ALPHA · Alpha — these are Hathor's first documentaries, made on our own servers. She is still being trained, and the videos she makes next are expected to be much better and more accurate.
Trade and Travel: Mesoamerica
A ten‑minute look at the routes, vessels and caravans that moved goods across ancient Mesoamerica and why those exchanges mattered.
Chapters
On-screen text
- 0:07 River and Coastal Routes
- 0:14 River and Coastal Routes
- 0:31 Cacao moves north to Tikal Historical record · Residue analysis of Maya pottery, University of Texas, 2008
- 0:49 Tilma salt shipped inland Historical record · Codex Mendoza, 1541
- 1:16 Overland Caravans and Markets
- 1:23 Overland Caravans and Markets
- 1:40 Highland caravan Historical record · Bernal Díaz del Castillo, *Historia verdadera de la conquista*, 1581
- 1:58 Tlatelolco market scene Historical record · Codex Mendoza, market depiction, 1541
- 2:16 Feather tribute to Tenochtitlan Historical record · Codex Florentine, Aztec tribute list, 16th c.
- 2:25 Goods and Their Social Meaning
- 2:40 Feather tribute recorded in Codex Florentine Historical record · Codex Florentine, Aztec tribute list, 16th c.
- 2:49 Jade masks indicate long‑distance exchange The Institute's interpretation · Miller, *The Olmec World*, 2005
- 3:06 Cacao used in sacred feasting Tradition / scripture · Popol Vuh (tradition)
Sources
Historical record: Excavations at the Teotihuacan obsidian workshop, UNAM, 1995 · Excavation of elite tomb at Copán, 1992 · Residue analysis of Maya pottery, University of Texas, 2008 · Codex Mendoza, 1541 · Diego de Landa, *Relación de Yucatán*, 1566 · Bernal Díaz del Castillo, *Historia verdadera de la conquista*, 1581 · Codex Mendoza, market depiction, 1541 · Codex Florentine, Aztec tribute list, 16th c.
Tradition / scripture: Popol Vuh (tradition)
The Institute's interpretation: Miller, *The Olmec World*, 2005 · Miller & Taube, *The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico*, 1993 · Miller, *Trade and Exchange in Mesoamerica*, 2000 · Smith, *Aztec Economy*, 1998 · Flannery, *The Early Mesoamerican Economy*, 1995
Sound: synthesized ambient (wind, drone, water) (CC0 — made by SoapBox). Made in 194 s of CPU.
Scenes Hathor has no parts for yet (31) — the next things to make
- Teotihuacan workers loading obsidian cores onto reed‑bark canoes on a riverbank.
- Network Overview: Introduce the scale of Mesoamerican exchange and the main corridors linking distant regions.
- Teotihuacan workers loading obsidian cores onto reed‑bark canoes on a riverbank.
- Teotihuacan workers loading obsidian cores onto reed‑bark canoes on a riverbank.
- An elite in San Lorenzo displaying a polished jade mask in a plaza.
- An elite in San Lorenzo displaying a polished jade mask in a plaza.
- Maya elite in a burial chamber wearing turquoise earrings and pendants.
- Maya elite in a burial chamber wearing turquoise earrings and pendants.
- An elite burial chamber at Copán with a necklace of polished marine shells.
- An elite burial chamber at Copán with a necklace of polished marine shells.
- Workers harvesting salt on flat pans and loading it onto reed boats.
- Workers harvesting salt on flat pans and loading it onto reed boats.
- A massive bark canoe loaded with tightly‑bundled cotton gliding on Gulf waters.
- A massive bark canoe loaded with tightly‑bundled cotton gliding on Gulf waters.
- Maya nobles seated in a low‑stone hall, drinking frothy cacao from wooden cups.
- An Aztec merchant counting cacao beans on a stone slab in a market.
- An Aztec merchant counting cacao beans on a stone slab in a market.
- Traders pulling wooden carts along a stone causeway beside Lake Texcoco.
- Traders pulling wooden carts along a stone causeway beside Lake Texcoco.
- Bustling market stalls in Texcoco displaying woven cotton fabrics.
- Bustling market stalls in Texcoco displaying woven cotton fabrics.
- Marketplace on a causeway, merchants spread woven mats, displaying feathered cloaks, turquoise beads, jade ornaments to curious buyers.
- A noble accepts a feathered headdress, placing it upon his shoulders as onlookers bow in reverence.
- Inside a Maya burial chamber, a corpse lies surrounded by turquoise necklaces and pendants, glinting in candlelight.
- Close-up of a turquoise bead catching firelight, its blue surface shimmering like a frozen lake.
- Highland traders ascend steep passes, backpacks filled with turquoise ore, breathing thin air, clouds swirling around peaks.
- A hearth in a stone hut crackles as cacao beans roast, their aroma rising into the dim interior.
- A hand spreads a cloth, arranging rows of cacao beans, counting them meticulously with a small stone.
- A bustling market stall displays piles of cacao beans beside woven textiles, a merchant exchanges beans for cloth.
- An Aztec official receives a sack of cacao beans, nodding approval as tribute is recorded on a bark tablet.