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walls, while the sixth and innermost wall was 2 brazas high and 6 brazas wide, or about 3.3 meters (11 feet) high and 10 meters (33 feet) wide (Crónica mexicana 1975:606 [chap. 90]). |
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84. Crónica mexicana 1975:310 [chap. 28]; Torquemada 197583, 1:309 [bk. 2, chap. 85]. |
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85. Cortés 1971:156 [letter 2]. |
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86. Cortés 1971:132 [letter 2], 181, 199 [letter 3], 4:217 [letter 3]; Díaz del Castillo 190816, 2:5 [bk. 5, chap. 83], 2:233 [bk. 8, chap. 126], 2:288 [bk. 9, chap. 134], 4:29 [bk. 10, chap. 140], 4:46 [bk. 11, chap. 142], 4:72 [bk. 11, chap. 145], 4:106 [bk. 12, chap. 150], 4:151 [bk. 12, chap. 152]; Sahagún 1975:59. |
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87. Anonymous Conqueror 1963:179; Casas 1967, 1:270 [bk. 3, chap. 51]; Cortés 1971:132 [letter 2], 218 [letter 3]. |
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88. Cortés 1971:73 [letter 2]. |
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89. Díaz del Castillo 190816, 4:5962, 6364 [bk. 11, chap. 144]. |
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90. Torquemada 197583, 1:296 [bk. 2, chap. 79]. |
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91. Cortés 1971:211 [letter 3]. |
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92. Torquemada 197583, 1:285 [bk. 2, chap. 75]. |
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93. Cortés 1971:245 [letter 3]. |
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94. The number of warriors who emerged from Cuauhquechollan was put at 30,000 (Cortés 1971:151 [letter 2]), which is probably an exaggeration. |
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95. Suárez de Peralta 1949:11. |
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96. Crónica mexicana 1975:52627 [chap. 72]. |
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97. Crónica mexicana 1975:63435 [chap. 96]. |
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98. Durán 1967, 2:11011 [chap. 12]. |
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99. Crónica mexicana 1975:606607 [chap. 90]. |
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100. Aguilar 1963:151. |
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101. However, Miller (1977:215, and see also Coggins and Shane 1984:165) notes the existence of structures depicted in mural 1 of the North Group in the Temple of the Jaguars at Chichen Itza that he identifies as siege towers. This is in the Mayan area and is centuries before the Aztecs, and while Miller's interpretation has met with some acceptance (e.g., Kubler 1984:31618), it is problematic. There are several explanations for this structure. A nonmilitary explanation is that the structure is construction scaffolding, but most Mesoamerican buildings are not tall enough to require it, and although pyramids are, their inward slope reduces the usefulness of a vertical scaffold. There are several military possibilities, however. First, the three depicted towers (of three and four stories) could be used by leaders to oversee the battle and issue directions, but relaying orders from the top of the towers to combatants below over the din of battle seems difficult and unlikely. Second, they could be used to breach fortifications, but this idea meets the same difficulties as the construction theory: Mesoamerican walls are not high enough to require anything more elaborate than ladders to scale them, and pyramids slope inward and cannot be reached from the upper levels of the vertical tower. Moreover, there are no bridges from the towers on which men could cross. The third and likeliest explanation is that the structures were built solely for the purpose of pouring fire on the target pyramid. In the scene depicted, archers and slingers are absent: only atlatls are being |
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