Pochteca

The Pochteca ( Sg: Pochtecatl ) were among the Aztecs distance trade merchants, who occupied a special position in the Aztec society.

The well developed economic and trade system of the Aztecs was dependent to a large extent by these long-distance trade merchants, who thus had enormous importance for the respective Aztec rulers. These were a hereditary social group that was hierarchical and had their own religious rituals. The main task of Pochteca was to exchange luxury goods such as cocoa, cotton fabrics, quetzal feathers, jade, turquoise or skins and act. The pre-Columbian long-distance trade in Mesoamerica system was mainly built on exchange - however, standardized exchange luxury goods, which served as a substitute for money, such as the precious cocoa beans or cotton fabrics developed ( Quachtli ).

The Pochteca were, however, also often used by their rulers as inconspicuous spies and a means of transmission and also functioned as a means of communication of the various Aztec ruler with each other.

The transport of the goods exchanged was not easy, since the Aztecs as all other Native Americans, the wheel was unknown. Thus, the Pochteca laid all the way back on foot, which sometimes meant several months of travel, as the routes could be between the main production areas and the transfer points between 200 and 800 kilometers. In addition, they have occasionally been involved in disputes and fights with other nations.

Overall, there were in the Aztec Empire twelve Pochteca guilds, each of which was located in one of the Aztec cities of that time: Azcapotzalcos, Chalco, Coatlichan, Cuautitlán, Huexotla, Huitzilopocho, Mixcoac, Otompan, Tenochtitlan, Tlatelolco, Texcoco and Xochimilco.

Much of what scientists know about the Pochteca comes from Bernardino de Sahagún, who reported in great detail in the Florentine Codex on the Pochteca.