CHAPTER 2 LATE POSTCLASSIC MESOAMERICA 93manufactured exquisite adornments and objects used by the noble class, as well as
constructing the ornate and architecturally fine buildings that gave the cities of the
central Basin their impressive, metropolitan aura.
In Aztec society, the ruling class exercised considerable control over the pro-
duction of these goods and the means to produce them. The ruling class demanded
the agricultural surpluses from producers in the basin and beyond, expropriated the
labor of commoners in order to build monumental public works, and accumulated
masses of raw materials and artisan goods from the peoples in the imperial provinces.
Control over the main means of production—lands, raw materials, laborers—by the
Aztec ruling class was especially evident in the Central Basin, whereas in the provinces
to a much greater degree the means of production remained under the control of
local rulers and the producers themselves (see Box 2.2).
The tributary system, along with the commercial markets, dominated the Aztec
exchange economy. Most commodity producers, including farmers working the lake
Box 2.2 Archaeology and Mesoamerican PeasantsIt is only natural that archaeologists studying the complex societies of Mesoamerica and elsewhere
have focused most of their attention on cities and urban centers. These are the largest archae-
ological sites, they contain the most impressive architectural remains, and they exhibit the most
complete evidence for ancient social complexity. Nevertheless, in the past two decades an in-
creasing number of archaeologists have turned their attention to rural areas that were the hin-
terlands of ancient cities. Archaeological fieldwork on rural areas has taken two forms. First,
regional settlement pattern surveys that became common in the 1960s and 1970s following ini-
tial projects that were directed by Gordon Willey and William Sanders provided information on
the number, size, and location of rural sites across the landscape. More recently, archaeologists
such as David Webster and Michael Smith have furnished more detailed data on rural life by ex-
cavating peasant houses in Maya and Aztec hinterland areas.
This growing archaeological attention to peasants and rural areas is important for rounding
out our view of ancient Mesoamerican societies. Peasants are rural farming peoples who are part
of larger state-level societies. They typically provide labor, food, and other products for urban
elites and state institutions. Research around the world shows that in some ancient states, peas-
ants were heavily exploited, had little freedom, and lived a hard, dull life, whereas in other cases
peasants were well-off economically and had considerable control over their own lives and des-
tiny. One of the goals of archaeological research on Mesoamerican peasants is to document the
conditions of peasant households and communities in order to provide more complete inter-
pretations of ancient Mesoamerican societies.
A comparison of Teotihuacan and the Aztecs illustrates some of the variation among
Mesoamerican peasants. As urban settlements, Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlán shared many char-
acteristics, but their overall societies were quite different politically and economically, and these
differences influenced the nature of rural settlement during the Classic and Late Postclassic pe-
riods. Teotihuacan was a powerful polity whose rulers dominated their subjects in both city and
countryside. Many rural villagers had been forcibly moved into the city early in the Classic period,
leaving a small number of scattered peasant villages in the hinterland. Excavations at one of
these villages suggest a meager standard of living, with villagers imitating urban styles in both
artifacts and architecture. There is little evidence of economic activities apart from food
(continued)