Contents

Prologue

• Introduction

• Life cycles

childhood

adolescence

adulthood

old age

• Occupations

pipiltin women: nobles

macehualtin women: commoners

productive labors

• Religion

goddesses of the ancient mesoamerican tradition

goddesses of the aztec-mexica tradition

• Conclusion

Glossary

Notes

Bibliography

List of Illustrations

Photograph Credits

DEMO Version.

Only first few pages.

-Prologue

-Introduction

-Chapter 1

This work was first published in February 2012 by CACCIANI, S.A. de C.V.
Reproduction of this work in whole or in part, in any medium and by any method, is prohibited without the authorization of the copyright holders.

Cover design: Adaptation of Mujer de sangre azteca (2011) by Ana Rosenzweig and Paola Villalva.

Prologue

Because we live in a society with a strong androcentric bent, academic research on women's daily life and its contribution to their societies has traditionally occupied a secondary place in archaeology and history. But since the second half of the twentieth century, this situation has gradually changed. Now we have countless works that analyze the role of women in the societies of ancient Mexico and discuss their economic, political, and religious contribution. Among this wide range of studies, the work of Miriam López Hernández stands out. A young university researcher, she is deeply interested in gender studies, as they are known today, which are at the forefront of feminist thought in academia.

The work that López Hernández presents here is special in several ways. It offers an integral view of women (analyzing their life cycle) and of their contributions to Mexica civilization (domestic work and the trades they practiced). It points out that theirs was a classist society, a fact that necessitates study of not only women's particular condition but also their economic, religious, and political participation. It emphasizes that women's situations differed according to their social class, ethnicity, age, and legal status. And, considering that the Mexica built their empire through military might, it analyzes the ideological basis that supported the hegemonic doctrine of war: namely, religion, which was almost exclusively centered on the masculine.

Adopting materialism as her theoretical approach, López Hernández provides a critical focus based on consideration of the archaeological evidence, articulated through her knowledge of the source documents, affording us the most complete panorama possible of the living conditions of Mexica women. The author's knowledge of Nahuatl enables her to examine and explain the subterfuges of that language and the codes framing those practices that were permitted and sanctioned for women within this hierarchical state society.

To piece together the panorama in which women's activities and their contributions to their culture unfolded, López Hernández deploys a scientific analysis that foregrounds knowledge of the social, political, cultural, legal, and religious structures. She notes that the macehualtin, the poor women who constituted the demographic majority, were responsible for the education of children and the health of their family group; they were also required to participate in religious rites and make contributions to the state in the form of their domestic work and products, among other duties.

Another virtue of this work is that it highlights the ideological backdrop for women's practices: the religious order. To this end it points out the rather marginal role played by female deities in the Mexica pantheon, a melting pot of elements from various Mesoamerican cultural traditions. From this fusion arose the religious system that the Mexicas imposed on the various social groups present in their capital, the Altiplano of the Basin of Mexico, and on the political communities under their control.

With the patience, rigor, and determination that characterize her work, Miriam López Hernández offers a compelling analysis of the Mexica female condition, drawing on suitable theoretical tools and methodology, while also including the most significant examples to render a total panorama of the daily practices of women in the context of the relations of production that prevailed during the Postclassic in the center of Mexico. She thereby strikes a perfect balance in her presentation of women and their activities, viewed not only from a political and economic angle but also in terms of morality, sexuality, and daily life.

López Hernández's research is the fruit of a tremendous synthesis of data drawn from the archaeological record and from pictographic documents that examine daily life during the pre-Hispanic era, as well as from source documents that, viewed through the lens of materialist analysis and the more recent categories of gender studies, yield an enormously valuable contribution to the (re)construction of women's history—a history that up until half a century ago had been denied or passed over.

We celebrate and joyfully receive works such as this—ones that promise to become pioneering studies in the field of the anthropology of women thanks to their scholarly precision, their theoretical rigor, the seriousness with which their methodology is applied, and the scrupulousness of their assertions and final conclusions. This is a commendable work that will inspire other women scholars to undertake research in different Mesoamerican social contexts.

Dr. María J. Rodríguez-Shadow

Department of Ethnology and Social Anthropology, INAH

January 2011

Introduction

The present work seeks to convey the social condition in which Mexica* women lived. By looking at the various stages of a woman's life, we can analyze the possible destinies assigned to her by her society's norms and ideals of behavior.

The spheres of activity in which a woman's existence unfolded were different from those of a man, and her condition was determined by the combined relations of production and reproduction, along with all the other relations in which she was immersed regardless of her own will. Her condition was also determined by the ways in which she participated in these relations through the political and legal institutions that contained her and set rules for her, and by the conceptions of the world that defined her. These generated a series of essential circumstances, qualities, and characteristics that defined the woman as a gendered social and cultural being.

The condition of women was not homogeneous across all categories. A woman's status could vary according to her class, age, and individual characteristics. That is, her experiences and how she was addressed and treated would be different if she were a noblewoman or a commoner, and likewise if she were young or old,† attractive or not.§

An important part of this study is to highlight the contributions of women to society. It must be remembered, however, that because their contributions were not duly recognized, they did not afford women the prestige and social ascent that male activities brought.

Mexica culture developed in the Altiplano Central of Mexico, and its time frame is clearly defined by the Late Postclassic. Although this period runs from A.D. 1200 to 1521, the definitive settlement of Tenochtitlan took place in 1325. Our historical reconstruction is based on archaeological data, complemented by references from ethnohistorical sources.

Collection of the Fundación Cultural Armella Spitalier

INAH 1441-212

Life Cycles

childhood

Birth: The Assignment of Gender

The assignment of gender began as soon as the baby was born, and it would subsequently be reinforced through family, school, and religious education. At the birth ceremony, besides a name, the baby received a gender label thanks to the symbolic presence of implements associated with its sex: for a girl, there would be a spindle and whorl, a broom, and a small basket of cotton; for a boy, a buckler and four arrows, so that he would become a good warrior.⁵

The gender ceremony ended when the baby's umbilical cord was detached and buried. For girls it would be buried in the hearth of the home, while for boys it was buried in the battlefield, thereby defining their respective spheres of social activity (domestic and public).⁶

The midwife was in charge of baptizing the newborn; during the ceremony the baby was shown the emblems pertaining to its gender.
Codex Mendoza.

Boys would avoid contact with implements that were not of their gender, for fear of losing their virility and their prowess at war. They were told not to step on the hearth (the quintessential feminine space), because doing so would bring them misfortune in battle, and they would fall into enemy hands.⁷

Names

The parents then sought to name the baby and discover its fortune in life. To this end, they would ask the tonalpouhqui, who consulted the tonalpohualli (ritual calendar of 260 days, divided into twenty thirteen-day cycles, that governed all activities of society). This calendar revealed the qualities of each day.

The method was as follows: the tonalpouhqui asked the hour of birth and what circumstances accompanied it; then he consulted the tonalamatl, which specified the influence of the reigning deity for that thirteen-day cycle and other related events and predicted the child's virtues or tendencies. If the child was born under a good sign it would be given a name the following day, but if it was born on an ill-fated day, the parents would wait to assign a name under a more favorable sign, but only within the thirteen-day cycle of the child's birth. The sign of the day characterized what today would be called temperament or personality.⁸

The parents went to the tonalpouhqui to learn of the newborn's future. Florentine Codex.

When the birth took place during one of the last five days of the year, which were called nemontemi and were considered futile and adverse days in the calendar, the verdict was inevitably negative. In that case a boy would receive a name equivalent to nemon ("to be worthless") and a girl nencihuatl ("woman who is useless").⁹

It is important to note that there was a also a class distinction in naming. Pipiltin (upper-class people) would be given a name commemorating an ancestor for his exploits, with reverential terms incorporated in the name, while macehualtin (lower-class people) would receive only the name corresponding to the calendrical sign under which they were born.¹⁰

Statue showing a mother with her child in her arms. Collection of the Fundación Cultural Armella Spitalier INAH 1578-219.

Names given to girls in the Nahau regions of Cuernavaca and Culhuacan.¹¹

NAHUATL

TRANSLATION

Citlalin

Star

Teuccihuatl

Lordly Woman

Tecpane

Palace Resident

Anican

Not Here

Mazaxochi

Deer Flower

Ilamaton

Little Old Woman

Necahual

Abandoned One

Tonallaxochiatl

Floral Water of Summer

Xoxopanxoco

Fruit of Spring

Cihuanenequi

She Imagines Herself a Woman

Xiuhnentl

Little Doll of the Year of Fire

Mocel

Only One

Teyacapan/Tiacapan

Oldest One

Tlaco

Middle One

Teicu

Younger One

Xoco

Youngest One

Teyacapan, Tiacapan, Tlaco, Teicu, and Xoco were names of goddesses and were given to the great majority of girls to distinguish their birth order with respect to their siblings.¹²

Education

It was customary for girls to remain in their mother's care, while boys, after they were three years old, were under their father's tutelage. Their upbringing was severe. Boys learned to carry water and firewood, go to the market, and pick up grains of maize scattered on the ground; girls began spinning, weaving, and embroidering at age five. "They did not let the girls go idly about, and if one got up from her work before it was time, they tied her feet, so that she would sit down and be still."¹³

At age seven, boys learned to fish and girls learned to grind maize on a metate and to sweep the house.

At the telpuchpan girls were taught the sequence of the days, the names of the signs, and the attributions of their gods, as well as to count. They also learned to perfect the duties proper to their sex, such as cooking, sweeping, and cleaning, as well as music and singing.¹⁴

Girls learned spinning from childhood as a women's activity. Codex Mendoza.

Within the family or at school, young and adolescent girls received rigorous preparation to make them suitable for marriage and skilled in domestic labors. At the same time, "they were taught to be very honorable in speech and bearing, both in public and in private."¹⁵

Discipline in all respects was firm, and laziness was punished. Anyone who refused to carry out their socially imposed role would be pricked with maguey spines over their entire body or forced to breathe the smoke of roasted chilies. This training instilled consciousness of one's social role and guided women to fulfill their duties of biological reproduction and transmission of the established cultural norms.

Strict punishment was administered from early childhood to correct disobedience. Codex Mendoza.

adolescence

Morals and Sexuality

The proverb "the good medium is necessary" [tlacoqualli in monequi]¹⁶ sums up the ideal conduct expected of the Mexica. This refrain exhorted moderation in one's bearing and speech, in sexuality, dress, and personal appearance.

Mothers reminded their daughters how to carry themselves: "When you go out on the street or the road, do not hold your head down or your body curved, but also do not go about with your head held very high and [standing] very straight, because that is a sign of ill-breeding."¹⁷

The chroniclers attest to the efficacy of these admonitions: "[Girls] went about so honorably that they did not raise their eyes from the ground, and if they were inattentive, [their nannies] immediately signaled them to turn their gaze"; if they did not obey, "they punished their flesh cruelly with rough nettles, and pinched them until they were full of bruises."¹⁸

Girls were expected to be moderate in the way they spoke, walked, and dressed. Codex Mendoza.

Daughters were also taught to speak with gentle, measured words, neither too fast nor too slow, and never screaming: "And when you speak, don't hurry your speech; don't talk anxiously but rather little by little and calmly. When you speak, don't raise your voice or speak very quietly, but rather use a medium tone."¹⁹

Both girls and boys were advised not to dress or groom themselves in a way that would attract attention, because that was a sign of vanity. "Be sure that your dresses are decent and appropriate. See that you do not attire yourself in things that are unusual or very elaborate, because that signifies fantasy and little intelligence and insanity […] Never should you shave your face or put colors on it, or on the mouth, to look good, because that is a sign of carnal, worldly women […] They are called whores."²⁰

Makeup and excessive adornment were characteristic of prostitutes. Florentine Codex.

Noble fathers also preached temperance to their sons, because self-control and good behavior were closely linked with social class. Their speeches, called huehuetlatolli in Nahuatl (meaning "ancient word"), convey the hierarchies within Mexica society; only he who controlled his body and his impulses could attain the highest level. In this regard, rulers and nobles had to show restraint, since observance of moderation justified their position of authority over the rest of the population.²¹

With respect to sexuality, the talks addressed to women exalted the value assigned to virginity and chastity. Virginity was a precious gift, and its loss could cost a woman her life; the consequences of her disobedience also extended to her family, who suffered social repudiation and shame. Sahagún's texts reveal the parents' preoccupation with making sure their daughters entered marriage with their hymens intact.

"Don't give your body to anyone. Be on your guard that no one may reach you, that no one may take your body. If you lose your virginity and later someone asks to marry you, and you marry him, never will he get along well with you nor have true love for you." Fragment of huehuetlatolli.²²

No concessions were made in the matter of sexual prohibitions, and transgressions were punished by death. Even the mere suspicion of inappropriate behavior provoked exemplary punishment. It is said that Nezahualpilli, the monarch of Texcoco, upon hearing that a young pilli had jumped the wall to the enclosure where his daughters were being raised so that he could talk with one of them, ordered that this daughter be executed, since it would appear "very dishonorable if such a misdeed were to go unpunished."²³

With regard to the moral and sexual environment, the historian Pablo Escalante²⁴ has pointed out the differences between pipiltin and macehualtin. He remarks that while it is true that virginity and premarital restraint were very important to the Nahuas, and that both the violation of these norms and adultery were severely punished and even received the death penalty, this is, however, only a partial view. ²⁵ That is because among commoners, adultery could not always be sanctioned, and young couples who had sexual relations would often be wed to each other after the fact.²⁶ For the macehualtin the norm seems to have been tolerance and acceptance of spontaneous inclinations, even though they were kept within limits for the sake of preserving order in the community.²⁷

The Florentine Codex²⁸ records a saying about cover-ups and complicity among members of the community. If a person learned of someone who had stolen, committed adultery, or was living in concubinage, the latter person would tell the former, "That which you saw, tell no one about it," to which the former would respond: "Do I seem like an ear of sweet maize, ready to shed all my grains and display my innards?"²⁹

Clothing and Hairstyles

Pipiltin women in their typical garb. Florentine Codex.

Among the Mexica, macehualtin women made their dresses using fabric spun from maguey, palm, or raw cotton, while the pipiltin used finer fabrics made from dyed cotton, with geometrical patterns or designs of flora and fauna, and from cotton interwoven with fur and feathers, accented with gold ornamentation and fringes.³⁰

Women's garb consisted of a cueitl, a huipilli, and occasionally a quechquemitl. The cueitl was a skirt made of a single, straight piece of cloth that was not sewn; it was affixed to the waist with a belt or sash and went down to the calf. Noblewomen wore layers of two, three, or more skirts; some were shorter than others, allowing them to display the rich fabrics and embroidery at the bottom.³¹

The huipilli was a full, sleeveless blouse, while the quechquemitl was a small triangular cloak that came from La Huasteca. It should also be noted that pipiltin women accompanied their outfits with jewels and precious stones.

The Florentine Codex illustrates the clothing and various adornments that pipiltin women wore, as well as their hairstyles, which indicated their social class, marital status, and age.

Hairstyles were markers of class, marital status, and age. Between three and eleven years old, girls had their hair close-cropped in a crew cut, because this was considered healthy—a belief that may have originated in magical thinking. From twelve years of age until just before marriage, girls wore their hair loose, with bangs covering the upper forehead. When they married, the most common style for all women was one in which the hair was divided into two locks that crossed at the nape of the neck and were twisted or braided around the head, toward the forehead, ending in two raised points shaped like small horns. Pipiltin women also had the option of wearing their hair loose with bangs or with a variant style of graduated bangs, while long hair reaching the shoulders or back and trimmed at the temples was favored by maqui or ahuianime (prostitutes).³²

Dentifrice, Perfumes, and Hair Care

Dental hygiene was important in the Mexica world. According to a curious tale, a princess's bad breath unleashed a war. The Crónica mexicayotl relates that Moquihuix, tlatoani of Tlatelolco, repudiated his wife Chalchiuhnenetzin because he could not stand the foulness of her breath. This rebuff angered the princess's brother, Axayacatl, tlatoani of Tenochtitlan, who declared war on his brother-in-law.³³

To prevent bad breath, Mexicas prepared a brew from the roots and leaves of an herb they called tlatlancuaye, mixed with red and white earth and the herbs temamatlatzin and tlanextia xiuhtontl, all ground together and cooked in water with honey. They would drink a moderate amount of it before eating.³⁴

Like prostitutes, single women could chew gum in public. In their case gum-chewing may have indicated that the woman was sexually available with respect to marriage. Florentine Codex.

Another remedy was tzictli (chicle), a chewing gum made from coagulated sap of the sapodilla (Achras sapota L.),³⁵ which besides eliminating bad breath also cleaned the teeth and made them look nicer. Its use was closely associated with prostitutes, however, since they would chew gum to attract the attention of prospective clients.³⁶

To treat plaque, the teeth were first rubbed with extreme care. Once the plaque had been scraped off, the gums would be protected with a mixture of white ashes and white honey, which was applied with a fine cloth.³⁷

All people bathed frequently, even several times a day, in the rivers, lagoons, and canals. They soaped themselves with the fruit and root of the copalxocotl (Sapindus saponaria L.), which the Spanish called árbol de jabón (soap tree); it produced a foam that was also used for washing clothes.³⁸

Not only was their personal hygiene important; Mexicas also made sure that their bodies, clothes, and rooms had a pleasant scent. To that end they made perfumes from the tlalpoyomatli flower, which produced a fragrance that they kept in vials.³⁹ Pine resin, called ocotzotl, was an ingredient suitable for scenting rooms, while washing with the juice of the herb chiyahuaxihuitl would eliminate underarm odor.⁴⁰ To soften skin, the face was cleansed with an infusion of the herb called azpanxihuitl.

Mexica women's personal hygiene was part of the codes of good conduct. Florentine Codex.

The Mexicas used various hair care preparations to maintain softness, color, and shine. An infusion of chatalhuic seeds made the hair silky. A thick oil from the seeds of the tree tzopilotl tzontecomatl (Swietenia humilis Zuce.) imparted color and shine. For dyes, blackish mud was applied to darken the hair, as was xiuhquilitl, which gave a purple hue.⁴¹

Collection of the Fundación Cultural Armella Spitalier

INAH: 1578-221

adulthood

Marriage

In Mexica society, marriage circumstances and ceremonies varied according to the couple's social class. Among the pipiltin, the male partner's family chose the bride based on virtues such as modesty, submission, devotion, and her skills in weaving and household management. The family turned to the tonalpouhqui to ask whether the young woman would make a good wife and find out if the couple's signs were compatible. If all results were favorable, the matchmaking family would solicit the hand of the bride and make overtures to her parents so that they would agree to set the wedding date.

The young woman had no say in the matter. Her parents would repeat, "If the one I choose for you should be well disposed, receive him. And should he be ill disposed and ugly, do not reject him."⁴² Among the ruling groups, lineage was an important tool for forging alliances, and marriages were arranged for political and economic ends.

The wedding protocol included various exhortations by elders and family members. The young woman was brought to her future husband's house, where he received her. Then they walked hand in hand into the room and sat on a mat before the fire, and a priest knotted their mantles. To assure that they would have a good marriage and many children, the newlyweds had to fast for four days, during which time they also performed rites of penance. Afterward the families left them alone together, making renewed exhortations as they departed.⁴³

The matchmaker carried the bride in the wedding ceremony and brought her to the groom's house. Codex Mendoza.

During the wedding it would become known whether the bride was a virgin. Fray Diego Durán⁴⁴ explains that the mat laid under them would display "the proof of her virginity." If it turned out she was not a virgin, the groom's family would create an uproar and break the clay pots in which the drinks were served, and thus all the guests would find out.⁴⁵

Both women and men could only celebrate the ceremony once in their lives, but the husband was entitled to have as many "secondary wives" as he wished or as befit his rank. Thus, the marriage system among Nahua nobles was a sort of compromise between monogamy and polygamy.⁴⁶

The knotting of mantles symbolized the new couple's commitment. Codex Mendoza.

Unlike the marriage ties established by the pipiltin to protect their socioeconomic interests or to justify and legitimate advantageous positions with access to power, the macehualtin took their wives "willingly, with conjugal affection." According to Motolinía,⁴⁷ these laborers would live together while waiting until they'd saved enough to have a modest ceremony—"though poor, they made their celebration with very little"—so that their union would be recognized in their neighborhood. "From then on they were considered husband and wife, and married neighbors in the village."

Some young macehualtin who fell in love would have sexual relations that they kept secret; however, when they decided to live together, the young man would ask the girl's parents for forgiveness and for consent to their marriage. If the parents granted permission, the couple would hold a wedding ceremony scaled to their families' economic means.⁴⁸ In these cases too the ties of matrimony were recognized: upon assuming married status, the couple would thus be taken into account in the neighborhood's land grant registry.⁴⁹

It should be emphasized that polygamy was a privilege reserved for the dominant class, even though the descendants of the concubines were considered illegitimate. Warriors distinguished in combat were allowed to have two or three concubines. Thus, polygamy was seen as a demonstration of a high level of cultural development and a manifestation of superiority on the part of the ruling class, while monogamy was classified as a characteristic feature of the subordinate group.⁵⁰

The marriage predictions told the prospective couple whether their union would be happy and successful or challenging, difficult, and disastrous. Codex Borgia.

It is worth noting, too, that the nobility was the only class with the resources necessary to have several wives—especially the tlatoani, whose concubines numbered up to two thousand, in the case of Nezahualpilli.⁵¹ On the other hand, the macehualtin, the subordinate class that lacked the means to support several wives, practiced monogamy.

Polygamy therefore did not violate the definition of marriage; furthermore, there could be economic advantages to having secondary wives. These women would be in charge of producing a large quantity of woven mantles, which were luxury items valuable for trade.

Pregnancy and Childbirth

The temazcalli was a steambath that served ritual, hygienic, and medicinal purposes. Codex Magliabechiano.

The temazcalli's form suggested the maternal womb. Its interior, similar to a cavern, was enclosed, warm, and moist. It was a place of initiation, purification, and regeneration.⁵²

The temazcalli was a very useful therapeutic resource during pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium. It had a stone furnace, the mouth of which rose to the exterior. The junction of the furnace with the temazcal was sealed with dry stone, either tetzontli or a less porous type. Its use was as follows: The furnace would be lit and the stones would begin to heat; once they were hot, water was thrown on them to give off a dense vapor that filled the upper part of the temazcalli. The pregnant woman would lie on a mat, and the person assisting her would direct the steam toward her with herbs or maize leaves. Throughout her pregnancy, the expectant mother would continue to receive baths in this structure—which was under the protection of the goddesses Yoalticitl and Xochicaltzin—during which the midwife would palpate her to adjust the baby.⁵³ At the onset of labor, the midwife bathed the future mother and made her an infusion with the ground root of the herb cihuapatli (Montanoa tomentosa), which helped accelerate expulsion of the baby. If the birth pangs were strong but the delivery did not progress, the mother was given a drink made of a piece of tail from the tlacuatzin (Didelphis virginiana, an opossum), which was ground up in water.⁵⁴

During pregnancy, the midwife reminds the newly expectant mother of the precepts she must follow in order to avoid complications. Florentine Codex.

Tlazolteotl. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections, Washington, D.C.

When labor began, the midwife would invoke her fingers, known as the five fates, as well as the Earth, since the woman in labor was thought to be possessed by Cihuacoatl, an aspect of the Earth Mother.⁵⁵ She would also administer tobacco to help the woman overcome her pain.⁵⁶ The woman would assume a squatting position, her body crouched, her knees spread and pressed against her chest, and her fingers holding her vulva open to facilitate expulsion of the fetus. This position was advantageous because it oriented the force of the contractions by all the muscles in the body toward the birth canal.

The placenta is still attached to the newborn. Codex Nuttall.

Apparently the woman adopted another position to expel the placenta, as seen in the Codex Nuttall,⁵⁷ which shows a woman who has just given birth with her newborn still connected to a round mass between the mother's legs. Women would rest on the right leg while pressing down on the abdomen and uterus to expel the placenta.⁵⁸

If the woman did not give birth once she had taken the utero-evacuants (cihuapatli and the tail of tlacuatzin), the cause was thought to be her sexual transgressions; she would be given the choice of confessing them or putting a little saliva inside her vagina to deliver successfully.⁵⁹

Cihuacoatl with implements of war. Codex Magliabechiano.

Quilaztli-Cihuacoatl was invoked by midwives when there were difficulties in childbirth. She was called upon for her maternal and warlike aspect: maternal because she was the first goddess to give birth, and warlike because the woman in labor was urged to rally her forces and be valiant in order to expel the fetus.⁶⁰ Yoalticitl (another name for Teteoinnan-Toci), also a goddess of childbirth, was invoked at the beginning of delivery if there was no excessive danger to the mother;⁶¹ later, if problems arose, both deities were summoned.⁶²

If after one day and one night the delivery could not be completed and the baby's death was diagnosed, the midwife performed an embryotomy: with a stone knife she cut up the baby's body in order to extract it from the mother.⁶³ Before taking this step, however, she consulted the parents. If the parents opposed it, the delivery room would be shut up, and the woman left alone. If she died, she would be called mocihuaquetzqui.⁶⁴

Often the decision to let the woman die in childbirth did not mean that the midwife had done her job poorly or that the delivery had become too difficult. Instead it reflected the family's interest in having a soul near the Sun.⁶⁵

During certain of the thirteen-day calendrical cycles, the cihuateteo would descend to provoke illnesses and incite sexual activity. Florentine Codex.

The Mexicas believed that when these women died, they lived in the west, or Cihuatlampa, "in the direction of the women." They would emerge from there armed and would return accompanied by the Sun as it set. After their journey, the cihuapipiltin, as they were also called, would descend to Earth to frighten mortals or to devote themselves to women's work, seeking spindles so that they could spin and shuttles so that they could weave, as well as implements for sewing.⁶⁶ They were thought to cause maladies such as paralysis or sudden illness.

During puerperium, the mother was given all sorts of warm remedies such as teas, baths in the temazcalli, and hot foods, all of which were supposed to fortify her and speed her recovery.

Cihuateotl. These goddesses were considered frightful and dangerous. Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City.

If a man did not fulfill his male duties, he would be asked ironically whether to put a whorl or a tzotzopaztli (shuttle) in his hands⁶⁷—a question that implicitly belittled the feminine realm.

old age

The elderly were accorded respect, and they were given a say in political affairs, such as the election of a new ruler, at village or city meetings.⁶⁸ They were so highly regarded that in organized dances, the elders danced in the first circle with the lords, "thus demonstrating the esteem they received from those who held power."⁶⁹

Old age also conferred the authority to warn and exhort young people in society.⁷⁰ Furthermore, the elderly who had been wounded in battle or who suffered a chronic illness were granted a sort of pension from the state.⁷¹

Widowers over the age of sixty were needed as priests of the god Centeotl in religious celebrations,⁷² while elderly women participated in festivals such as that of Ochpaniztli.⁷³

Only the elderly were allowed to drink pulque, since drunkenness was severely punished. Codex Mendoza.

Elderly women had an especially active role in birth and marriage ceremonies,⁷⁴ but they were not limited to that function; they also served as healers, midwives, and soothsayers, among other professions that will be discussed in the following chapter.

Another privilege of old age was the authorization to drink pulque at festivals.⁷⁵ Although drunkenness among the Mexicas was severely punished, pulque was thought to cool the elderly's tonalli (a spiritual entity residing in the head), which had grown hot and strong because of the many years the old person had accumulated.

It is known that the elderly enjoyed a certain freedom in exercising their sexuality. In one case that has been recorded, some elderly women were reprimanded by Nezahualcoyotl for having had an affair with young priests. On being questioned as to how they could still be interested in sex, the women responded that men stop in old age because they abused their potency in youth and have been drained, but we women were an insatiable chasm.⁷⁶

Collection of the Fundación Cultural Armella Spitalier

INAH: 1149-388