CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

General Problems and Questions

The Aztec empire, which controlled much of Mexico between A.D. 1430 and

1521, was initially forged through military supremacy. Emerging in 1428 as a

coalition of three city-states -- the so-called Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco,

and Tlacopan -- the Aztec quickly established their hold over other polities within the

Valley of Mexico (Fig. 1.1). Aided by their new dependencies, the Triple Alliance

capitals then conducted a series of wide-ranging military campaigns outside the Valley

of Mexico, eventually extending their control over much of central Mexico. When the

Spaniards arrived in 1519, the Triple Alliance capitals were receiving tribute from

provinces as far-flung as the Gulf Coast of Mexico and the Pacific coast of Guatemala.

Following their spectacular military expansion, however, the Aztec turned to a

broad range of non-military tactics to consolidate and maintain their control. Like

other established empires, the Aztec were concerned with the political and economic

integration of previously autonomous polities into a regional system administered by

the imperial capital. In this effort, the Aztec appreciated that strictly military or

coercive controls were expensive to maintain and that successful imperial control often

rested on a balance of coercion and persuasion. Thus, although military supremacy

was critical in establishing control, political and economic approaches were

recognized as the most efficient means for manipulating dependents to imperial ends.

Our understanding of the political integrative strategies employed by the Aztec

to consolidate their empire comes from a series of contemporary Spanish and Nahuatl

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Figure 1.1. Principal towns in the Valley of Mexico under Aztec rule (after Gibson1964:xii).

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(Aztec) documents. These accounts outline a range of tactics designed by the imperial

center to override traditional loyalties and institutions and to increase the dependence

of local administrators on the emerging imperial elite. Within the Aztec heartland,

these political strategies included the replacement of traditional rulers by more loyal

members of the imperial family, intermarriage with members of the imperial dynasty,

imperial largesse, the reassignment of agricultural lands and tribute to deprive

traditional administrators of any landed or popular base from which to mount

opposition to the center, and if all else failed, threats of military reprisal (Adams 1979;

Berdan 1975; Brumfiel 1983, 1987b; Carrasco 1984; Hicks 1992; Hodge 1984; Kurtz

1978; Rounds 1979, 1982; M. Smith 1986). Taken together, these strategies represent

a coherent and sophisticated imperial policy for political integration that is widely

recognized by current researchers.

In contrast, there is little agreement concerning the extent of economic

reorganization engendered by the rise of the empire, particularly within the arena of

market economy. Although imperial tributary relations are known in some detail, the

impact of imperial consolidation on the market system remains a topic of active

debate. On the one hand, Aztec rule has been characterized as involving little more

than the imposition of an additional level of tribute requirements that left systems of

production and exchange relatively untouched, and on the other, as involving

extensive governmental manipulation, leading to the regional centralization and direct

control over many aspects of commodity production and exchange. In large part, this

debate centers on whether or not the imperial elite actively manipulated the market

system to create economic conditions that reinforced imperial rule. That is, do

observed changes in economic organization reflect the imposition of an administered

market economy designed to maintain the economic supremacy of the imperial elite, or

the unimpeded operation of commercial market principles under the protective banner

of the pax azteca?

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The past 20 years of research within the Valley of Mexico have brought a

diversity of methodological approaches to bear on the question of imperial

consolidation and market economy (and have generated a considerable body of data),

but have not dampened the debate. Although some scholars have argued strongly for

either a commercial or an administered market economy, still others have concluded

that the relationship between political process and market function is considerably

more complex than can be accounted for within existing models.

This study enters into the debate at two levels. At a substantive level, I provide

new data on the Aztec market system by examining changes in one sector of the

market economy -- the production and exchange of Aztec Red ware ceramics.

Decorated Red ware vessels were a widely available and widely exchanged commodity

within the Valley of Mexico throughout Aztec times, and provide an appropriate

medium for monitoring regional-scale changes in the market system through which

these and other goods circulated. Although pottery was clearly not of central

importance in the Aztec economy, the remnants of these vessels have survived and can

reasonably stand proxy for the more perishable items of medium value that were

produced and traded within the Valley.

Ceramic collections generated by regional archaeological surveys within the

southern and eastern portions of the Valley are utilized to achieve two ends. First, the

spatial distributions of distinct ceramic types are analyzed to reconstruct the

organization of the exchange systems through which these vessels moved. Second,

trace-element analyses of ceramic pastes are employed to examine the organization of

ceramic production on a regional scale. Red ware types are examined for two

archaeological periods: pre-imperial or Early Aztec (ca. A.D. 1150-1350), and Late

Aztec period (ca. A.D. 1350-1520), during which the Aztec empire emerged and

flourished. This diachronic perspective is utilized to reveal changes in the

organization of decorated ceramic production and exchange systems through time that

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are indicative of the extent to which Aztec imperialism restructured the larger

commodity marketing system.

The broader intent of this study, however, is to shift the current debate away

from models that characterize the Aztec market system as either administered or

commercial, and instead, focus on the interaction between political interests and

market forces in the Aztec heartland. I begin by bringing together three distinct bodies

of evidence -- studies of empires, analyses of market systems, and documentary

information on the Aztec -- to develop a model delineating some key linkages between

political economy and market economy under Aztec rule. Guided by an examination

of political process under empires in general and the Aztec empire in particular, this

model (1) focuses on those aspects of the economy most likely to be under direct

imperial control, and (2) predicts how administrative controls over these key areas

potentially altered the context of production and exchange through both direct and

indirect channels.

To evaluate the explanatory power of the approach developed here, the study

presents testable expectations for changes in the market economy that are then

evaluated vis-a-vis changes in decorated ceramic production and exchange systems.

The regional stylistic and geochemical analyses of ceramic data are employed to

determine whether patterns of market system structure and market participation

conform to those predicted for the study area, before and after consolidation into the

Aztec empire.

Chapter Synopses

Because the theoretical basis of this study is wide-ranging, it may be helpful to

provide the reader with an overview of the general approach and line of argument

taken here.

Chapter 2 places this study in the context of current research on Aztec

imperial economy and market organization. I begin with a critique of previous studies

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that have (with notable exceptions) tended to characterize the Aztec imperial economy

as variants of either a laissez faire commercial system or an administered economy

centralized under the imperial capital, Tenochtitlan. The data from these studies

indicate that patterns of production and exchange within the imperial core are

complex, and are not easily accounted for in terms of existing models. Equally

important, these different data sets display patterns that must be explained by future

models.

As an alternative to existing either/or approaches, this study seeks to determine

specific points of articulation between political process and economic organization by

examining specific strategies of Aztec political integration and the impact that these

strategies had on the functioning of the domestic market economy of the imperial core.

At the conceptual level, the inquiry focuses on the interaction between two different

scales of activity: macrolevel forces, consisting of the political and economic actions

of the dominant imperial elite that potentially affect society as a whole, and microlevel

forces, comprising the rational responses of individual or corporate producers to the

altered economic conditions under imperial rule.

The approach taken here attempts to integrate both macrolevel and microlevel

processes, by assessing microlevel responses in production and exchange strategies to

macrolevel changes initiated during empire formation. In subsequent chapters,

macrolevel political processes (associated with the strategies and activities of the

imperial elite) are identified through documentary sources. In contrast, microlevel

economic responses (reflecting the productive decisions of the lower stratum of

society) are examined through the archaeological record of material culture.

In Chapter 3 I examine the characteristic political processes of empire

formation and argue that these processes generate predictable features of imperial

political economy (the macrolevel forces). Empires are political systems that expand

through the conquest and incorporation of previously autonomous polities. Because

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empires are dependent on local, subjugated rulers for social and economic control over

conquered territories, imperial rulers must simultaneously support these rulers as the

apices of local administrative hierarchies and dominate these rulers as mere extensions

of imperial rule. The imperial core accordingly relies on a mix of remunerative

incentives and ideological sanctions, as well as the threat of military force, to promote

their subjects' legitimacy and to ensure their compliance.

In this context, imperial control over resources emerges as a major strategy for

establishing political supremacy and remunerating loyal dependents. Because

administration can be costly, direct administrative controls are focused on a limited

number of key or strategic resources perceived as vital to imperial interests, while

much of the domestic economy falls outside the sphere of direct imperial interests.

However, administrative meddling in key areas can have far-reaching consequences,

and can directly and indirectly affect a broad range of economic activities. Thus, the

challenge in analyzing a particular historic empire is to identify what these key or

strategic resources were, and to monitor how imperial attempts to control those

resources constrained or promoted other economic activities.

In Chapter 4 I turn to the ethnohistoric record on the Aztec (1) to identify the

resources of primary interest to the emerging imperial elite, and (2) to document the

means by which these rulers attempted to control access and rights to these goods.

This documentary analysis highlights two major administrative problems faced by the

imperial elite within the imperial core: political consolidation and urban supply.

Resolution of the former rested in part on imperial controls over exotic prestige items

that served as the basis and symbols of political power and social status. Alleviation

of the urban supply problem involved (in addition to tribute assessments and state-

sponsored agriculture) the active manipulation of the market system to channel

agricultural surpluses and other foodstuffs into the imperial capital.

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I conclude that the problems of urban supply and controls over exotic prestige

items were linked in a circuit involving both tribute and market systems. The

predominant elite prestige items distributed by the state to cement political

dependencies included cotton blankets and clothing (richly embroidered) and warrior

costumes ornately covered with tropical bird feathers. The raw materials for these

prestige items were imported into the imperial core under state auspices where they

were introduced into the local market systems. The prestige items were then

manufactured by subject populations and given in tribute to imperial tax stewards.

The movements of the raw materials and finished prestige items appear to have been

centrally controlled (at least in part), although the production of the goods was not.

The tribute-payers who produced these prestige items were dependent on the

market system to obtain non-local raw materials to produce the manufactured goods

required in tribute. Several authors have suggested that tribute requirements in

finished prestige goods were a significant factor stimulating market participation

(Berdan 1975; Hicks 1987; Brumfiel 1987b). My analysis suggests that the

transformation of exotic raw materials into the prestige items demanded in tribute also

helped to alleviate the problems of urban supply by generating flows of desired

foodstuffs into urban markets. The need to procure exotic raw materials to meet

tribute requirements stimulated rural agricultural production as a medium of exchange,

while urban control over non-local goods provided the balance of payments. By

directing the flows of exotic raw materials (through controls over both long-distance

exchange and the introduction of these goods into local markets), imperial rulers were

able to concentrate exchanges of agricultural produce for exotic raw materials in major

centers where these foodstuffs became accessible to urban populations.

In Chapter 5 I explore how administrative controls over exotic prestige goods

and urban food supplies affected market structure and market participation within the

Valley. The analysis suggests that the convergence of political interests and urban

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needs significantly distorted market structure, resulting in the development of strong

vertical linkages between urban centers and dependent communities at the expense of

horizontal market articulation. These market imperfections, in turn, affected strategies

of market participation by the rural populace (the microlevel responses). Although the

rural population was necessarily drawn into the market system to meet tribute

assessments, their degree of market participation and market reliance depended on

their ability to produce for the urban market. The model predicts that rural responses

were largely constrained by the productivity of their agricultural resources, resulting in

distinct patterns of market participation and commodity production within different

parts of the Valley.

The second half of this study comprises an empirical evaluation of the new

model through an examination of market system structure and market participation

within the Valley of Mexico before and after consolidation in the Aztec empire. As I

discuss in Chapter 6, this study focuses on decorated ceramics as a medium for

monitoring changes in the organization of commodity production and exchange in the

Valley of Mexico between ca. A.D. 1150 and 1520. In particular, this study

concentrates on decorated Aztec Red wares, an important ceramic ware used for

serving vessels throughout the late prehispanic period. This chapter presents a revised

typology for Aztec Red wares, aimed at elucidating regional stylistic variability, as

well as a series of quantitative seriations that clarify the chronological relationships

among these stylistic variants.

The analyses of ceramic production and exchange systems are organized in two

parts. In Chapter 7 I employ regional analyses of ceramic distributions to reconstruct

the organization of ceramic exchange systems. It is widely recognized that different

market systems structure commodity flows in different ways and thus generate

predictable patterns of artifact distribution. Accordingly, Red ware ceramic types and

variants are mapped, and their distributions analyzed to characterize regional market

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system structure along the organizational dimensions of scale, network, and hierarchy,

for the periods before and after imperial consolidation. While Aztec Red wares are

clearly not representative of all commodities, their distributions are indicative of the

basic structure of exchanges involving a broad range of utilitarian goods within the

study area. These results are then used to evaluate models of market system

organization commonly applied to the Aztec case and to test specific hypotheses

derived from the model developed above.

In Chapter 8 I utilize trace-element (Instrumental Neutron Activation or INA)

analyses of ceramic pastes to examine changes in the regional organization of ceramic

production under Aztec rule. As the economic geographer Carol Smith (1977:144) has

noted, marketing systems are more than the organization of exchange, they also

constrain and create opportunities for production. Thus, specific patterns of market

relations can generate predictable patterns of commodity production as well. The

characteristic geochemical signatures of Red ware ceramic clay sources are identified

and utilized to indicate the number and probable locations of production centers for

these vessels. In addition, the products of each source are examined to determine

changes in production scale, intensity, and degree of specialization through time.

Finally, in Chapter 9 I present a diachronic overview of observed changes in

Red ware ceramic production and exchange, and return to the question presented at the

beginning of this work -- What was the extent of market system reorganization

engendered by the rise of the empire and to what degree did that reorganization serve

to perpetuate imperial rule? I conclude that the market system was an active arena for

controlling wealth and hence political power in Aztec society. Rather than direct

manipulation, however, the efforts of the emerging imperial elite to control a few

extremely valuable strategic resources (the macrolevel forces) indirectly generated

imperfections in the regional market system structure that had significant and

predictable consequences for commodity production and market participation (the

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microlevel responses) within the Valley. The resulting market structure served

political interests and satisfied urban food needs, but severely constrained market

reliance and hence economic integration within the imperial core.

At the substantive level, then, the regional patterns of ceramic production and

exchange revealed in this study contradict long-standing views that characterize the

Aztec market system as either an administered or a commercial system. By focusing

instead on the interaction between imperial political concerns (the macrolevel forces)

and market rationality (the microlevel responses), the explanatory framework

developed here provides a new perspective on these regional developments and

suggests an alternative direction for future thought and research on the Aztec market

system.

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