Why Does Berdan's Use Of Ethnography

1) How does an ethnohistory differ from an ethnography and why does Berdan utilize this method for her research? What are the primary lines of evidence that Berdan uses? What are the problems associated with ethnohistories and what additional methods can be used to overcome these problems?
A) Enthohistory involves investigating historical records of a culture in order to piece together their way of life, while ethnography relies more heavily on the living aspects of a culture such as language, customs, and practices. Berdan utilizes ethnohistory when studying the Aztec culture because currently “the greatest number of ‘puzzle pieces’ are found in historical records of the sixteenth century, and reconstruction of the Mexica way of life heavily
The problem with ethnohistories is that with many documents, while being great resources, can also be dangerous due to the potential for a biased outlook from the creator of the document. For instance, a document may have been written to improve the outlook of a person while either limiting the information on the other party involved or twisting the outlook of the other party to look negative. It was important for Berdan to look through these historical documents and sift through the biased and non-biased documents of the Mexica way of life. Archaeology helps to clear up confusion found in ethnohistory and brings to light more of “puzzle pieces” needed to establish the Mexica way of life. Since archeology uses material remains left behind be a culture or civilization, archeologists are able to understand the long term changes of the structures and materials used by a culture. The downside to archeology comes about when considering the structures of the Mexica that the Spanish destroyed and replaced when the succeeded in their conquest against the Mexica people. This destruction left only the foundations of
Agriculture was the foundation of the Aztec empire. Some of the crops such as maize, chia, amaranth, chilies, and squash were produced throughout the empire with little to no difference other than variety with later played an important part in determining a person’s wealth. This wealth is determined by the area the product came from because products from certain areas were of higher quality than others. Fruit, cocoa, and cotton could only be grown in the more tropical areas of the Basin of Mexico. Maize was the most important crop produced in the Aztec empire, even having deities meant to be worshiped strictly to help the corn grow. Other types of crops such as “bean, chia, amaranth, chilies, squashes, prickly pear cactus, maguey, etc. were often consumed alongside maize to add flavor. The Nopal and Maguey cacti were important areas in which rainfall was minimal because the cation were able to survive droughts even when the maize could not. The Nopal cactus produced a readily available fruit while the Maguey cactus produced an alcoholic beverage known as octli or pulque, medicine, fiber needed to make clothing, and thorns used for sewing and sacrificial barbs. Cotton and cocoa proved to be prestigious materials in the Aztec empire. Cotton provided fibers needed to make prestigious clothing and cocoa provided both a