110 UNIT 1 PREHISPANIC MESOAMERICA
nized the same 20 day signs as the Aztecs; that is, the names of the days were identi-
cal as was the sequence. There were also other similarities between the Aztec and Mix-
tec calendars. In the Postclassic period, the Mixtecs and Aztecs named each year (of
the 365-day solar calendar) based on one of four possible year names: rabbit, reed,
flint, and house. These names represented either the name for the last day of the pre-
vious year or the first day of the new year. The years were grouped into periods of
13 years, so that the name for any year included the numbers 1 to 13 along with the
year name. The sequence of year names would have been as follows: 1 Rabbit, 2 Reed,
3 Flint, 4 House, 5 Rabbit, 6 Reed, 7 Flint, and so on. This method of combining the
numbers 1 to 13 with four year names constituted another way to create the 52-year
cycle or Calendar Round (as explained in Box 1.2). Calendrical specialists kept track
of the calendar and also maintained specialized knowledge of astronomical cycles.
They had divinatory powers and provided counsel to the ruling families.
Religious specialists, naha nineor tay saque,were under the direct authority of the
ruling nobility. These practitioners oversaw a variety of activities including feasting,
sacrifices, making of offerings, marriages, funerals, fertility rituals, and religious train-
ing. Boys as young as seven years old entered formal religious training. In some cases
these boys came from both social strata (nobility and commoners), whereas in other
cases they came only from the noble class.
From this brief summary of Postclassic Mixtec society, we can see that the Mix-
tecs played an important role in Postclassic Mesoamerica. Mixtec artisans were highly
regarded, and Mixtec crafts—gold, silver, and turquoise jewelry and ornaments and
polychrome ceramics—were greatly desired by elites across much of Mesoamerica.
The so-called Mixteca-Puebla art style, linked to the international Mesoamerican art
style, was influenced by Mixtec artists, and was popular in many parts of Mesoamer-
ica during the Postclassic period. Yet, in spite of the obvious links between Mixtecs
and other Mesoamerican groups, we have seen that in several respects, Mixtec soci-
ety was distinct. Their political, economic, and social systems were based on the
supreme authority of the royal families, and the supernatural origins and political le-
gitimacy of these families were recorded in the famous Mixtec codices.The Lowland Mayas
The Mayan lowlands of the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, and Guatemala comprised a
vast terrain of fragmented city-states at the time of Spanish arrival. About seventy
years before Spanish contact (in A.D. 1511), this region had been structured differ-
ently. A primary capital city, Mayapan, had centralized polities of the northwest Yu-
catan under a confederate style council (mul tepal) and paramount lord. Beyond the
northwest peninsula, Mayapan extended its influence among more loosely organized
autonomous states across the Mayan area by maintaining an extensive trade network,
engaging in religious proselytization, exercizing military strength, and building po-
litical alliances. Towns of the Gulf and Caribbean coasts, along with the Peten Lakes
region, have well-documented connections to Mayapan. Many of these towns con-
tinued to prosper after Mayapan declined from power, because of a thriving mar-