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However, these small tactical units of five or six soldiers, led by an experienced warrior, may not have been as permanent as those of the calpolli or served as building blocks of the larger units. |
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The units into which the army was divided for marching were probably quite largesome multiple of the xiquipilliand differed substantially from combat units, which could be quite small. This meant that multiple combat units probably marched together and were subordinated to the army's more comprehensive command structure, led by the tlacochcalcatl and the tlacateccatl.
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As was common throughout central Mexico,66 each unit was designated by a standard (cuachpantli), the banner carried on marches and into battle (see figs. 24, 7, and 33). The Codex Mendoza67 lists four types of standard used by the Aztec army: (1) tlahuizmatlacopilli, or ''reticulated crown device'' (2) itzpapalotl, or "obsidian butterfly" (3) xolotl, or "double" and (4) cuachichiquilli, or "crest." These may have represented the four great quarters into which Te- |
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Fig. 4.
Warriors of various grades in the Tenochtitlan ward of Popotlan. (Detail from
the Mapa de Popotla; courtesy of the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico) |
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