Sacred Consumption by Elizabeth Moran

Author:Elizabeth Moran [Morán, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 2016-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

3.1 Migration scene, detail from the Codex Azcatitlan, folio 11. Courtesy of Bibliothèque National de France.

3.2 Migration scene: detail with Huitzilopochtli choosing a group to continue the migration, from the Codex Boturini. Courtesy of the Museo Nacional de Antropología.

3.3 Migration scene: detail of the harvesting of the maguey juice, from the Codex Boturini. Courtesy of the Museo Nacional de Antropología.

Codex Azcatitlan also depicts the acquisition of new sources of food. A detail of folio 12v-13 depicts the Aztecs hunting in a lake, capturing an array of birds and fish using canoes, nets, and poles. This scene indicates the acquisition of new skills as they moved through central Mexico as well as the development of possible religious practices. The Aztecs celebrated a series of agricultural ceremonies during the year that Spanish chroniclers referred to as veintenas.49 An important aspect of many veintenas was the capture or acquisition of food. For example, Quecholli, the veintena celebrating the god of the hunt, Mixcoatl, included a great hunt in honor of the deity.50 As the Aztecs went from location to location in the Basin of Mexico, the acquisition and production of food began to shape them into the people that would control the area.

FOOD AND POLITICS

The Aztec island capital of Tenochtitlan faced some of the same problems that face many urban cities of today: overcrowding and limited resources. Tenochtitlan’s population was believed to be about 200,000 at the time of the Spanish conquest, with an overall population in the Basin of Mexico between 1 million and 2.65 million people.51 The production of food in this area would not have been sufficient to deal with these masses. Food was produced in the city and in its immediate surrounding areas through various production methods, most noticeably chinampas (artificially constructed gardens), yet they would not have been enough to sustain the needs of such a large population.52

Food was constantly brought into the city through various means, including by foot and canoe. Tlamenes (foot carriers) were heavily used in Tenochtitlan and throughout the Aztec Empire. While these foot carriers were essential in transporting goods, the use of canoes (acalli) was also crucial. Historian Ross Hassig notes that canoe traffic “economically linked the entire lake system of the Valley [Basin] of Mexico.”53 This statement highlights the interdependence between the city and surrounding areas. While the flow of goods was predominantly into the city and consisted primarily of foodstuffs, the city also served as a market for surrounding areas. Canoe trade thus flowed in both directions.

The marketplace (tianquiztli) was vital for the distribution of foodstuffs. Many European chroniclers comment on the Aztec market, including conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo, who writes of his reaction upon seeing the great marketplace at Tlatelolco: “we were astounded at the number of people and the quantity of merchandise that it contained, and at the good order and control that was maintained, for we had never seen such a thing before.”54 He also describes the incredible range of goods that were sold at the market and the vast numbers of people who came to sell and buy.

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