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Incan and Aztec Empires - Quick Notes

Quick Definitions

  • Mesoamerica: literally “Middle America,” meaning Mexico and Central America
  • Latin America: parts of North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean where Spanish or Portuguese is spoken (basically all south of USA)
  • Pre-Columbian: before Columbus’ voyages
  • Map of modern Latin America with Mesoamerica circled (reference of location)

Incan Government: Big Government

  • Network of roads: 20{,}000+ miles and fortifications
  • Resettled conquered leaders and populations to integrate regions
  • Children of conquered leaders come to the Incan capital to learn about Incan ways and Quechua (official language)
  • Land and all commerce owned by the state; all owe labor (mit’a) as a tax to the state
  • No writing; records via a system of knotted cords (quipu)
  • Population controlled: up to 12{,}000{,}000 people at the time of the Spanish conquest (1537 A.D.)

Incas: Empire of the Andes Mountains

  • Pachakuti Inka (1438-1472 CE) consolidates the Andes
  • Machu Picchu: possibly religious site, palace, or emperor’s retreat
  • Terraces are key to farming on mountains (potatoes) to prevent erosion

Machu Picchu: An Engineering Marvel

  • A mini-city; impressive stonework and layout
  • Stones carved to fit together without mortar to resist earthquakes
  • Shallow aqueduct brings fresh water from a spring
  • Terraces prevent erosion from heavy rains and support buildings

The Aztecs (Mexica)

  • Late-comers to the region; create a city-state on unwanted swampy lake islands, then become a tributary empire
  • Tenochtitlan: about 250{,}000 people
  • Aqueducts, canals, paved roads, markets in the city
  • Chinampas: floating gardens for farming
  • Reference to visuals: Aztecs (blue) vs. Maya (yellow) on maps

The Problem of Human Sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli (the Sun God)

  • Ceremony described: priests perform heart extraction on sacrificial victims; heart offered to the sun
  • After sacrifice, bodies were handled by captors and distributed; some accounts claim cannibalistic consumption
  • Context: ritual connected to sun god, cosmology, and ritual violence used to sustain cosmic order

Nahuatl (Aztec/Mexica) Poetry: Themes

  • Themes include impermanence and earthly limits: not permanent on earth, life and dream, truth, and war
  • Examples emphasize fragility of life, longing, and the connection to land and war

Thinking Through Human Sacrifice

  • Mexica Belief #1: Blood is life force and source of power
  • Mexica Belief #2: The gods created humanity by giving up some of their divine blood and mixing it with dirt
  • Problem: if too much divine blood is given, the gods risk death or cosmic imbalance
  • Possible solution: rituals that replenish or balance blood through human sacrifice; the idea of nourishment for the gods and continuity of life
  • Concept connected to the saying “you are what you eat” as a way to explain ritual reciprocity and consumption after ceremonies

A Follow-Up Question

  • Saving the world = good; uniting with the divine = good; ergo, Mexica religious rituals = good… right?
  • Encourages critical reflection on the justification and moral dimensions of ritual violence in these societies