What is considered to be the best general history of the Incan civilization? Same question for the Azteks.
I know there have been some significant changes in our understanding of their culture in recent years and I’d like to brush up with a good read or three.
Thanks in advance!
<Nitpick> Aztecs. I’m unaware of new scholarship on them.
IIRC the Aztek was a typically ugly American Motors vehicle, before AMC was merged.
I thought the Aztek was from Pontiac.
Could be, I might be thinking of the AMC Eagle, which was a medium sized sedan propped up on oversize wheels.
Yes, gentlemen, the Aztek was a Pontiac.
Now shuffle off the thread if you have nothing to contribute to answer the OP(the real question asked by the OP}
samclem, moderator
I’ve corrected the spelling in the title of the OP.
Back on track people.
An excellent book about the Anasazi and the overlapping culture of the Aztec is “House of Rain”. A book that has more to say about Aztec and Inca culture is “Conquest of New Spain”, which was a first-hand account of the overthrow of the kingdom. “1491” is a good book about pre-Columbian America and Mesoamerica.
Craig Childs is not an archaeologist and his revisionist theory of a Ancestral Puebloan (Archaeologists don’t use Anasazi anymore) origin for the Mexica is controversial, to say the least. Also, very mired in an outdated Culture-history Völkerwanderung narrative. That there were trade contacts between the South-western peoples and Mesoamerica are undeniable, but that the cultures of the Ancestral Pueblo and Aztecs were “overlapping” is highly debatable.
As he notes in the book. He refers initially to the people as Puebloans, but explains that the term Anasazi, while actually offensive to some Puebloans, is is firmly entrenched in American lexicon and is used by him as shorthand and for familiarity. He also uses Puebloan throughout. He maintains that trade contacts necessarily result in cultural exchange. I don’t find that to be an outrageous claim. I agree that his narrative is a bit tedious at times.
Which led to quite a tirade against him by the scientists from the natural History Museum in the may 2007 SAA Arch. Record. He knew it was offensive, he knew it had no academic currency, but he used it anyway because it was easier for popularity - kind of says all you need to know, right there.
They also have quite a go at his ethics in dealing with Mexico.
I don’t either, but a southerly prevalence of T-shaped doors (which peters out before you get to anywhere actually Aztec) is hardly evidence for it.
Anyway, the Ancestral Puebloan and the Aztec periods don’t overlap in time, so there’s no call to even suggest cultural exchange there. Cultural inheritance would be an even bigger challenge to prove, and hard evidence for just the trade network postulated is already kind of scanty. That there is linguistic bond between Ute and Nahuatl is undoubted. But cultural continuity from the Southwest to the Valley of Mexico is another thing altogether.
I’d agree with that, based on other books I’ve read. His is an interesting read, particularly the notions about the possible warlike nature of the Puebloan culture, the migratory nature of the tribes, and the cites about evidence of violent death at some of the pueblos; the majority of the book is about this aspect, about trade between tribes, and about the apparent southward immigration. He admits that his discussion of possible influence of Aztec culture on Puebloan culture is speculative, but asserts that there is likely room for more research into the idea.
Fair enough, that’s a much more reasonable way of putting it.
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus is a survey of the various cultures of the Americas. The Aztecs were preceded by several Mesoamerican civilizations; there were Andean civilizations before the Inca. It’s a work of popular history & jumps around a bit–but I seem to remember links to more detailed and/or scholarly works on specific cultures & eras.
I see the book was mentioned earlier; it is a fine place to begin…
I haven’t read 1491 yet, but I’m nearing the end of 1493… it’s fantastic, the best book I’ve read this year, and more than enough to make me buy 1491.
“Aztec” by Gary Jennings. It is fiction, but it offers an incredibly panoramic perspective on their lives and history.
Also, +1 to “1491.”
I found *The Aztecs *by Richard F. Townsend (1992) to be very interesting. It’s 20 years old, though.
The Incas and their Ancestors by Michael Moseley (also 1992) was also interesting but it’s mostly about the people who predate the Incas.