Aztec Shadows

Late on Sunday, just as the sun began to sit on the horizon, Miguel and his father went to the backyard to investigate Miguel’s adobe brick project.
“It looks like it’s almost done,” said Miguel.
“Maybe from the outside,” said father.
Sr. Vasquez cut the cardboard from the milk container away from the brick. The outer surface was still wet and slick. Sr. Vasquez’s thumb smudged and dented the brick slightly as he pressed against the clay.
“It’s been out here for three days.”
“Adobe houses weren’t built in a day,” said father.
He turned the brick on its end. It cast a long shadow across the ground.
“How much longer do you think it will take?”
“It could take several weeks. It depends on the sun.”
Miguel turned his face toward the sun.
“It won’t bake much more today. We might as well go inside and let nature take its course.”
Miguel followed his father to the family room. They watched television together. Periodically, Miguel checked the adobe. After sunset, he checked on the brick less and less, until he forgot about it altogether.
The next morning, he headed to school. Srta. Diaz sat in front of class. A small adobe brick sat next to her on the desk.
“Do any of my students want to give a report on their adobe brick project?”
Several hands went up, including Miguel’s.
“Miguel, how did it go?”
“Not very well.”
“What do you mean?”
“It didn’t dry very much.”
“It won’t dry very much. Think about how thick your bricks are. Also ask yourselves, ‘How hot is sunlight?’ If you compare this to an ordinary oven, you can understand why it would take such a long time. “
“How long do you think it will take?”
“It could take several weeks or even a few months. That is why I am speeing up the sun.”
“How?”
Srta. Diaz handed a new set of directions to the class.
“We’re going to ask our parents’ to help us use our ovens to help bake the bricks. Now, it’ll only take a few days instead of a few months.”
“Why didn’t you just tell us this with the first directions?”
“Then you wouldn’t understand the work involved in making adobe.”
Srta. Diaz wrote five words on the chalkboard.
Olmec – Zapotec – Toltec – Mixtec – Aztec
“Does anyone know what these words have in common?”
Everyone raised a hand.
“They’re all Mexican?”
“I guess that’s one way you could put it; they’re all Mesoamericans, which is the term for any of the ancient tribes that settled Central America before the time of Christopher Columbus. Historians call them pre-Columbian times.”
“What were the differences between the different groups?” asked Miguel.
“Everyone seems to know the Aztec Empire, because of its importance to Mexico City. The other cultures were distinguished by their location – the Zapotecs were from the Pacific Coast, near Oaxaca. The Toltecs came from Tula, directly south of here. The Olmecs lived east of the Toltecs. The Mixtecs thrived throughout Mexico.”
She outlined their various regions with colored chalk on pre-drawn map of Mexico.
“Does anyone know what else these groups also have in common?”
Nobody raised their hands.
“They were all stone cutters. Making adobe was a time-consuming task.”
“Wouldn’t stone cutting be time-consuming, too?” asked a student.
“It is still much quicker than making bricks. At first, stonecutters gathered large stones to build. They would cut the stones until they fit together perfectly. Soon, they refined their art, and were able to shape boulders with their stone cutting tools.”
Srta. Diaz turned off the overhead lights and turned on the slide projector.
“These different groups of Mesoamericans made a major shift in their way of living. Before their stone-cutting age, they were hunters and gatherers. They lived a nomad’s life, moving from place to place, following herds of wild pigs, buffalo, and cattle. Once they domesticated these animals, they became settlers.”
“What do you mean by domesticated animals?”
“Just like animals on a farm, these animals were no longer roaming through the wild. Mesoamericans fed and cared for the animals. In return, the animals provided milk to drink, meat to eat, and even their hides for clothing and leather goods.”
She then showed a slide much like the one in the city planner’s office.
“Does anyone know what this is?”
Every child raised a hand.
“Tenochtitlan,” they replied.
“Exactly. Tenochtitlan was one of the greatest ancient cities of the world. It included temples and a central market, surrounded by a series of farms. The farms were actually built on top of a lake.”
“How did they do that?” asked a student.
“The Aztecs started by planting long rows of trees. They placed sod between some of the trees, creating a grid of farms. Each farm was long and rectangular, surrounded by square moats. The Aztecs floated their canoes through the moats like cars on a street.”
She flipped through a series of slides. Each one depicted pottery, statues, and ornamental shapes, carved from stone, jade, and greenstone. She finally stopped at a slide of a large round face.
“If you look at the palm leaves behind the statue, you can see that this statue is very big. It is actually 3 meters tall, which means any one of you could stand on a friend’s shoulders but still you could not reach the top of his head.”
The class gasped in amazement.
“Like I stated earlier, the Olmec lived in the lowlands along the Caribbean coast, nearly 3000 years ago. Archaeologists uncovered 10 stone heads just like this one. I would suppose there are still more to find. I would even suppose there were many more we will never find.”
She flipped through more slides, including a step pyramid and the neighboring city. She also showed several slides of glyphs. The glyphs were designs cut into stone.
“Each of these designs represents a syllable in the ancient Zapotec language. It is thought to be the root for all other Mesoamerican languages that followed.”
She flipped through slides of modern views – a coastal city located between mountains and shore.
“The Zapotecs lived along the Pacific Coast in Oaxaca. They believed in many gods. They also believed that all humans evolved from trees and jaguars.”
There were slides of stone-cut art, depicting were-jaguars and were-trees, beasts that were half-man and half-nature.
The next series of slides featured pottery and jewelry with intricate designs. There was also a slide showing her standing next to a set of five gigantic statues. Each one was approximately 10 meters high – five times taller than Srta. Diaz.
“Does anyone know what this is?”
“I’ve seen it before,” answered a student, “Isn’t it in Hidalgo?”
“That’s right. It’s in the city of Tula, a few hours drive south of here. The Toltec only thrived a short time, but were known as “The Artisans” because of their precious crafts.”
She flipped on the lights and returned to the front of class.
“This brings us to the Mixtecs. Many of you have both Mixtec and Aztec ancestors. The word ‘Mixteca’ means place of the cloud people’. The Mixtecs lived throughout Mexico, but their capital was in Oaxaca.”
“I thought the Zapotecs lived there.”
“They did, but the Mixtecs conquered the Zapotecs. The Zapotecs and Mixtecs eventually became one tribe. It wasn’t until Montezuma and the Aztec Empire fought with the Mixtecs and Zapotecs that they truly became one tribe. Still, they could not defeat the might Aztecs. Like all the lesser tribes in Mexico, the Mixtecs paid tribute to the Aztecs. That meant they would work for the Aztecs, supplying them with goods and services. In return, the Aztecs did not attack the other tribes.”
Just then, the bell rang. It was time for lunch. Stra. Diaz spent the rest of the day teaching Spanish and Mathematics. She saved more history lessons for a later time.
At the end of the day, Miguel waited for his sister, as usual.
“Hurry!”
“Why?” asked Juneta.
“I have a project.”
As soon as he got home, he retrieved a rake and shovel from the barn. He began digging a hole in the backyard.
“Meego! What are you doing?”
“I’m looking for ancient ruins.”
“You’ll be in such trouble when our parents get home.”
Miguel continued digging anyway. At least he did until mother came home and saw him destroying her backyard.
“Miguel Andres Vasquez! Quit digging up my yard!” she shouted.
Miguel stopped mid-scoop and dropped both his shoulders and head. He skulked through the backyard to the rear door and opened it.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“I was looking for Colossal heads.”
“Colossal what?”
“You know, the ancient stone carved heads they found in southeastern Mexico.”
“Miguel, there will not be any artifacts in our backyard.”
“How do you know?”
“I just know,” she said as she kissed him softly on the forehead, “Now put the dirt back in the hole and clean up afterwards. I’m sure your father or I can find something else for you to explore.”
Miguel repaired the hole and showered, just as his mother had ordered. Afterwards, he joined his sister and mother in the living room, who were watching a boring telenovella. Telenovellas were Mexican Soap Operas. Miguel did not like them in the least.
He fetched his history book and read about the ancient Mesoamericans.
Now that he had begun his search for ancient artifacts, he knew more than anything he wanted to be an archeologist. However, just like everything else, it seemed he would just have to wait.