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Flexibility and Conformity in Postclassic Nahua Rituals

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Flexibility and Conformity in Postclassic Nahua Rituals Flexibility and conformity in Postclassic Nahua rituals Harriet Lucy Cramond Smart A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History Faculty of Arts and Humanities University of Sheffield Acknowledgments My greatest thanks go to my supervisor Dr Caroline Dodds Pennock who has devoted countless hours to helping me. I think this page of acknowledgments must be the only one that she has not commented on and her thoughtful and incisive criticism have always pushed me to think harder. I could not have had a better supervisor and I sincerely hope that this work reflects her high standards. My project would not have been possible without extremely generous financial support. Most importantly, the University of Sheffield Faculty Scholarship allowed me to devote three years to research and writing. Highlights of my doctoral research have been the Yale Nahuatl Summer Program, archival research in Mexico City and organising the Indigenous Languages and Cultures international conference at Sheffield. These endeavours were made possible by funding from: University of Sheffield History Department; the Society for Latin American Studies; the Petrie Watson Exhibition Fund; the Bryan Marsden Prize for American History; the Royal Historical Society; Santander Universities; and the University of Sheffield International Office. Closer to home, I was able to attend conferences in Norwich, Oxford and London due to the generous hospitality of Anne Aves, Jack Clift and Sarah Erridge. A summer spent in humid Connecticut was an extremely important turning point in my thinking about the Nahuas. Languages have always been my passion and it was only once I got to grips with Nahuatl that I could begin to fathom the culture. It was a privilege to attend the Yale Nahuatl Summer Program to learn from native speakers and an honour to learn more about Nahua culture first-hand and be invited to participate in some of their ceremonies. The third chapter of this thesis on landscape ritual arose from my participation in their maize- sowing rituals. Among the students at Yale was my good friend Dr Colt Segrest who generously took the time to read and comment very thoughtfully on this entire study. I am enormously grateful to Abelardo de la Cruz, Eduardo de la Cruz, Rosa de la Cruz, Dr John Sullivan and Dr Justyna Olko. Their important endeavours continue to inspire and motivate me. Tlacazmati miac noteixquixpoyuhan. The community of scholars working on indigenous histories and cultures in the UK is small but enormously supportive. Among them, I would like to thank the Native Studies Resarch Network and in particular Dr Deborah Toner, Claudia Rogers and Becky Macklin for their friendship and encouragement. The History Department at the University of Sheffield has been a special place to study. I would like to thank the Department for their support and resources throughout my postgraduate studies. Very special mention to the fantastic Beky Hasnip who is unbelievably efficient. I am particularly grateful to Professor Phil Withington, Professor Adrian Bingham, Dr Clare Griffiths and Dr Andrew Heath for their encouragement and helpful suggestions along the way. 2 People often say that a PhD is a lonely thing but that was not my experience. My thanks go to my pals: Dr Kate Gibson, Laura Alston, Becca Mytton, Izzy Carter, Harry Mawdsley, Dr James Chetwood (particularly for helping me with Bourdieu), Dr Will Finley, Carla Gutiérrez, Dr Sarah Kenny, Imen Neffati, Dr Hannah Parker and Ryo Yokoe. PhD elders Dr Liz Goodwin, Dr Helen Churcher and Dr Kate Davison helped me a lot in my early days. Lastly, I am grateful that, when I plonked myself down next to Dr Stephanie Wright at MA induction, I made what will be a lifelong friend. Before Sheffield, I was first drawn to postgraduate study during the writing of an undergraduate essay on another Pre-Columbian empire: the Inkas. Dr Caroline Williams’ module, ‘Conquest and Colonisation’ inspired me to pursue postgraduate research and her enthusiasm and encouragement were what drove me to apply for doctoral funding. A PhD is an enormous challenge that has at times felt endless and all-consuming to me. In this respect, I owe much to those close to me for encouraging me, advising me, listening to me and putting up with me: Georgina, Sam, Steph, Sarah, Jade and Erica. Stefanos was, very luckily, not put off by my first-date explanations of human sacrifice; his unstinting support has been crucial in completing this work. Lastly, and most importantly, I thank M who supports me unflinchingly, wholeheartedly and in every way possible. Very lastly, if one is permitted to dedicate a thesis, I do so to the memory of my father, who I hope would have enjoyed reading it. May 2018 3 ABSTRACT The Postclassic (pre-conquest) Nahua often performed displays of religious devotion. Usually involving stripping victims of their skin, flesh and internal organs, these public, state- sanctioned rites have been understood as astonishing, even exceptional, for their brutality. As a consequence, scholars have focused on human sacrifice at the steps of the Templo Mayor; ritual away from the imperial capital Tenochtitlan has remained very poorly understood. Where attempts have been made to understand regional practices, scholars have generally assumed binary distinctions between central versus periphery or state versus local. Existing studies fail to appreciate Nahua ritual as fluid and dynamic, instead casting ceremonial behaviour across space as unrelated and fundamentally oppositional. Integrating the ethnohistorical and archaeological records, this thesis takes understandings of Nahua ritual in new directions by examining the relationship between the public arena, the sacred landscape and domestic spheres. Crucially, this thesis argues that rituals were sensitive to circumstantial pressures and personal imperatives, across hierarchies, space and time. In so doing, this study suggests a more fluid model for understanding Nahua ritual than binary distinctions can allow. A lack of appreciation for variation or agency in ritual performance has perpetuated the understanding that the Nahua were trapped in a cycle of ferocious ritualism which left little room for critical thought. Using alphabetic, pictorial and archaeological evidence for a rounded perspective, this thesis examines the intersection between official structures and personal agency to question the notion that all Nahuas unthinkingly repeated human sacrifice and other 4 ritual bloodshed. This study argues that the household was a crucial arena for the normalisation of the blood debt which permitted the acceptance of mass public human sacrifice. This thesis finds that, within the Nahua’s symbiotic worldview, activities of the temple, mountain and household rituals were mutually supporting. Moreover, it is shown that the Nahuas chose to adapt their rituals throughout the years, to suit individual preferences and environmental circumstances. Taken as a whole, my findings suggest that the Nahuas sought to control their daily existence by adapting rituals to assuage violent and impulsive supernatural forces. Key themes: ritual; ceremonies; personal versus official spaces; centre versus periphery; agency; conformity; power; flexibility; change; control 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................... 2 ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ 4 LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ 8 LIST OF MAPS ................................................................................................................ 10 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 11 PRIMARY SOURCE ABBREVIATIONS....................................................................... 12 NOTE ON LANGUAGE .................................................................................................. 15 Primary sources ......................................................................................................................... 15 Terminology............................................................................................................................... 15 GLOSSARY ...................................................................................................................... 20 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 21 Aims and objectives ................................................................................................................... 26 Key scholarly influences ............................................................................................................ 28 Thesis outline ............................................................................................................................. 33 Historical background ............................................................................................................... 38 History or myth? ..................................................................................................................... 46 Tenochtitlan ..............................................................................................................................
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