Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Rusty Nails, Stone Walls and a Drum
The Aztecs: Bloodthirsty Savages or Just Regular Folks?
Who Were the Aztecs, Anyway?
Aztec Families and Households
Aztec Communities
My Journey to Aztec Households and Communities
Chapter 2. The Discovery of Aztec Peasants
The Invisible Aztec Peasant
Background to the Fieldwork
Getting into the Field
Digging Houses at Capilco
More Houses at Cuexcomate
"Any Idiot Knows These Walls were Foundations for Adobe Bricks!"
The Village of Tetlama
Where are all the Bodies?
Celebrating the End of the World
Farming the Hillsides
The Rainy Season Begins and the Excavation Ends
Chapter 3. Reconstructing Daily Life
Our Lab in the Emperor Maximilian’s Stable
Hand-Made Tortillas
The Artifacts of Daily Life
Access to Markets
The Hidden Realm of Domestic Ritual
Rich and Poor
Changes in Rural Society
Chapter 4. A High Quality of Life
Wealthy Households
Household Choice and the Diversity of Goods
External Social Networks
Aztec Summer Camp
The Mexica Imperial Protection Racket
The One Percent and the Ninety-Nine Percent
Successful Rural Households
Chapter 5. Excavations in an Urban Community
Urban Survey: Knocking on Doors and Being Chased by Dogs
The Site is Invaded by a Squatters Settlement
We Excavate Anyway
An Elite Residence
Burial of the Dead
Irrigation and Urban Agriculture
Excavation in the Churchyard
Chapter 6. Urban Life
Daily Life
Our Laboratory in Yautepec
Flutes, Whistles, and Rattles
Obsidian Workshops
Scientific Studies of Trade
Life in the Big City
Cortés and the Spanish Conquest
Chapter 7. Resilient Communities
What is a Community?
The Calpolli: Key to Community Success
Responsive Local Government: The City-State
Chapter 8. Lessons From the Dirt
A New View of Aztec Society
Why were these Households and Communities Successful?
Sustainable Smallholder Agriculture
A New Archaeology of Households and Communities
The Aztecs and the Urban Revolution
Lessons for Communities Today