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the overall scheme of Mesoamerican development, some considerationhowever briefmust be given to their cultural forebears in central Mexico (see map 1). |
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The Aztecs arrived comparatively late, reaching the basin of Mexico in the thirteenth century A.D., and they did so as Chichimecsthe Mesoamerican version of barbarians, uncultured in the great traditions of central Mexico. They ultimately settled at the site of what became Tenochtitlan in 1345 and emerged as a fledgling empire less than a century later. |
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Much of the Aztecs' military technology and organization was an elaboration on that of the earlier Toltecs, centered at Tollan (present-day Tula, Hidalgo). The Toltecs dominated central Mexico from about A.D. 900 to 1200, the period during which political rule shifted from the hands of a theocratic priesthood to those of more secular warrior classes, a pattern carried forward by the Aztecs. But even the Toltecs were not the most important cultural innovators in central Mexico. They, too, perpetuated many of the traditions bequeathed to them by earlier civilizations. |
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Monte Albán, El Tajín, Xochicalco, and Cholollan (Cholula) were among the most important city-states before the Toltecs. Yet none achieved more than regional significance, creating few new social patterns and technologies. Rather, they served as conservators of the cultural traditions to which they were heirs. It was from these cities and peoples that the Toltecs picked up the major threads of the Mesoamerican social fabric. |
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The main outlines of Mesoamerican civilization date from the Classic period (roughly the first two centuries A.D. to about 900).
1 Teotihuacan, situated in the northeastern portion of the basin of Mexico, was the first major Mesoamerican empire, dominating all of central Mexico and extending its influence as far as present-day southern Guatemala. The nature of Teotihuacan's domination is not entirely clear: the city is usually considered to have been under theocratic rule, and there is little evidence of extensive military activity. Nevertheless, most of the basic Mesoamerican armaments were in existence at this timeatlatls, darts, and spears, as well as clubs (bladed and unbladed), shields, cotton body armor, and unit standardsand elite military orders had apparently arisen. This military organization and technology was carried forward and elaborated on first by the Toltecs and then by the Aztecs. |
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