Urban Commoners
In many ways the lives of urban commoners were not very different from the lives of rural peasants. Both were macehualtin, subject to nobles, and both lived as members of calpolli. Most Aztec cities were small settlements, and many urban residents were farmers or part-time craftspersons whose domestic conditions resembled those of peasant families in rural villages. On the other hand, cities were the place of residence and seat of government for the tlatoani, and urban commoners were more likely than their rural cousins to be subject directly to the royal palace. Also, because cities were the locations of major markets and concentrations of nobles, urbanites were more likely to be craft specialists. Specialists in the luxury crafts, in particular, would have benefited by living and working near the king and other noble patrons.
In our excavations at the urban center of Yautepec in Morelos, we found that the houses of commoners were only slightly larger and fancier than those at Capilco and Cuexcomate.24 They were far more similar to rural peasant houses than to noble residences. Their domestic artifacts were nearly identical to those excavated at the rural sites, with one major difference: evidence for part-time domestic craft production was much more abundant and widespread among Yautepec houses than at their rural counterparts. Some Yautepec households were involved in producing blades and other tools of obsidian, and the manufacture of ceramic figurines was also a common domestic activity (as evidenced by molds similar to those found at Otumba).
Two recently excavated urban sites – Calixtlahuaca and Xaltocan – are helping extend our knowledge of Aztec urban commoners. At Calixtlahuaca, commoners lived in small houses not too different from those at Yautepec (figure 6.5). All of the houses at this hilltop city were built on terraces that also supported domestic work areas and small agricultural plots. We found evidence for several craft activities at all of the excavated houses; these include spinning and weaving cloth from maguey fibers and the manufacture of obsidian knives and other tools using the technology of bifacial production.
Figure 6.5 Excavation of an urban commoner house at Calixtlahuaca. The line of maguey plants behind the excavation marks the edge of a modern terrace that probably matches the location of a terrace in Aztec times (photograph by Michael E. Smith)
Xaltocan, an island town in the northern Valley of Mexico, was initially settled by Otomi speakers during the Early Postclassic period. After a period of conflict against the Tepanec Empire, Xaltocan fell under the imperial rule of Tenochtitlan, whose kings sent governors to rule the island. Recent survey and excavations by Elizabeth Brumfiel and her colleagues and students have uncovered some of the first urban houses in the Aztec core area outside of Tenochtitlan (figure 6.6). The commoners of Xaltocan built both single-room houses and multi-room house compounds, most of which are larger and more complex than the simple one-room houses at Yautepec and Calixtlahuaca. These larger houses seem to have been the standard form in the Valley of Mexico, found in the imperial capital as well as rural sites in the Teotihuacan Valley. The commoners at Xaltocan were buried in simple graves with modest collections of grave goods. The adult woman shown in figure 6.7 was interred with six ceramic vessels, most of which are decorated types. In general, it appears that commoners at Xaltocan were well off economically; they engaged in a number of craft activities, producing textiles, stone tools, salt, and other goods, and they were well connected to commercial networks.25
Figure 6.6 Recently excavated commoner house at Xaltocan. This structure, which was occupied during the Aztec period and into the Spanish colonial period, was rebuilt at least once, and both construction stages are shown here (photograph by Lisa Overholtzer; reproduced with permission)
Figure 6.7 Burial of a commoner woman at Xaltocan. This adult woman was buried in a sitting position with six ceramic vessels as offerings (photograph by Caroline L. Reinhart; reproduced with permission of Elizabeth M. Brumfiel)
Slaves
At the bottom of the social scale were the slaves, tlacotin (sing. tlacotli). People became slaves through debt or punishment, but not through birth; slavery was not hereditary. Slaves could marry, have children (who were free), and even own property. Anyone could own a slave, but most slave-owners were nobles. The owner was responsible for feeding and housing the slave and had control over the slave's labor.
People sold themselves into slavery when they could not support themselves. During the great famine of the 1450s, for example, many Aztecs sold themselves to people of the Gulf Coast where economic conditions were better. Slaves used the purchase amount (said to be 20 quachtli in Tenochtitlan) to support themselves for a year or so, after which time they would begin their servitude. Some people incurred such large debts through gambling on the game patolli or the ballgame that selling themselves as slaves was the only way out. Failure to pay taxes was another way to become a slave, with the purchase price going to cover the debt. Some other crimes were also punishable in this way.
The change in status from free citizen to slave was an official act that had to be witnessed formally by four officials. Slaves then either began work for their master or were sold in the market. Some pochteca merchants specialized in trading slaves, and several markets were known as centers for the slave trade. Slaves for sale were identified by large wooden collars (figure 5.2). Although slaves could in theory be used for any type of work, in practice most worked as servants in the palaces of lords. Female slaves were particularly valued for their spinning and weaving skills and were put to work making quachtli for their owners (the slave for sale in figure 5.2 shows off her spinning abilities for prospective buyers). The Aztecs did not use large gangs of slaves to perform heavy labor for farming or public works projects, and the overall economic contribution of slaves was quite modest.
Social Mobility
Two avenues by which commoners could raise their position were success at warfare and the priesthood. Warriors were ranked by the number of enemy soldiers they had captured, and a highly successful commoner soldier could reach a status far above his compatriots. In the middle years of the Aztec Empire, Motecuhzoma I created a special title, quauhpilli, for the most accomplished warriors. They were given some of the privileges and responsibilities of nobles. This category of “nobles by achievement” was later abolished by Motecuhzoma II, who insisted that only true, hereditary nobles could enjoy the privileges of the elite stratum. Successful warriors still gained prestige, but remained firmly within the commoner class. Success in the ranks of the priesthood (chapter 10) could also elevate the status of a commoner, but again they could not cross the threshold into the nobility.
The great wealth of the pochteca merchants and luxury artisans suggests that they may have formed an emerging Aztec middle class. Nobles had gained their wealth and position through control of land and the labor of commoners, the traditional bases of power in ancient Mesoamerica. One of the changes of the Late Postclassic period was an explosion of commerce throughout Mesoamerica, not just within the Aztec Empire. Long-distance trade and local marketplaces thrived, which gave merchants and artisans new opportunities to gain wealth and influence. By tapping this new source of wealth that was outside of the nobility's traditional power base, many merchants and artists rose above the mass of commoners. Not being nobles, however, they had to hide their wealth and present a modest appearance.26
Nobles and their Palaces
Nobles lived and worked in large sumptuous compounds or palaces. These served as residences and as administrative buildings where the lord attended to the affairs of whatever social or political institution (such as calpolli or city-state) was under his direction. Although there was enormous variation in the size and elegance of palaces, related to their inhabitant's position within society, Aztec palaces shared a common layout of rooms and platforms surrounding a central courtyard with a single entrance from outside.27 In this section I examine the palaces of four nobles to illustrate the range of variation and to give an idea of the activities that took place in the residences of lo
rds. These four nobles range from a lowly provincial pilli to one of the imperial kings of the Aztec Empire.
A Rural Pilli at Cuexcomate
The town of Cuexcomate was laid out around a central public plaza. On the east side was a small temple-pyramid probably dedicated to the town's patron deity. The north and west sides of the plaza were occupied by compounds consisting of interconnected mounds. We excavated several mounds and patios in these compounds and came to the conclusion that they were elite residences. Group 6 on the west was occupied during the Late Aztec A period and was the larger and better preserved of the two compounds. Group 7 on the north was occupied only during the following Late Aztec B period. Here, I focus attention on group 6 as an example of the palace of a low-ranking provincial noble.28
Group 6 at Cuexcomate was not a very imposing sight prior to excavation, appearing as several low mounds arranged around a patio. These mounds turned out to be the ruins of a noble's palace, whose size and architectural quality set it far above the predominant commoner houses at the site. Our crew cleared off the top layers of rubble on these mounds to uncover the architectural plan of the final construction stage. We also excavated into the mounds and located the remains of three earlier construction stages. Figure 6.8A is an artist's reconstruction of how group 6 may have looked in the early 1400s, shortly before its abandonment. At that time, it consisted of a series of connected low platforms around a patio with rooms, passages, and shrines built on top of the platforms. The platforms were built of stone and covered with a layer of red-painted lime plaster.
Figure 6.8 Artist's reconstruction of the Cuexcomate palace (A) in comparison with a commoner house (B) (drawing by Rachel Sader)
Our hypothesis that group 6 was the palace of a noble is based upon both the architecture and the artifacts. With a surface area of 540 sq m, this compound is much larger than the typical commoner house at the site (commoner houses averaged around 20 sq m). The manner of its construction and the materials used were far superior to those of the commoner houses. The elevation of rooms on platforms also set group 6 apart from commoner houses, most of which were built at ground level. The artifacts found in the trash deposits adjacent to the compound were typical domestic wares (cooking pots, serving bowls, obsidian blades, and the like), but with a greater proportion of fancy imported items than in deposits from commoner houses.
This arrangement of rooms elevated on platforms that surround a central patio is consistent with ethnohistoric descriptions and maps of Aztec palaces in the Valley of Mexico. This compound was probably the residence of a low-ranking provincial pilli to whom the 250 or so inhabitants of the Late Aztec A calpolli of Cuexcomate paid rent. Nobles often were polygamous, and the individual room blocks may have been separate apartments for the lord's wives. Servants or artisans in the service of the lord probably lived in neighboring commoner houses. For example, houses in a nearby commoner patio group had very high frequencies of paint pigments and bark beaters, which suggests that their residents were artisans who made paper and paints. These items would have been used by the nobles of group 6 or their scribes to produce historical and religious painted books. Group 6 was abandoned in the 1430s or 1440s, at which time a second and far more modest elite compound, group 7, was built on the empty north side of the plaza. We don't know why group 6 was abandoned, but conquest by outsiders may have had something to do with it. From historic documents, we know the area was conquered twice at about that time: once in the 1420s by the expanding Cuauhnahuac state and again around 1440 by the Aztec Empire under Itzcoatl.
Molotecatl, a Tecuhtli Lord in Molotlan
Molotlan was a calpolli that comprised an urban neighborhood, probably in the city of Yautepec. Molotecatl, a tecuhtli lord in charge of Molotlan, was almost certainly of higher rank than the pilli who lived in group 6 at Cuexcomate. We know Molotecatl's name and something about his social position from a Nahuatl-language census compiled very shortly after the Spanish Conquest.29 The document called him “Molotecatl tecuhtli” and listed the inhabitants of his palace, along with the other members of the Molotlan calpolli. Figure 6.9 shows the genealogy of Molotecatl's extended family, who inhabited three structures that probably were raised on platforms and arranged around a patio. Molotecatl lived in house 1 with his five wives and children, the children and grandchild of a deceased wife, and a sister. House 2 contained three family units, headed by a great aunt and two of Molotecatl's brothers, and a kitchen servant (perhaps originally a slave). House 3 was inhabited by the extended family of Molotecatl's deceased uncle as well as two servants, one of whom was a messenger and the other a woman who spun and wove. These three houses and the patio constituted Molotecatl's palace, which was probably a larger version of the Cuexcomate palace pictured in figure 6.8.
Figure 6.9 Genealogy of the inhabitants of the palace of Molotecatl tecuhtli showing the residents of the three structures (drawing by Ellen Cesarski)
Molotecatl was in charge of the calpolli of Molotlan, a large neighborhood that comprised 128 households, divided into nine wards ranging from 1 to 32 households in each. Molotecatl owned the land of the entire calpolli, much of it valuable irrigated farmland. The commoner members paid him rent in order to farm individual plots. The payments of the calpolli members consisted of cotton cloth, farm produce, and labor service. To fulfill their labor service, commoner women came to the palace to spin and weave, which furnished Molotecatl with a large supply of cloth that contributed greatly to his wealth. Tecuhtli lords such as Molotecatl used part of their cloth income to pay their own taxes to their king.30
The Tlatoani of Matlatzinco (Calixtlahuaca)
Matlatzinco was a major political capital in the Toluca Valley prior to the conquest of that area by Axayacatl around 1478; the ruins of Matlatzinco are known today as Calixtlahuaca. José García Payón excavated and restored a series of large buildings in the 1930s, including a large palace, but unfortunately never published his fieldwork in full. In 2006 and 2007 I directed a project of mapping and excavation at the site. Although we did not excavate at the palace itself, our work does shed light on the uses and significance of the royal palace.31 Matlatzinco was founded around AD 1100 on the slopes of Cerro Tenismo, a small volcanic mountain. The city expanded rapidly to cover the entire mountain. People leveled the hillsides with stone terrace walls that created flat surfaces for their houses (figure 6.5) and for the cultivation of maize and maguey. Several large temples were built on massive terraces on the lower north slopes, and the royal palace was built on flat ground at the base of the north side of the mountain.
Figure 6.10 shows García Payón's drawing of the royal palace. This building illustrates the basic features of Aztec palaces: platforms and rooms surrounded a large courtyard that had a single entrance, across from which was a raised ceremonial platform. The maze of small rooms was probably living quarters for the king's extended family, and the raised platform was probably a shrine. This structure covers 6,800 sq m.
Figure 6.10 Royal palace of Calixtlahuaca (modified after García Payón 1981:map 8). Also shown is a political relief from the city (drawing by Will Russell)
We know from ethnohistoric sources that the kings of Matlatzinco were powerful rulers who controlled the entire Valley of Toluca from the 1100s until its conquest by Axayacatl in 1478. Among the collections of materials excavated by García Payón were a number of stone relief panels with political themes. The example in figure 6.10, which was broken at some point, shows a warrior with arrows and a shield. It is likely that this was one of the kings of Matlatzinco. The bird on his shield is depicted in a number of other carvings; it was probably an emblem of the dynasty or the city (we are not sure which). The dog with a circle at lower left is probably his calendar name: “One-dog” (see chapter 11); the significance of the two rattlesnakes is uncertain. The palace of One-dog and the other kings of his dynasty was a large and impressive structure, but given the nature of García Payón's excavations and note-taking we cannot reconstruct the activities t
hat took place in the palace. Luckily, we do have such information for one of the largest and most sumptuous palaces in the entire Aztec Empire, that of Nezahualcoyotl, king of Texcoco.
Nezahualcoyotl, Imperial Ruler of Texcoco
Nezahualcoyotl became ruler of Texcoco and the Acolhua peoples during the final years of Tepanec dominance. He helped the Mexica king Itzcoatl defeat the Tepanecs in 1428 and was one of the founding kings of the Triple Alliance Empire. He went on to become one of the most respected and renowned of the Aztec kings with a reputation as a statesman, soldier, builder, poet, and lawgiver. The story of Nezahualcoyotl's life was recorded in the early 1600s by the chronicler Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, a direct descendant of the Acolhua king. Alva Ixtlilxochitl devoted two chapters of his work to a description of Nezahualcoyotl's palace.32 His information came from an earlier drawing of the palace, oral histories, and his own observations of the ruins of the palace.
Nezahualcoyotl's compound in Texcoco measured 1,032 by 817 m, an area of 84.3 ha (over 200 acres). It consisted of numerous buildings, gardens, temples, a ballcourt, a zoo, and a market, all surrounded by massive adobe-brick walls. The many sections of the palace building described by Alva Ixtlilxochitl included living quarters for the king; living quarters for the queen and attendants; servant's quarters; a throne room; many chambers and halls for judges, councilors, officials, and ambassadors; a hall for warriors; rooms for science and music; a section for poets, philosophers, and historians; an archive room; storehouses for weapons; and storehouses for tax goods collected from subject kings. Although we do not know the size of the main palace building itself, it may have been comparable to that of Motecuhzoma II in Tenochtitlan, which measured 2.4 ha.33
The Aztecs Page 17