The First Highways · Episode 6 of 12 · 21 min
Mesoamerica's Engine: Obsidian, Cacao, and the Market
Highland Mesoamerica ran the densest exchange network in the pre-Columbian hemisphere. Green obsidian from a single quarry can be traced across the culture area, cacao served as money, and professional pochteca merchants carried both. The great market at Tlatelolco astonished Cortes's men and illustrates the down-the-line relay model the series follows outward.
Who's who
- Bernardino de SahagunFranciscan friar whose Florentine Codex records Mexica merchants and markets
- Hernan Cortesconquistador who described the Tlatelolco market in 1519
- Bernal Diaz del Castillosoldier-chronicler who described Tlatelolco in awe
- Kenneth Hirtharchaeologist and theorist of the Mesoamerican marketplace economy
- Diego Matadamas-Gomoraco-author of the 2025 study of Templo Mayor obsidian
Where it happens
- Tlatelolco, Mexico Citysite of the largest market Europeans had seen
- Sierra de las Navajas, Hidalgo, Mexicosource of translucent green-gold obsidian
- Tenochtitlan, Mexico+2 more episodesMexica capital and sister city of Tlatelolco
- Teotihuacan, Mexicocity that industrialized green obsidian blades
Timeline
- c. 100 BCE-550 CETeotihuacan distributes green obsidian blades as far as the Maya lowlands
- 1325traditional founding of Tenochtitlan
- 1473Tenochtitlan conquers Tlatelolco but keeps its market
- 1519Cortes and his men see the Tlatelolco market
- c. 1547-1577Sahagun compiles the Florentine Codex
Still debated
Scholars debate how market-driven the Mesoamerican economy was versus tribute-driven and administered, and how regular long-distance caravans were compared with relays. A dual economy is the usual reading.