Ancient Mesoamerican Warfare

Collection of articles providing new research on warfare in ancient Maya and other Mesoamerican societies based on archaeological, ethnohistorical, and linguistic evidence

In this study of warfare in ancient Mesoamerica, Ross Hassig offers new insight into three thousand years of Mesoamerican history, from roughly 1500 B.C. to the Spanish conquest. He examines the methods, purposes, and values of warfare as practiced by the major pre-Columbian societies and shows how warfare affected the rise of the state.

In exploring the pattern and methods of Aztec expansion, Ross Hassig focuses on political and economic factors. Because they lacked numerical superiority, faced logistical problems presented by the terrain, and competed with agriculture for manpower, the Aztecs relied as much on threats and the image of power as on military might to subdue enemies and hold them in their orbit. Hassig describes the role of war in the everyday life of the capital, Tenochtitlan: the place of the military in Aztec society; the education and training of young warriors; the organization of the army; the use of weapons and armor; and the nature of combat.

Seeking Conflict in Mesoamerica focuses on the conflicts of the ancient Maya, providing a holistic history of Maya hostilities and comparing them with those of neighboring Mesoamerican villages and towns. Contributors to the volume explore the varied stories of past Maya conflicts through artifacts, architecture, texts, and images left to posterity. Many studies have focused on the degree to which the prevalence, nature, and conduct of conflict has varied across time and space. This volume focuses not only on such operational considerations but on cognitive and experiential issues, analyzing how the Maya understood and explained conflict, what they recognized as conflict, how conflict was experienced by various groups, and the circumstances surrounding conflict. By offering an emic (internal and subjective) understanding alongside the more commonly researched etic (external and objective) perspective, contributors clarify insufficiencies and address lapses in data and analysis. They explore how the Maya defined themselves within the realm of warfare and examine the root causes and effects of intergroup conflict. Using case studies from a wide range of time periods, Seeking Conflict in Mesoamerica provides a basis for understanding hostilities and broadens the archaeological record for the “seeking” of conflict in a way that has been largely untouched by previous scholars. With broad theoretical reach beyond Mesoamerican archaeology, the book will have wide interdisciplinary appeal and will be important to ethnohistorians, art historians, ethnographers, epigraphers, and those interested in human conflict more broadly. Contributors: Matthew Abtosway, Karen Bassie-Sweet, George J. Bey III, M. Kathryn Brown, Allen J. Christenson, Tomás Gallareta Negrón, Elizabeth Graham, Helen R. Haines, Christopher L. Hernandez, Harri Kettunen, Rex Koontz, Geoffrey McCafferty, Jesper Nielsen, Joel W. Palka, Kerry L. Sagebiel, Travis W. Stanton, Alexandre Tokovinine

Warfare, ritual human sacrifice, and the rubber ballgame have been the traditional categories through which scholars have examined organized violence in the artistic and material records of ancient Mesoamerica and Central America. This volume expands those traditional categories to include such concerns as gladiatorial-like boxing combats, investiture rites, trophy-head taking and display, dark shamanism, and the subjective pain inherent in acts of violence. Each author examines organized violence as a set of practices grounded in cultural understandings, even when the violence threatens the limits of those understandings. The authors scrutinize the representation of, and relationships between, different types of organized violence, as well as the implications of those activities, which can include the unexpected, such as violence as a means of determining and curing illness, and the use of violence in negotiation strategies.

What is Aztec Warfare Aztec warfare concerns the aspects associated with the militaristic conventions, forces, weaponry and strategic expansions conducted by the Late Postclassic Aztec civilizations of Mesoamerica, including particularly the military history of the Aztec Triple Alliance involving the city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, Tlacopan and other allied polities of the central Mexican region. How you will benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Aztec warfare Chapter 2: Moctezuma II Chapter 3: Flower war Chapter 4: Jaguar warrior Chapter 5: Aztec Empire Chapter 6: Pipiltin Chapter 7: Eagle warrior Chapter 8: Calpulli Chapter 9: Calmecac Chapter 10: Aztec religion (II) Answering the public top questions about aztec warfare. Who this book is for Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Aztec Warfare.

Morgan Deane, a military historian and former Marine sustains the authenticity of the Book of Mormon as an ancient document and shows how text contains a strong and distinctive voice on military matters that should be taken seriously by modern readers and even policy makers and generals. Through a Hugh Nibley like command of ancient societies from Mesoamerica, China, and Rome, as well as a grasp of military theory from Clausewitz to Sun-Tzu he expands upon the Jaredite civil war, the face of battle, logistics, ethno-religious conflict, the political dimensions of conflict and insurgency, and strategy. He specifically valorizes Captain Moroni against a rise in attacks against his character, presents a Nephite and Latter Day Saint just war theory, and shows how The Book of Mormon defends the use pre-emptive war. In a world filled with strife and conflict, Bleached Bones and Wicked Serpents will help the reader understand the context and society in which the Nephites lived...and died, and provide critical tools to evaluate modern military issues ranging from how to understand the threat posed by terrorists to assessing the wisdom of military action.

This book examines the military histories of the regions beyond Western Europe in the pre-modern era. Existing works on global military history mainly focus on the western part of Eurasia after 1500 CE. As regards the ancient period, such works concentrate exclusively on Greece and Rome. So, ‘global’ military history is actually the triumphal story of the West from Classical Greece onwards. This volume focuses not only on the eastern part of Eurasia but also on South America, Africa and Australasia and seeks to explain the history and varied trajectories of warfare in non-Western regions in the pre-modern era. Further, it evaluates whether warfare in non-Western regions should be considered primitive or inferior when compared with Western warfare. The book notes that Western Europe became militarily significant only in the early modern era and argues that the military divergence that occurred during the early modern era is not unique – it had also occurred in the Bronze Age, the Classical era and in the medieval period. This was due to the dynamism and innovativeness of non-Western militaries and the interconnectedness that existed in parts of the Eurasian landmass. Further, those polities which were able to construct a balanced military force by synthesising diverse elements were not only able to survive but also became capable of projecting power across continents. This book will be of much interest to students of military history, strategic studies and world history.