Conquest Of The Americas - Mister Dans Home Page

CONQUEST OF THE AMERICAS

The
Columbian
Exchange

“The Arrival Of Cortez,” Diego Rivera

What words do we use to describe the past
Discovery
Invasion
Encounter

THE CODEX BOTURINI: The departure of the Mexica Aztecs from Aztlan

Chicomoztoc:
The Place of
Seven
Caves
Compare this
origin myth
to
the
foundation
legend
of
The Incas

THE LONG MIGRATION CONTINUES: The Aztecs pause from time to time to
hunt and to sacrifice victims captured in skirmishes
The men walking are god-bearers carrying symbols of the Aztec gods
(The image of Huitzilopochtli as Reposing Shield brings up the rear)

HUITZILOPCHTLI (Patron God Of The Aztecs):
“The Hummingbird Of The South”
This scene represents his birth from Coatlicue (“Serpents Her Skirt”) on
Coetepec (“Hill Of The Serpent”) -- Compare to the Birth of Athena

COYOLXAUHQUI DISMEMBERED
This giant stone sculpture was placed at the base of the main temple at
Tenochtitlan (an idol of Huitzilopochtli was at the top of the temple)
•The bodies of sacrificial victims would come to a rest at this base when thrown down the temple stairs

The foundation of Tenochtitlan as depicted in the Codex Duran
The eagle, serpent and cactus appear on today’s national flag of Mexico

Teotihuacan (“Place of the Gods”)
Looking from the Pyramid of the Moon down the Avenue of the Dead towards the Pyramid of the Sun
The Aztecs gave this place its present name and performed rituals here.
It provided the model grid system for the layout of Tenochtitlan.

Tula (Centre of the Toltec Empire c. 900-1150 CE)
As with Teotihuacan, the Aztecs folded the Toltecs into their myths.
•Aztec rulers were said to be descended from the Toltecs.
•The Aztecs told stories about Tula’s past downfall and how the
ruler-god Quetzalcoatl had fled the city at its time of moral decline.

Royal
Dynasty
of
Tenochtitlan

TRIPLE ALLIANCE (1428)
Glyphs representing the coalition of Technochtitlan
with Texcoco and Tlacopan

Tribute to Tenochtitlan from an imperial province
Aztec Empire
Inca Empire
• Founded c.
1428
• Mesoamerica
• Tribute as
raison d’etre
of empire
• Loose
imperial
bureaucracy
• Local leaders
coopted
• Nahuatl
• Founded c.
1438
• South
America
• Land and
Labour as
raison d’etre
of empire
• Centralized
imperial
bureaucracy
• Local leaders
coopted
• Quechua

An
Aztec
Eagle
Warrior
Aztec Warriors were also associated with
• Jaguars
• The Sun
• Huitzilopochtli
• Hummingbirds
(Women in child-birth
were also described as eagle warriors.
On the birth of a baby, the mid-wife would
shout a war-cry. Women who died in
child-birth became goddesses who rose
heaven-ward to accompany the sun from
noon to sunset.)

Rewards for taking prisoners in battle ranged from a red feather
costume (top left) for two prisoners to a jaguar costume (to right)
for taking four, as explained in the Codex Mendoza

INTERPRETING THE PAST: The concept of “FLOWER WARS”
What was the nature of Mesoamerican warfare
To what extent was war about ritual than merely about power and conquest
How should we compare Aztec conquest with Spanish conquest

A scene of human sacrifice from the Codex Duran

Mask of
Quetzalcoatl
Only one of
several gods to
have sacrificed
his own blood
on behalf of the
universe and
humanity

The Tudela Codex depicts various forms of blood-letting,
including sacred self-mutilation.

An Aztec sacrificial knife fitted with chalcedony.

AZTEC CALENDAR STONE
The Sun god Tonatiuh is in the centre. He is surrounded by symbols of the 4 previous suns or ages.
The 20 days of the month surround this in a circle, while the two external circles of fire serpents symbolize time.

An Aztec Stone Bundle
Carved to commemorate the end of a 52-year cycle and the last
New Fire Cermony (1507 CE) before the Spanish Conquest.

The Aztec New Fire Ceremony

A day-keeper reads the destiny for an infant born on 10 Rabbit

THE CODEX BORGIA
A screen-fold of deer hide, the Codex Borgia contains 28
almanacs used in divination, as well as a creation myth.

Lienzo
of
Tequixtepec
(A map of the
community kingdom
of that name, located
in northern Oaxaca)

Eight high lords of Tenochtitlan
Social Structure:
Nobles: High lords (tetechuhtin); regular nobles (pipiltin)
Commoners (machehualli): All others, including merchants (pochteca) and slaves (tlacotin)

An Aztec feather shield sent by Cortez to King Charles V

A late-15 th C.
Aztec
Lord

Tasks
associated
with the
macehualli
class

Aztec wooden-collar slaves

Aztec
commoners
attend a
telpochcalli
(“youth’s
house”)

Tenochtitlan (Mexico City): The heart of the Aztec Empire

The Templo Mayor (back centre) towers above the sacred precinct

A sculpture from the Templo Mayor archaeological zone

A page from the Codex Mendoza shows Montezuma II inside his palace

A map of the
Metropolitan
Region of
Tenochtitlan
Includes
Tlateloco
(Site of the largest
market in the Americas)

Hiram
Bingham at
Machu
Picchu
(1911)

Hiram Bingham Crossing The Urubama River Below Machu Picchu

A 1911 photo of Machu Picchu by Hiram Bingham

Part of the so-called
House of the Princess,
the wall joins with El
Torreon, the semicircular
structure that
Bingham named the
Temple of the Sun

Machu Picchu: Hitching Post Of The Sun

The Temple Of The Three Windows has been partly restored

Peruvian Potatoes

Felipe Huaman Poma
de Ayala –
The mestizo son of a Spaniard
and an Inca wrote a massive
1400-page letter to King Phillip
III of Spain giving a history of
the Incas before and during
Spanish rule and complaining
of colonial abuses of natives
by the Spaniards.

Only a dry bed
remains of a great
canal that once
linked the Moche
and Chicamaca
river valleys

A statue of
Manco Capac
in Lima

Manco Capac
and his seven
siblings emerge
from one of the
three caves at
Pacariqtambo

Chavin de Huantar: The centre for Chavin culture (c. 1400 BCE-400 BCE)

Nazca and Moche Cultures: c. 370 BCE-540 CE close to coast

Tiwanaku’s massive Gate Of The Sun in today’s Bolivia

Map showing
Inca
archaeological
sites

The ruins of Pikillacta, an old provincial capital of the Wari Empire close to Cuzco

Map showing
the extent of the
Wari and
Tiwanaku
empires

A statue of Prince Yupanqui or Pachacuti

Map of the
Andean region
in 1438 CE

Pachacuti as represented on a Cuzco Mural

Topa Inca,
The 10 th ruler of
the Incas
(1471-1493 CE)

Huayna Capac,
The 11 th ruler of
the Incas
(1493-1527 CE)

Map of the
conquests of
Pachacuti,
Topa Inca and
Huayna Capac

The four
suyus of
Tawantinsuyu

Records in the Inca Empire were kept on a device called the quipu

An Inca
quipocamayoc

The governor of royal roads,
his high rank apparent in the
metal trapezoid on his
headband, appears to be
accepting the tribute that
financed his upkeep. Behind
him are three tambos, or
roadside shelters.

Because their were no wheeled vehicles, Inca roads often climbed steep slopes

An Inca Road hugs a cliff
on the way to Machu
Picchu. Where logs now
bridge a gap, a
drawbridge once served
as a check-point.

A modern reconstruction of an Inca suspension bridge made from hand-braided ichu grass

The Inca in charge
of the Guambo
rope bridge allows
a traveler to cross

The son of a local
leader, this messenger
blows a conch-shell
trumpet and wears a
conspicuous feathered
headdress. Both signal
his approach. He is
holding his weapons – a
mace and a sling.

An Inca ushnu, the platforms that served as the centre for each provincial capital

A qollqa
storage
structure
perched on a
hillside at
Ollantaytambo

Inspecting a group of
eight storehouses, or
qollqas – holding
cotton, coca, sweet
potatoes and corn – the
emperor Topa Inca
Yupanqui confers with
an official who
maintains a storage
record on his quipu

Inca
terraces

An Inca
Fountain

Inca engineers straightened the meandering path of the Urubamba River.
They also graded the valley floor to produce acres of flat and cultivable land.

The central figure in the
checkerboard tunic of a
warrior displays a large
disc on his chest to
show that he is a
general. He leads men
wearing Inca ear spools
against enemy soldiers
of Charcas.

A statue of
Pachucuti

This skull – probably the
remains of a defeated opponent
– may once have been lined with
gold and used for chicha, a beer
most often brewed from corn.
Such skull cups served as
symbols of victory for Inca
leaders who triumphed in battle.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURES:
THE BASIC DIVISIONS
1) COMMONERS
2) CURACAS
• Local leaders who ruled directly over the commoners
3) INCAS
• Responsible for ruling the empire

Inca men and women
harvesting potatoes:
The great masses of people
in the Inca Empire were
commoners with little
wealth and almost no
political power. Commoners
were forbidden to look at
the highest-ranking Incas
and were not allowed to
leave their home
communities without
special permission.

CURACAS
At the local level Andean society was fundamentally kin-based
and typically organized under a hereditary ruler called a
curaca.
The Incas folded this pre-existing system into their imperial
control.
The hereditary curaca class became a provincial nobility
responsible for administering the empire at the local level.
The privileges enjoyed by the curacas included exemption from
taxation, a paid salary, assigned servants based on the
number of subjects ruled, and the right to be carried in a
hammock or litter.
They could also be rewarded for outstanding service with
secondary wives, lands, animals, fine cloth, and gold or
silver objects.

CAPAC INCAS AND HAHUA INCAS
The Incas themselves were divided into two classes based on
blood and privilege.
The Capac Incas were a class of people related by blood who
were believed to have descended from the Inca founder
Manco Capac. They held all of the highest posts in the
empire.
To address the shortage of individuals available to fill all of the
critical posts in an expanding empire, Pachacuti decided to
make Incas out of all of the nearest neighbouring nobles to
Cuzco who spoke Quechua. These were known as the
Hahua (“Outer”) Incas.
Only Capac Incas could become emperor and rule the land.

An Inca Gold
Figurine

THE SAPA INCA
The “sole Inca” or the “unique one.”
As a direct descendant of Manco Capac, he was seen as a son
of the sun god Inti and therefore as semi-divine.
He was carried in an elaborate litter, and held court from behind
a screen of cloth.
No one was allowed to look him in the face, and all those who
approached him, even nobles, had to removes their shoes
and carry a token burden on their backs.
Like the nobles, he had one principal wife and numerous
secondary wives and concubines.
In the later reigns, it was the custom to have the emperor marry
a full sister in order to keep the Capac Inca bloodline intact.

PANACAS
The panaca was an institution peculiar to the royal Incas. It was
composed of the descendants of a reigning emperor but
excluded the ruler himself.
The purpose and function of this organization was to preserve
and protect after his death the emperor’s mummy, and his
huaoque image, which was a statue that could stand in for
the Sapa Inca at ceremonies when the ruler needed to be
elsewhere.
The members of a panaca acted as stewards of the palaces and
royal estates. None of this wealth was passed on to the next
ruler but was kept perpetually in the care of the panaca.
Panacas were extremely powerful politically and no emperor
could effectively rule without their consent.
By the time of the Spanish Conquest, there were 11 panacas.

YANACONA
A special class of people outside of the normal hierarchy but
still subject to the nobility was the yanacona.
It is not inappropriate to describe them as servants, but they
were not ordinary servants. In fact, becoming a yanacona
was one of the very few paths to upward mobility in the Incas
Empire.
As a class, they owed their loyalty to and received their support
from individual nobles or emperors and sometimes were
attached to institutions such as temples or royal estates.
Yanacona severed all ties to their home communities.
They also received the privileges of exemption from taxes and
the authority of their native curaca, and their children could
inherit yanacona status.

ACLLAS
Another class operating outside of the regular social hierarchy
were the so-called “chosen women,” or acllas.
Each year the emperor sent out to the provinces royal
inspectors to collect tribute to be paid to the state in the form
of girls.
From each village, the most beautiful between the ages of 10
and 12 were selected. Being chosen was considered a great
honour and represented a path of upward mobility in Incas
society.
These girls were taken to Cuzco and divided into several
classes based on their social standing, skills and perceived
beauty before being assigned to the aclla was (house of the
chosen women) in Cuzco or the provinces.
They never married, and violation of their chastity would be
punished by death. They spent their days tending the
temples.

The remains of the Cuzco Acclahuasi

A pair of nobles build walls
symbolizing the division of land
among the emperor, the
religious establishment and the
community. In reality, the elite
set the boundaries and the
commoners erected the walls.

An Inca Tunic

A re-creation of the Inti Raymi Festival

Viracocha –
The
Inca
Creator
God

A representation
of an Inti Raymi
Festival

Found near the body of a
boy who was probably
sacrificed to the sun
god, this silver figurine
clad in parrot feathers
and luxurious vicuna
wool may represent a
deity intend as the
child’s escort into the
next world.

Bent in a fetal position,
the seven-year-old boy
found in Aconcagua was
wrapped in a cloak of
yellow macaw feathers
and several embroidered
blankets. This body was
painted red, a symbol of
life.

A scientist
removes hair
from a sacrificial
victim

The ruins of the ancient temple of Pachacamac

Considered a huaca, or
mystical place, by the Incas,
this natural fissure sits
beneath the so-called
Temple of the Sun at Machu
Picchu. Stonemasons
carved steps, altars and
niches into its granite
interior and constructed a
wall, at right, to link it to the
temple above.

To demonstrate the sizes of his mummy bundles relative to that of a
living person, archaeologist Max Uhle posed a workman with two of his
finds during his 1896 dig at Pachacama, on the southern coast of Peru.

Draped in a cloak of
plumes and shed in
sandals of wool and
leather, this mummified
man was 35 years old
when he died. He lived
sometime between the
third and seventh
centuries CE.

At Diablo Huasi, just south of Pueblo de los Muertos, dozens of
tombs mark the cliff face. One cave contained numerous
mummies with their knees drawn up to their chests, wrapped in a
net-like material, and surrounded by grave goods.

Poma de Ayala
illustration of an
Inca mummy
being
transported.

CONQUEST OF THE AMERICAS
• 1492: First voyage of Columbus
• 1493: Founding of Santo Domingo
• 1500: Portuguese expedition of Cabral stumbles on Brazil
• 1506: Conquest of Puerto Rico
• 1511: Conquest of Cuba
• 1513: Balbo reaches Pacific
• 1518: Founding of Panama
• 1519: Spaniards make first contact with Aztecs
• 1521: Death of Ponce de Leon in Florida
• 1521: Fall of Aztecs
• 1520s: 8-year odyssey of Cabeza de Vaca in North America
• 1532: Pizarro meets Atahullpa
• 1544: Assassination of Manco Inca
• 1540s: Pedro Alvarado’s conquest of the Maya
• 1549: Portuguese establish colonial presence in Brazil with
founding of Bahia
• 1572: Execution of Tupac Amaru

Hernan Cortes as a latter-day St. James, freeing the Aztecs from human sacrifice

The meeting between Cortes and La
Malinche as portrayed in the Codex Duran

Cortes meets the ambassadors set by Moctezuma

The coronation
Of
Moctezuma II
(1503)

The legend of Quetzalcoatl as represented by Diego Rivera

Cortes sinks his fleet as represented in a 16 th -century Spanish painting

The Church of the Virgin of Remedies – reputedly founded by Cortes –
stands on the site of the ruined temple at Cholula.

The sacred volcano of Popocatepetl

Narrative scenes
from the
Florentine Codex
Emissaries of Montezuma
meet with Cortes on the
road and then report back
to a distraught emperor.

Cortes welcomed
at the
court of
Montezuma

Montezuma shows Cortes the shrine of Huitzilopochtli

Skull-mask representing God of Death found at Templo Mayor site

Alvarado and his fellow conquistadors kill several Aztecs in
the temple precinct (from the 16 th c. Duran Codex)

Montezuma is forced by the Spanish to appeal to his people

“The Night Of Tears”: The conquistadors
fight their way out of Tenochtitlan

A smallpox pandemic devastates the Aztec capital

The return of Cortes depicted in a heroic 16 th c. painting

According to Aztec sources, there were several celestial premonitions associated
with the Spanish Conquest. This 1519 comet preceded the arrival of Cortes.

Cuahtemoc surrenders to Cortes
August 13, 1521 or Day 1-Serpent in the Year 3-House . . .
Depending on the calendar used

Portrait of Cortes as a Spanish gentleman from a
painting in the Hospital of Jesus, Mexico City

Francisco
Pizarro

Pizarro and Diego
de Almagro sailing
to Peru as
represented in
Poma de Ayala’s
account

The meeting of Pizarro and Atahuallpa at Cajarmarca, 1532

Francisco
Pizarro demands
a roomful of gold
in a somewhat
fanciful depiction

Atahuallpa’s prison room and ransom room in Cajamarca

The execution of Atahuallpa (1533)

Cuzco, the capital of the kingdom of the Incas

Remains of the palace of the Inca at Cuzco

An idealized portrait of Manco Inca drawn by Waman Poma (1612)

Manco Inca leads the siege of Cuzco

Manco Inca retreats over the mountains and founds
Vilcabamba in the rain forest bordering Amazonia.

Tupac Amaru (executed by the Spanish in 1572)

Gold from
the Americas
in the statuary
behind the altar
of the cathedral
in Seville, Spain

The richest silver mines in the world opened at Potosi in 1545

The myth of El Dorado, the “golden man”

The Spanish in Florida in the 16 th century

Ponce de Leon Park, Venice Florida

Cabeza de Vaca
depicted as a
healer on a
mural in the
town hall
at Ojinaga

A 1542 chart with the north-south axis reversed
shows native labourers in Brazil building a stockade

Bartoleme de Las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, 1542

Waman Poma, 1613

Mural in today’s Cuzco commemorating the insurrection of
Tupac Amuru II (1780-1781)

A mural commemorating the life of American rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur

Virgin of Carmen Festival held east of Cuzco

Interior of church during festival of Qollor Ri’l

Virgin of Guadalupe
of
Tepeyac, Mexico

God painting the
Virgin of Guadalupe
that appeared on the
cloth of Juan
Diego’s apron

Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on top of Tepeyac Hill

Mexican boy
dressed as
Juan Diego

Mexico City
today.
The Metropolitan
Cathedral is in
the centre with
the Templo Mayor
site in the
foreground.

Aztec monument of Coatlicue (unburied in 1790)

The National Museum Of Anthropology, Mexico City

The discovery of the dismembered Coyolxauqui (1978)