ISBN: 9780292797956

Based on their enormously complex calendars that recorded cycles of many kinds, the Aztecs and other ancient Mesoamerican civilizations are generally believed to have had a cyclical, rath… Meer...

Based on their enormously complex calendars that recorded cycles of many kinds, the Aztecs and other ancient Mesoamerican civilizations are generally believed to have had a cyclical, rather than linear, conception of time and history. This boldly revisionist book challenges that understanding. Ross Hassig offers convincing evidence that for the Aztecs time was predominantly linear, that it was manipulated by the state as a means of controlling a dispersed tribute empire, and that the Conquest cut off state control and severed the unity of the calendar, leaving only the lesser cycles. From these, he asserts, we have inadequately reconstructed the pre-Columbian calendar and so misunderstood the Aztec conception of time and history. Hassig first presents the traditional explanation of the Aztec calendrical system and its ideological functions and then marshals contrary evidence to argue that the Aztec elite deliberately used calendars and timekeeping to achieve practical political ends. He further traces how the Conquest played out in the temporal realm as Spanish conceptions of time partially displaced the Aztec ones. His findings promise to revolutionize our understanding of how the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican societies conceived of time and history. Digital Content>E-books>Social Sciences>Sociology>Sociology, University of Texas Press Digital >16<

2013, ISBN: 9780292797956

eBooks, eBook Download (EPUB), This illuminating study offers a radical new understanding of how the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican societies conceived of time and history. &#160; Base… Meer...

eBooks, eBook Download (EPUB), This illuminating study offers a radical new understanding of how the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican societies conceived of time and history. &#160; Based on their enormously complex calendars that recorded cycles of many kinds, the Aztecs and other ancient Mesoamerican civilizations are generally believed to have had a cyclical, rather than linear, conception of time and history. This boldly revisionist book challenges that understanding. &#160; Ross Hassig offers convincing evidence that for the Aztecs time was predominantly linear, that it was manipulated by the state as a means of controlling a dispersed tribute empire, and that the Conquest cut off state control and severed the unity of the calendar, leaving only the lesser cycles. From these, he asserts, we have inadequately reconstructed the pre-Columbian calendar and so misunderstood the Aztec conception of time and history. &#160; Hassig first presents the traditional explanation of the Aztec calendrical system and its ideological functions and then marshals contrary evidence to argue that the Aztec elite deliberately used calendars and timekeeping to achieve practical political ends. He further traces how the Conquest played out in the temporal realm as Spanish conceptions of time partially displaced the Aztec ones. [PU: University of Texas Press], University of Texas Press, 2013<

ISBN: 9780292797956

University of Texas Press Sociology Mesoamerican studies;indigenous studies;cyclical time;Aztec society;cultural anthropology;Aztec calendar;Aztec archeology;Mesoamerican archeology;pre-c… Meer...

University of Texas Press Sociology Mesoamerican studies;indigenous studies;cyclical time;Aztec society;cultural anthropology;Aztec calendar;Aztec archeology;Mesoamerican archeology;pre-columbian;conquest of Mexico;Aztec empire;Aztec kings;Hernan cortes;colonialism;colonization ,9780292731400 UK,GB,DE,ES,FR,IT,US,CA,MX,AU,NZ 20131218 English Social Sciences, University of Texas Press<