ABSTRACT
The Mesoamerican world that confronted the Spanish conquistadors at the beginning of the sixteenth century was extremely complex, the result of a long development as outlined in the two preceding chapters. In this chapter we consider the extent to which Mesoamerica formed an interconnected world where events taking place in one social unit affected those in another, however distant they might have been from one to the other. Such an approach will help simplify for us the complexity of Mesoamerica, while also casting into relief the underlying cohesiveness and unity that has allowed the peoples of the region to resist cultural destruction during the centuries following Spanish contact. We will begin our discussion of Mesoamerica at Spanish contact with a brief description of its social and cultural complexity, and then turn to an analysis of Late Postclassic Mesoamerica as a world system.
