Near the edge of the Aztec empire, about sixty-eight miles from Mexico City-Tenochtitlan, the temple complex Malinalco (built 1501 -- ca. 1519) comprises a tiny portion of an eponymous town and has the only known monolithic temple in Mesoamerica. The Mexica tlatoani Ahuitzotl (r. 1486-1502) commissioned the complex in 1501, and his successor Moctezuma II (r. 1502-1520) renewed the work order at least once. The site remained unfinished after the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan in 1521. The remarkable preservation of Structure I offers a unique view of a Mexica temple interior, and the eagle and jaguar seats carved within that temple led to the traditional interpretation of the site as a haven for eagle and jaguar warriors. In contrast, I contend that Malinalco's ceremonial center was a Mexica space for politico-religious rituals likely performed by the tlatoani or his proxies. My analysis of Malinalco's pre-Mexica history (Chapter 2) examines the mythical history of the Malinalca and their possible dual Mexica-Toltec heritage. Malinalco's now-lost mural of Toltec warriors situates the site within the larger corpus of Tula-inspired procession scenes, and links it iconographically to Tenochtitlan monuments that legitimated imperial power. Through a close analysis of early colonial texts and pictographic sources, I show that the eagle and jaguar seats in Structure I were not used by warriors, but rather were the purview of the tlatoque. An analysis of Malinalco's sacred landscape features demonstrates that the Mexica did not simply build a temple complex in the sacred space of a subject territory, but rather transformed the shape of a sacred mountain in declaration of a god-like imperial power. Finally, Malinalco's famous upright drum, often cited as proof that the site was for warriors, actually shows eagle and jaguar warriors weeping as they sing a war song, perhaps alluding to the martial sacrifices of the empire as it fought to preserve and expand its boundaries. I conclude that the Mexica designed Malinalco as a space for the performance of politico-religious regime-legitimating rituals, permanently declaring their dominance in their empire's hinterland. / text

I pursue a study of the semantic couplet in xochitl, in cuicatl (the flower, the song) grounded in the examination of Nahuatl written sources in order to explore its cultural and historical trajectory as it was produced and reproduced from the pre-colonial to the colonial period. I begin my analysis by examining Nahuatl songs of pre-colonial origin to demonstrate how in xochitl, in cuicatl was an epistemological practice embedded in a Nahuatl ontology conceived of philosophical, religious, and social practices that were interwoven in the cultural habitus of Nahua warriors. I argue that the semantic couplet and the Nahuatl ontology associated with warriors are reflected and play a central role in songs from the Xochicuicatl (Flowery Songs) genre. Then, I explore colonial practices for religious conversion in order to discuss the colonial habitus or pre-dispositions influencing the indigenous scholar Antonio Valeriano to utilize the Nahuatl epistemology of in xochitl, in cuicatl and the Nahuatl ontology associated with warriors as an interpretive frame of reference in the Nican Mopohua, the apparition story of the Virgin of Guadalupe. With this organization, I identify pre-colonial Nahuatl practices in their original context and then I reveal why and how they became accommodated in a colonial and Christian context. Therefore, I utilize in xochitl, in cuicatl as a vehicle for exploring a major cultural-social transformation among the Nahua people of central Mexico. / text

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Philosophy, Interpretation and Culture Graduate Program, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Anthropology, August 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also availablle on the Internet.

Xipe Totec is an Aztec god often associated with agriculture and fertility. It is a deity type that is common in ancient societies dependent on agriculture but what sets him apart is his link to a rather brutal set of rituals. Known as ‘Our Lord, the Flayed One’ he is depicted in a flayed skin from a sacrificed victim, and the act of flaying is a central part of his mythology and worship. The study aims to investigate the reasoning behind the symbolism that connects brutal acts such as flaying with agriculture and fertility; and what the symbolism can tell us about the Aztecs’ mindset and worldview. To bring a successful conclusion to the study, Xipe Totec’s functions and roles are analysed from a social context. The study hopes to contribute to the study and interpretation of Aztec society and culture, especially concerning religion.

This thesis takes a feminist and spatial approach to the analysis of ire'ne lara silva's collection of short stories flesh to bone, a continuation of the Anzaldúan body of thought. The thesis introduces two aspects–spiritual and spatial–to the wounds suffered by the Chicana collective Self which can be found within the characters and plotlines of lara silva's stories, and which had previously been outlined by Anzaldúa herself. This thesis also explains in depth the steps necessary to achieving the never-ending Coyolxauhqui Imperative, which is Anzaldúa's idea that to heal the collective Self, individuals must continue to create and tell the stories of our ancestors and ourselves as survivors instead of victims. Throughout this analysis, it is elucidated that lara silva has created herself a new theory to add to the Anzaldúan framework, called Tomiccama Tomiccanacayo, which translates from Nahuatl to mean: "We are protected by the hands and bodies of our ancestors". Thus, this thesis finds that, within flesh to bone, this new theory is asserted as a method of continuous healing and as an addendum to Anzaldúa's Coyolxauhqui Imperative. This study adds lara silva into the Anzaldúan academe and explains her words' significance to Chicana spatiality. My argument for the existence of lara silva's theory is important because of a continued necessity for collective female healing and the creation of art reaffirming the female Self to new generations of daughters becoming women.

No description available.

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Douglas Benson / The principal objective of this paper is to provide a thematic teaching unit that explores the Aztec, Incan and Mayan cultures of Latin America, designed for a level II Spanish course. It contains theoretical underpinnings for teaching language, culture and literature while incorporating concepts related to the development of communicative competence; processing instruction; the use of scaffolding in the zone of proximal development; target language instruction; and the inclusion of authentic materials and language in the classroom. The classroom management strategies explained and used throughout the unit include pre, during and post-reading activities; small group activities that help to develop communicative competence through negotiation of meaning and interactional feedback; focused tasks and collaborative output tasks; the use of structured input, structured output and information exchange; the PACE approach to grammar teaching; and the incorporation of authentic aural and written texts. Lesson plans for an eighteen day unit consisting of 40 minute classes are outlined; the lesson objective, necessary materials, time needed for each activity, and expected results of each lesson are included. Each lesson activity is made clear through a description of the activity and instructions for the teacher. The daily lesson plans contain authentic and teacher-created materials that can be found in the appendices section. At the end of the thematic unit, students complete cumulative activities that relate indigenous cultures to present-day life in Latin America through investigating the influence of Aztec words on the Spanish and English languages, analyzing a poem about Peru, and reading an article about discrimination against Mayan descendants in Central America, Mexico and the U.S.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Adviser: Arlen Chase. Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-110).

Die Arbeit wendet sich der Distributionsphase des elektronischen Handels zu. Verkauf und Bezahlung sind in unsicheren Netzen möglich, aber die gekauften Waren oder Dienstleistungen können nur im Netz übermittelt werden, wenn sie vollständig digitalisierbar sind. Untersucht wird, ob und wie Fahr- und Eintrittskarten zur Übertragung in digitaler Form dargestellt werden können, ohne daß die leichte Kopierbarkeit solcher Daten Betrugsmöglichkeiten eröffnet. Es wird gezeigt, daß Eintrittskarten, die nur an einem Ort gültig sind, im Netz verkauft und vom Käufer selbst gedruckt werden können. Sie werden dazu mit einem 2D-Barcode versehen, der kryptographisch gesicherte Daten in maschinenlesbarer Form enthält. Durch eindeutige Numerierung kann sichergestellt werden, daß von mehreren Kopien einer solchen Eintrittskarte nur eine einzige benutzbar ist. Weiter wird ausgeführt, warum Fahrkarten nicht auf diese einfache und auch sonst auf keine praktisch brauchbare Weise in unsicheren Netzen verkauft werden können, jedenfalls dann nicht, wenn die Käufer anonym und die Kommunikationskosten gering bleiben sollen. Solche Tickets lassen sich nur mit Chipkarten realisieren; die Arbeit nennt Gründe, das lieber nicht zu tun. Neben der Anwendbarkeit kryptographischen Verfahren untersucht die Arbeit Fragen der praktischen Sicherheit sowie die Robustheit der gewählten Ticketdarstellung durch 2D-Matrixkodes unter Alltagsbedingungen. Für den Verkauf und die Kontrolle von Eintrittskarten wurde ein Prototyp implementiert. Als Nebenprodukt entstand Software zur Kodierung von Daten in Symbolen des Aztec-Kodes, die auch für andere Zwecke genutzt werden kann. / The thesis looks into the distribution phase of electronic commerce. Sales and payment are possible on the Internet, but goods and services cannot be transmitted or used through the network unless they can be completely digitized. The thesis investigates whether and how admission tickets for events or for travel can be digitized and transmitted on the Internet. The main problem in here is the copyability of digital data which, if not prevented, would open an opportunity to defraud the vendor. It is shown that an admission ticket can be represented as an electronic document which is simply printed on paper by the customer using his own equipment, provided that there is an online connection from each possible checkpoint to some central computer. For that purpose Tickets are made machine readable using 2-dimensional barcodes, distinguishable by unique numbering and tamper-proof by means of cryptography. Further on the thesis explains why travel tickets cannot be represented in that simple way with low communications effort and customers remaining anonymous. Such tickets that can be used only once but at one out of many potential places need tamper-resistant devices like smart cards, but there are reasons not to use them. Besides use of cryptographic methods the thesis investigates questions of practical security and robustness under everyday life conditions. Part of the thesis is a prototype implementation of the main ideas. As a byproduct, generator software for the Aztec 2-dimensional barcode symbology was developed, which can be used for other purposes as well.