Collision of worlds : a deep history of the fall of Aztec Mexico and the forging of New Spain /
Deep history of the fall of Aztec Mexico and the forging of New Spain
David M. Carballo.
- 1 online resource (xvi, 351 pages) : illustrations (some color), maps
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Mexico, Spain, and their deep histories of place -- Mesoamerica : a deep history -- Iberia : a deep history -- Mexico and Spain on the eve of encounter -- Invasion of the Mesoamerican coast -- Old foes, new allies -- The Spanish-Mexica War -- Forging a New Spain.
"Mexico of five centuries ago was witness to one of the most momentous encounters between human societies, when a group of Spaniards led by Hernando Cortés joined forces with tens of thousands of Mesoamerican allies to topple the mighty Aztec empire. It served as a template for the forging of much of Latin America and began the globalized world we inhabit today. This violent encounter and the new colonial order it created, a New Spain, was millennia in the making, with independent cultural developments on both sides of the Atlantic and their fateful entanglement during the pivotal Aztec-Spanish war of 1519-1521. Collision of World examines the deep history of this encounter with an archaeological lens-one that considers depth in the richly layered cultures of Mexico and Spain, like the depths that archaeologists reveal through excavation to chart early layers of human history. It offers a unique perspective on the encounter through its temporal depth and focus on the physical world of places and things, their similarities and differences in trans-Atlantic perspective, and their interweaving in an encounter characterized by conquest and colonialism, but also active agency and resilience on the part of Native peoples"--