They are Taken from the Earth: Nahua Collecting in the Early Modern Period

Did Nahua communities in central Mexico excavate the past? Yes! Not only that; they gave meaning to things they found from older civilizations, whom they attributed prestige, marvel, and social-cultural quintessence. The cities of Teotihuacan (100 BCE – 800 CE), Xochicalco (650 CE – 900 CE), and Tollan (900 CE – 1200 CE) were sources of inspiration for Nahuatl speakers throughout the early modern period. In the sixteenth century, some said that these ancients “left behind that which today is there, which is to be seen, which they did not finish…which are then taken from the earth” (Florentine Codex: Bk 10, p. 165). These included large structures such as columns, stone pillars, and pyramids, but also potsherds, bowls, ollas, figurines, jewels, arm bands, green stones, fine turquoise, and green jades. You can go see them, wrote Nahuas in the 1570s, and pick them up. You can go see them now, too, in the 2020s. Who excavated these items for Nahua societies? Where were they stored? And who cared for them?

 This paper proposes an elaborate process of Native collecting based on information gathered from colonial Nahuatl-language sources and available material culture from archeological sites, in particular Teotihuacan, Tollan, and Tenochtitlan (1325-1521). The paper connects oztomecameh “disguised traders,” members of the telpochcalli “house of youth,” and calpixque “caretakers of big house.” Together they ensured that precious goods—like those the ancient left behind—arrived safely back to their city-states, where they were subsequently stored, classified, and directed to their appropriate destinations in the Nahua market economy.