Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs

by Camilla Townsend

In coastal and riverine areas of Mesoamerica, some people had established permanent villages even without access to significant, protein-rich plants because they could dedicate themselves throughout the seasons to the collection of different kinds of seafood. These people, who already had a tradition of sedentary living, may have been more interested than others in the benefits of farming. As early as 1500 bce, near the southern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, on what is called Mexico’s isthmus, the Olmecs began to collect in impressive towns, living primarily on the corn and beans they planted.10 They built large, sturdy buildings where they stored surplus food, and their population grew rapidly relative to other groups. They divided up the necessary labor, and the distinctions allowed some segments of the population to become more powerful than others. They developed a calendar, and talented artists grew adept at sculpture. Their carvings honored gods or chiefs or godly chiefs—we cannot know exactly which—by creating mammoth statues of their heads. Later in the course of their descendants’ history, other gifted individuals created a form of writing, scratching out symbols on tablets to represent words, such as the name of the Venus god, Ten Sky. Clearly these people took pride in all that they had accomplished and offered gratitude to their gods; their sculptures and inscriptions underscore the point.