Nuevos hallazgos sobre chontales

[ECOLING at aol.com]

John F. Schwaller:

May I pass the following message on to the AZTLAN email list?
Thanks, Lloyd Anderson

In a message dated 4/14/99 1:24:06 PM, you wrote:

>><http://www.eurekalert.org/releases/psu-wsm031999.html>
>>EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 27 MARCH 1999 AT 09:00:00 ET US
>>
>>     Contact: A'ndrea Elyse Messer
>>     aem1 at psu.edu
>>     814-865-9481
>>     Penn State Univ.
>>
>>     War Stories May Be Fish Tales
>>
>>     Chicago, Ill. -- To the victor go the spoils of war and usually the
>>bragging rights, but how does one determine if claims made by winners
>>are accurate?
>>	Jay Silverstein, graduate student in anthropology at Penn State, may
>>have proof that Aztec reports of annihilation of the Chontal were
>>grossly exaggerated.
>>	"Aztec narratives claim that the Chontal, a group living in the buffer
>>area between the Aztec and Tarascan Empires, were annihilated in 1487,"
>>Silverstein told attendees today (March 26) at the annual meeting of the
>>Society of American Archaeology in Chicago. "However, regional documents
>>suggest the Chontal always had their own ruler, even under Aztec
>>authority, and were present when the Spanish came."
>>	Silverstein, who conducted archaeological survey about 100 miles
>>southwest of Mexico City, is trying to reconstruct the Aztec/Tarascan
>>frontier from a time just before European contact. Using 16th-century
>>documents and archaeological evidence, he identified a frontier site
>>that was probably the Chontal fortress of Oztuma. Confusion exists,
>>however, because a site identified in the 1940s as Oztuma is an Aztec
>>site.
>>	The documents agree that the Aztec incorporated the Chontal city-state
>>of Oztuma into their empire between 1469 and 1480. Also, at this time,
>>the Aztecs entered into a war with their western neighbor, the Tarascan
>>empire. The Aztec crowned a new king in 1487, in Mexico City, but
>>representatives of the Chontal did not attend the coronation. Aztec
>>scouts reported the Chontal city-states of Oztuma, Teloloapan and
>>Alahuiztlan in rebellion. The Chontal lost the subsequent Aztec/Chontal
>>War.
>>	"Both sets of documents indicate the Chontal lost, but the central
core
>>documents say the Aztec destroyed the cities and Aztec citizens replaced
>>the Chontal, while the periphery documents tell a different story," says
>>Silverstein.
>>	The Aztec documents are narrative histories written after the Spanish
>>conquered Mexico City. The frontier documents are parts of the
>>Relaciones Geograficas, a series of documents developed in the sixteenth
>>century from answers to standardized questions asked of subject towns in
>>New Spain. The Relaciones show the governor of the Oztuma area as Diego
>>Osorio, son of the man who was king when the Spanish conquered Mexico in
>>1521.
>>	"The Relaciones also say that the Chontal always had a king they
>>respected, implying a Chontal king," says Silverstein. "However, a giant
>>Aztec fortress, discovered and mapped in the 1940s, exists and a town
>>below is said to be the location of Oztuma after the Spanish came."
>>	Silverstein found the Aztec fortress and town, but, as most previous
>>archaeologists discovered, the geographic information from the 16th
>>century does not work if this town is the Oztuma of the Relaciones.
>>Something is wrong.
>>	"We heard a rumor that other documents existed in San Simon Oztuma,
but
>>the town was abandoned," says Silverstein. "We found the documents in
>>the near by town of Ixtepec."
>>	A document dated to 1585 carries Don Diego Osorio's signature, proving
>>he was a real person and strongly suggesting that the Chontal survived
>>the Aztec.
>>	Above Ixtepec is an old fortress. "I believe that this fortress is the
>>original Chontal Fortress of Oztuma," says Silverstein. "We found only a
>>very little Aztec pottery there. Most of the pottery sherds were Chontal
>>Red on Buff."
>>	It appears that when the Spanish came, they moved the Chontal from
>>their mountain stronghold at Ixtepec to the valley of San Simon Oztuma
>>and that the Aztecs who had built their Fortress of Oztuma six miles
>>southeast of the Chontal fort, moved down to the town of Acapetlahuaya.
>>So the Aztec did come to the area to build a
>>fortress.
>>	However, the original Chontal Oztuma fortress remained and, with an
>>Aztec fortress named Oztuma, and a town called San Simon Oztuma things
>>became very confused.
>>	"If Chontal Oztuma is used as the head town in the Relacion
>>Geographica, the directions make sense," says Silverstein of Penn State.
>>"We found a line of fortresses, including Chontal and Aztec sites, built
>>to protect the Aztec empire from the Tarascans."
>>	Other interesting sites located during the survey include a wall
>>running about a mile and three quarters that cuts off a bend in a river.
>>The wall is in the no-man's land between the two empires.
>>	"Locals say that in the 1940s the wall was about 5-feet high," says
>>Silverstein. "The foundation style indicates it predates the Spanish."
>>	At one end of the wall there is evidence of a battle. The area is
>>strewn with sling shot balls, projectile points and other obsidian
>>debris.
>>	"My guess is that it was a fortress built by the Chontal to try and
>>hold the river valley from the Tarascans and their allies," says the
>>Penn State researcher. "The Chontal were probably forced to abandon this
>>forward defense within the first decades of the war."
>>	The Chontal were caught between two great pre-Hispanic empires.
>>Usually, people in this situation are written out of history, but the
>>archaeological remains show that the Chontal played an integral role in
>>the defense of the Aztec empire and maintained their identity even after
>>the Spanish came. After the fall of the Aztec empire to Hernan Cortes in
>>1521, the Tarascan force that had been besieging the Aztec fortress
>>retreated and the Chontal, using Spanish law, reasserted their political
>>dominance over the isolated Aztec garrison.
>>
>>                                    ###
>>
>>     EDITORS: Mr. Silverstein is at 814-466-3461 or jes20 at psu.edu by
>>email.
>>
>>
>>--
>>Antonio Ibarra, moderador
>>ibarrara at servidor.unam.mx
>>Isabel Avella, editora asociada
>>===============================
>>
>>
>John Frederick Schwaller                             schwallr at selway.umt.edu
>Associate Provost                                        406-243-4722
>The University of Montana                           FAX 406-243-5937
>                          http://www.umt.edu/history/NAHUATL/