Page 207 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

1984 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Tribute to the Aztecs

The twenty-two towns of the Gulf coastal province of 3 necklaces of round greenstones
Tochtepec sent the following tribute to the Aztecs at
4 necklaces of greenstones
Tenochtitlan each year:
20 lip plugs of clear amber, decorated with gold
4,800 decorated cloaks
20 lip plugs of crystal, set in blue smalt and gold
800 women’s tunics
80 handfuls of rich green (quetzal) feathers
1 feathered warrior costume and shield
16,000 balls of rubber
1 gold shield
4 bundles of rich green and yellow feathers
1 back device of yellow feathers
8,000 little handfuls of rich blue feathers
1 gold diadem
8,000 little handfuls of rich red feathers
1 gold headband
8,000 little handfuls of rich green feathers
1 necklace of gold beads
100 pots of fine liquidambar
1 necklace of gold beads and bells 200 loads of cacao

3 large greenstone beads Source: Berdan, F., & Anawalt, P. R. (1992). Codex Mendoza, (folio 46r: vol. 3).
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

63 meters) while the spearmen closed in for hand-to- did offer were not enough to stop the tide from turning
hand combat. Superior helmets of cotton quilted between against Teotihuacan, which fell by about 650–750 CE.
fabric also appeared, affording enough protection to per- During Teotihuacan’s heyday, permanent settlements
mit the use of smaller shields. had also emerged in North America, and by 600, bows
Using complementary units halved the number of and arrows had spread throughout North America. At
combatants who could be brought to bear at any one this time, there were no bows and arrows in Mesoamer-
time, but Teotihuacan extended military training beyond ica; they arrived around 1100 or shortly thereafter.Their
the elite, allowing it to field far larger armies than was use spread from the north southward. presumably having
possible when warfare was the domain of the elite only. come ultimately from Asia. Bows were mainly hunting
Teotihuacan’s more open system was not adopted in tools, but they could be used as weapons that could strike
other cities in Mesoamerica, but its arms were, which per- effectively at a distance and from ambush. So while there
haps accounted for Teotihuacan subsequently adopting is little evidence of sustained combat in North America,
armor. By 500 CE, two types of quilted cotton armor clashes became more deadly.
some two to three inches thick was in wide use in Teoti- With Teotihuacan’s demise, sizeable organized armies
huacan’s armies. One was a full-body armor that covered largely vanished. Among the Maya, where armor was
all the limbs; the other was a quilted tunic reaching the rare, clubs and maces persisted, often coupled with buck-
knees. Both types were proof against atlatl darts fired lers, while spearmen used long, easily transportable flex-
from a distance, most spear thrusts, and virtually all ible shields. Stone-pointed thrusting spears continued to
stones fired from a sling. dominate, but some now boasted serrated blades running
Armor, however, was extremely costly, as all the cotton down both side of the shafts as far as a foot to produce
had to be imported and extensively worked, so it was prob- longer slashing surfaces while remaining light.
ably worn by only a minority. A greater problem was that Maya innovations spread into central Mexico around
it restricted the wearers’ mobility. The advantages armor 700 CE.Thrusting spears were adopted, along with round