the total population of this area, a comparison with the total of Mexico City and other more populated mayoralties. Later, this district of Xochimilco is located using some variables such as economic units, occupied personnel, total gross production and fixed assets and some social aspects are mentioned as population and people in poverty. Subsequently I will aboard the serious pollution in the Lake of Xochimilco, which is located 28 kilometers from the Historic Center of Mexico City. 2. Geographical Location of Lake Xochimilco Lake Xochimilco is in the southeast of Mexico City, in the mayoralty of Xochimilco, located 28 kilometers from the city center.
    [Show full text]
  • Collision of Civilizations
    Collision of Civilizations Spaniards, Aztecs and Incas 1492- The clash begins Only two empires in the New World Cahokia Ecuador Aztec Empire The Aztec State in 1519 • Mexico 1325 Aztecs start to build their capital city, Tenochtitlan. • 1502 Montezuma II becomes ruler, wars against the independent city-states in the Valley of Mexico. The Aztec empire was in a fragile state, stricken with military failures, economic trouble, and social unrest. Montezuma II had attempted to centralize power and maintain the over-extended empire expanded over the Valley of Mexico, and into Central America. It was an extortionist regime, relied on force to extract prisoners, tribute, and food levies from neighboring peoples. As the Aztec state weakened, its rulers and priests continued to demand human sacrifice to feed its gods. In 1519, the Aztec Empire was not only weak within, but despised and feared from without. When hostilities with the Spanish began, the Aztecs had few allies. Cortes • 1485 –Cortes was born in in Medellin, Extremadura, Spain. His parents were of small Spanish nobility. • 1499, when Cortes was 14 he attended the University of Salamanca, at this university he studied law. • 1504 (19) he set sail for what is now the Dominican Republic to try his luck in the New World. • 1511, (26) he joined an army under the command of Spanish soldier named Diego Velázquez and played a part the conquest of Cuba. Velázquez became the governor of Cuba, and Cortes was elected Mayor-Judge of Santiago. • 1519 (34) Cortes expedition enters Mexico. • Aug. 13, 1521 15,000 Aztecs die in Cortes' final all-out attack on the city.
    [Show full text]
  • COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL NOT for DISTRIBUTION Figure 0.3
    Contents Acknowledgments ix A Brief Note on Usage xiii Introduction: History and Tlaxilacalli 3 Chapter 1: The Rise of Tlaxilacalli, ca. 1272–1454 40 Chapter 2: Acolhua Imperialisms, ca. 1420s–1583 75 Chapter 3: Community and Change in Cuauhtepoztlan Tlaxilacalli, ca. 1544–1575 97 Chapter 4: Tlaxilacalli Religions, 1537–1587 123 COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL Chapter 5: TlaxilacalliNOT FOR Ascendant, DISTRIBUTION 1562–1613 151 Chapter 6: Communities Reborn, 1581–1692 174 Conclusion: Tlaxilacalli and Barrio 203 List of Acronyms Used Frequently in This Book 208 Bibliography 209 Index 247 vii introduction History and Tlaxilacalli This is the story of how poor, everyday central Mexicans built and rebuilt autono- mous communities over the course of four centuries and two empires. It is also the story of how these self-same commoners constructed the unequal bonds of compul- sion and difference that anchored these vigorous and often beloved communities. It is a story about certain face-to-face human networks, called tlaxilacalli in both singular and plural,1 and about how such networks molded the shape of both the Aztec and Spanish rule.2 Despite this influence, however, tlaxilacalli remain ignored, subordinated as they often were to wider political configurations and most often appearing unmarked—that is, noted by proper name only—in the sources. With care, however, COPYRIGHTEDthe deeper stories of tlaxilacalli canMATERIAL be uncovered. This, in turn, lays bare a root-level history of autonomy and colonialism in central Mexico, told through the powerfulNOT and transformative FOR DISTRIBUTION tlaxilacalli. The robustness of tlaxilacalli over thelongue durée casts new and surprising light on the structures of empire in central Mexico, revealing a counterpoint of weakness and fragmentation in the canonical histories of centralizing power in the region.
    [Show full text]
  • Aquaponics: a Brief History
    Aquaponics: a brief history The idea of combining fish and veggie production into an integrated system is far from new. Ancient precedents for integrated aquaculture include the chinampas of Mexico and the integrated rice paddy systems across parts of Asia. But how did we get from these sorts of ancient land-based systems all the way to backyard aquaponics? Aquaponics is a term that was coined in the 1970s, but the practice has ancient roots – although there is some debate on its first occurrence. The earliest example of one branch may be the lowland Maya, followed by the Aztecs, who raised plants on rafts on the surface of a lake in approximately 1,000 A.D. The Aztecs cultivated a system of agricultural islands known as chinampas in a system considered by some to be the first form of aquaponics for agricultural use. Chinampas are networks of canals and stationary artificial islands in which they cultivated crops on the islands using nutrient-rich mud and water from the canals. In the early chinampa systems, plants were raised on stationary (and sometime movable) islands in lake shallows. Nutrient-rich waste materials dredged from the Chinampa canals and the surrounding cities was then used to manually irrigate the plants above. Animal housing located over fish ponds to utilize manure as fish food The earliest example of another branch can be found in South China, Thailand, and Indonesia, where the cultivation and farming rice in paddy fields in combination with fish are cited as examples of early aquaponics systems. These polycultural farming systems existed in many Far Eastern countries and raised fish such as the oriental loach, swamp eel, Common and crucian carp as well as pond snails in the paddies.
    [Show full text]
  • A Mat of Serpents: Aztec Strategies of Control from an Empire in Decline
    A Mat of Serpents: Aztec Strategies of Control from an Empire in Decline Jerónimo Reyes On my honor, Professors Andrea Lepage and Elliot King mark the only aid to this thesis. “… the ruler sits on the serpent mat, and the crown and the skull in front of him indicate… that if he maintained his place on the mat, the reward was rulership, and if he lost control, the result was death.” - Aztec rulership metaphor1 1 Emily Umberger, " The Metaphorical Underpinnings of Aztec History: The Case of the 1473 Civil War," Ancient Mesoamerica 18, 1 (2007): 18. I dedicate this thesis to my mom, my sister, and my brother for teaching me what family is, to Professor Andrea Lepage for helping me learn about my people, to Professors George Bent, and Melissa Kerin for giving me the words necessary to find my voice, and to everyone and anyone finding their identity within the self and the other. Table of Contents List of Illustrations ………………………………………………………………… page 5 Introduction: Threads Become Tapestry ………………………………………… page 6 Chapter I: The Sum of its Parts ………………………………………………… page 15 Chapter II: Commodification ………………………………………………… page 25 Commodification of History ………………………………………… page 28 Commodification of Religion ………………………………………… page 34 Commodification of the People ………………………………………… page 44 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………... page 53 Illustrations ……………………………………………………………………... page 54 Appendices ……………………………………………………………………... page 58 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………... page 60 …. List of Illustrations Figure 1: Statue of Coatlicue, Late Period, 1439 (disputed) Figure 2: Peasant Ritual Figurines, Date Unknown Figure 3: Tula Warrior Figure Figure 4: Mexica copy of Tula Warrior Figure, Late Aztec Period Figure 5: Coyolxauhqui Stone, Late Aztec Period, 1473 Figure 6: Male Coyolxauhqui, carving on greenstone pendant, found in cache beneath the Coyolxauhqui Stone, Date Unknown Figure 7: Vessel with Tezcatlipoca Relief, Late Aztec Period, ca.
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc.Endohelminths of Some Species of Fishes from Lake
    Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad ISSN: 1870-3453 [email protected] Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México México García-López, María de Lourdes; Salguero-Vargas, Guadalupe; García-Prieto, Luis; Osorio-Sarabia, David; Pérez-Ponce de León, Gerardo Endohelminths of some species of fishes from Lake Xochimilco, Mexico Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad, vol. 87, núm. 4, diciembre, 2016, pp. 1-5 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Distrito Federal, México Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=42548632023 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Modele + RMB-2182; No. of Pages 5 ARTICLE IN PRESS Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad xxx (2016) xxx–xxx www.ib.unam.mx/revista/ Research note Endohelminths of some species of fishes from Lake Xochimilco, Mexico Endohelmintos de algunos peces del lago de Xochimilco, México a a a María de Lourdes García-López , Guadalupe Salguero-Vargas , Luis García-Prieto , b a,∗ David Osorio-Sarabia , Gerardo Pérez-Ponce de León a Laboratorio de Helmintología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado postal 70-157, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico b Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades, Plantel Oriente, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Canal de San Juan S/N, Iztapalapa, Tepalcates, 09210 Mexico City, Mexico Received 20 October 2015; accepted 16 June 2016 Abstract The helminth fauna of 8 introduced and 1 native species (Chirostoma jordani) of freshwater fishes from Xochimilco Lake in southern México City, Mexico, is studied for the first time.
    [Show full text]
  • Magazinenumber 7, Augus
    These women sell part of their produce at the market of Los Chillos César Jaramillo Avila The Economics of Urban Agriculture MAGAZINE NUMBER 7, AUGUST 2002 AUGUST NUMBER 7, Urban agriculture provides multiple functions and benefits America, and many of them incorporate to urban dwellers and cities. Political support is growing and agriculture as part of their livelihood further research and financial support to enhance the strategies. Although the contribution of contribution of urban agriculture to sustainable urban urban agriculture to the GDP (Gross development is necessary. In this issue of the UA-Magazine Domestic Product) may be small, its we focus on the analysis and understanding of the importance to many city inhabitants is economics of urban agriculture, during periods of economic substantial, especially in difficult times recession as well as in times of a well developing economy. (see the Buenos Aires, Quito and Harare case studies). he Economics of Urban Agriculture is Urban agriculture arises not only out of a wide area of study. Moustier (2001) crisis situations, but also exists because of T discusses the following indicators to nearness to urban markets and the show and measure the economic impacts comparative advantages this location of urban agriculture: employment (popu- provides for delivery of fresh perishable lation involved), income and income dis- products as milk (Nairobi), eggs, meat and tribution, cash readiness, contribution to fresh vegetables (Kumasi), the availability household food, added value, contribu- of productive resources (water, compost tion to urban food supply, and share in of urban organic wastes), closeness to market(s). Various case studies are pre- institutions providing credit, technical sented in this issue analysing such factors advice and market information, etc.
    [Show full text]
  • ©2018 Travis Jeffres ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
    ©2018 Travis Jeffres ALL RIGHTS RESERVED “WE MEXICAS WENT EVERYWHERE IN THAT LAND”: THE MEXICAN INDIAN DIASPORA IN THE GREATER SOUTHWEST, 1540-1680 By TRAVIS JEFFRES A dissertation submitted to the School of Graduate Studies Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in History Written under the direction of Camilla ToWnsend And approVed by _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey October, 2018 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION “We Mexicas Went Everywhere in That Land:” The Mexican Indian Diaspora in the Greater Southwest, 1540-1680 by TRAVIS JEFFRES Dissertation Director: Camilla ToWnsend Beginning With Hernando Cortés’s capture of Aztec Tenochtitlan in 1521, legions of “Indian conquistadors” from Mexico joined Spanish military campaigns throughout Mesoamerica in the sixteenth century. Scholarship appearing in the last decade has revealed the aWesome scope of this participation—involving hundreds of thousands of Indian allies—and cast critical light on their motiVations and experiences. NeVertheless this Work has remained restricted to central Mexico and areas south, while the region known as the Greater SouthWest, encompassing northern Mexico and the U.S. Southwest, has been largely ignored. This dissertation traces the moVements of Indians from central Mexico, especially Nahuas, into this region during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and charts their experiences as diasporic peoples under colonialism using sources they Wrote in their oWn language (Nahuatl). Their activities as laborers, soldiers, settlers, and agents of acculturation largely enabled colonial expansion in the region. However their exploits are too frequently cast as contributions to an overarching Spanish colonial project.
    [Show full text]
  • Anales Mexicanos
    A~.\LES. Ml~XICO- AZCAPOTZALCO. 49. ANALES MEXICANOS. México- Azcapotzalco. 1.426-1.589. 11?.ADUCCION de un manuscrito antiguo 1nexicano, que c01ztienza con tnedia hoja rota, y al parecer empieza su contenido desde el año de 1415. En el año de doce conejos (1426) murió Tezozomoc, soberano de Azcapotzalco. Reinó en él sesenta años. Tuvo, segun consta y se sabe positivamente, cuatro hijos. Al primero, llamado Acolnahuacatl, le dió el Señorío y el gobierno de Tlacopan (hoy Tacuba). Al segundo, Cuacuauhpz'tzalmac, el gobierno de Tlatilolco. Al tercero, Ep­ coatzin, el de Atlacuihuayan (hoy Tacubaya). Al cuarto, Maxtlatzin, el de Coyoacan. Cumplidos nueve años de esta distribucion de reinos y gobiernos, murió Cua­ wauhpitzahuac, succedíéndole inmediatamente su hijo Tlacateotzin, nieto del an­ ciano y Señor Tezozomoctli é igualmente de Teociteuhtli, que gobernaba á la vez en Acxotlan, Chalco. Luego que murió Tezozomoctli, en ese mismo afio .Maxtlaton se apoderó del mando y Señorío de Azcapotzalco, viniendo de Coyoacan, en donde reinó diez y seis añ.os. Al llegar á Azcapotzalco manifestó que el objeto de su venida era el de tomar parte en el profundo sentimiento por la muerte de su padre. Mas al visitar el cadáver, inmediatamente se postró á sus pies y tomó posesion del imperio de Azcapotzalco. Gobernando Maxtlaton y andando por sus terrenos las mujeres de Chilnalpopoca, repentinamente mandó recogerlas, y estando reunidas las maltrató y les dijo con voz imponente: "vuestros hombres los mexicanos se andan escondiendo dentro de nues­ tras sementeras, yo los escarmentaré1 y haré morir á vuestro varon Chímalpopocatl y á toda la raza mexicana.» De esta amenaza dieron cuenta las mujeres á Chimalpo­ poca, diciéndole: ,, gran Señor nuestro, hemos ido á oir allá en Azcapotzalco la fu­ nesta y terrible sentencia; dizque la sangre mexicana será exterminada; las aves desde * Este manuscrito se escribió en mexicano, y el Sr.
    [Show full text]
  • Aztec Agriculture and Tribute Systems Reaches Its Pinnacle
    Agriculture in History 1502-1520: Aztec Agriculture and Tribute Systems Reaches Its Pinnacle The reign of the last preconquest Aztec emperor, Montezuma II, witnessed the culmination of imperial control over the Central Mexican Plateau. The urban capital of Tenochtitlán boasted a dense, socially diverse population, sustained through a unique productive economy and raised-plot agriculture and augmented by tribute from conquered peoples, before it fell to the Spanish. Locale: Tenochtitlán, Aztec Empire (now Mexico City, Mexico) Cateogries: Government and politics; colonization Key figures Montezuma II (1467-1520), Aztec emperor, r. 1502-1520 Ahuitzotl (d. 1503), Aztec emperor, r. 1486-1502, and uncle of Montezuma II Hernán Cortés (1485-1547), Spanish conquistador and conqueror of the Aztecs Summary of Event Montezuma II was the ninth emperor of the Mexica, or Aztec, a militaristic culture that had resided in the Valley of Mexico since the early fourteenth century. Montezuma II inherited the territorial acquisitions, diplomatic alliances, and economic institutions that had evolved under his predecessors. The populations of the Valley of Mexico maintained an uneasy relationship with one another. Political alliances were constructed through marriages and trade networks and functioned to maintain stability. Warfare in earlier centuries was common, as it was under Montezuma II, as individual states attempted to absorb one another. The Aztecs, from their capital city of Tenochtitlán on Lake Texcoco, united in 1428 with the Texcocans and the Tacubans to form the Triple Alliance, a political-military union designed to conquer and extract tribute. When Montezuma II ascended the throne in 1502 the empire was at its zenith.
    [Show full text]
  • Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Chinampa Soil Or Floating Gardens in Mexico
    Rev. Int. Contam. Ambie. 31 (4) 343-350, 2015 GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM A CHINAMPA SOIL OR FLOATING GARDENS IN MEXICO Nadia Livia ORTIZ-CORNEJO1, Marco LUNA-GUIDO2, Yadira RIVERA-ESPINOZA1, María Soledad VÁSQUEZ-MURRIETA1*, Víctor Manuel RUÍZ-VALDIVIEZO3 and Luc DENDOOVEN2 1 Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Prolongación de Carpio y Plan de Ayala S/N, México, D.F., México, C.P. 11340 2 Laboratorio de Ecología del Suelo, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados, Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Avenida Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México D.F., México, C.P. 07360 3 Laboratorio de Biotecnología, Instituto Tecnológico de Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Carretera Panamericana km 1080, Colonia Juan Crispin, Tuxtla-Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México, C. P. 29050 * Corresponding author: [email protected] (Received January 2015; accepted April 2015) Key words: GHG, fluxes of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, global warming potential, C sequestration ABSTRACT Agriculture in chinampas or ‘floating gardens’, is still found on the south of Mexico City, it is a high yield pre-Columbian cultivation system, which has soils enriched with organic matter. The objective of this research was to determine the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a chinampa soil cultivated with amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.), maize (Zea mays L.) or uncultivated. The soil was characterized and fluxes of GHG (CO2, N2O and CH4) were monitored for one year. The chinampa soil was alkaline saline with an organic C content that ranged from 21.7 t/ha in the 0-20 cm layer of the soil cultivated with amaranth to 28.4 t/ha in the 20-40 cm layer of the uncultivated soil.
    [Show full text]
  • William T. Sanders and the Study of the Aztec Peasantry
    The Aztec Silent Majority: William T. Sanders and the Study of the Aztec Peasantry Michael E. Smith' Peasants in ancient civilizations far outnumbered elites, urbanites, and any other social category. Their contribution to society was fundamental, for their labor supported the entire society through farming, construction, and other kinds of work. Yet peasants remain the most poorly-known members of ancient societies. They were not usually literate, and most written texts produced in early states have little to say about rural peoples. Similarly, descriptions of early states by outsiders (such as the accounts of the Spanish conquistadores in Latin America) generally ignore the peasantry. Early archaeological fieldwork on the ancient civilizations focused al- most exclusively on urban settlements, not rural sites. It is only in the past few decades that archaeologists have shifted their attention to the remains of peasant houses and villages to shed some light on the "silent majority" of the ancient civilizations. The archaeological and ethnohistorical study of ancient peasants is a recent phenomenon, and we are only now gaining significant insight into this important sector of the early states (see studies in Schwartz and Falconer, 1994). In the case of the Aztecs of central Mexico, rural peoples have only recently become a topic of research in spite of the fact that scholars have acknowledged the existence and importance of peasants since the six- teenth century (Figure 1). Since, 1960, surveys have illuminated settlement and land use in rural areas (e.g., Sanders, 1965; Sanders et a/., 1979), mapping and excavations are bringing rural villages to light (e.g., Evans, 1988; M.
    [Show full text]