Table of Contents

List of Figures.List of Tables.Preface.Guide to Pronunciation and Spelling.1. The Aztecs of Mesoamerica:Who Were the Aztecs?Mesoamerican Context.The Aztec Environment.Sources of Information.Ethnohistory.Archaeology.Aztec Studies Today.Box: Reading a Ritual Codex.2. The Rise of Aztec Civilization:Timetables.Pre-Aztec Civilizations.The Aztlan Migrations.The Growth of City-States: The Early Aztec Period.Tenochtitlan and Empire: The Late Aztec Period.BOX: Reading a Historical Codex.3. People on the Landscape:How Many Aztecs?The Aztec Diet.Farming Systems.Rural Settlement.The Rural Landscape.4. Artisans and their Wares:Utilitarian Crafts.Luxury Crafts.Otumba: an Aztec Craft Center.5. The Commercial Economy:Marketplaces.Merchants.Money.Material Evidence for Aztec Commerce.6. Family and Social Class:Growing Up Aztec.Adult Life and Social Roles.Social Classes.Commoners.Nobles and Their Palaces.7. City-State and Empire:City-States.Relations among City-States.The Empire of the Triple Alliance.Imperial Strategies and Control.Mexica Propaganda and the Limits of Empire.8. Cities and Urban Planning:City-State Capitals.Provincial Cities and Towns.Tenochtitlan.9. Creation, Death and the Gods:Myths of Creation.Aztec Religion: Historical Background.The Gods.Death, Burial, and the Afterlife.10. Temples and Ceremonies:Priests.Human Blood Offerings.The Templo Mayor.Public Ceremonies.Private Rituals.11. Science and Art:Writing.Calendars and Astronomy.Technology.Medicine.Art.Literature and Poetry.Music and Dance.12. Final Glory, Conquest and Legacy:The Final Century, 1428-1519.Conquest by Spain.The Nahuas under Spanish Rule.Continuity and Change.The Aztec Legacy: Modern Nahua Indian Culture.The Aztec Past and the Mexican Present.A Wider Perspective.Notes.Glossary of Nahuatl Terms.References.Index.

About the Author

Michael E. Smith is Professor of Anthropology at the State University of New York at Albany. He is co-editor (with Marilyn Masson) of The Ancient Civilizations of Mesoamerica: A Reader (Blackwell, 1999).