>>23829977cont:
>>23826681>>23826659I know >reddit but there's a great overview of Tenochtitlan population estimates here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1dp8dfn/was_tenochtitlans_population_really_as_big_as/lalnzpm/ , just make sure to expand all the reply chains to see 400-rabbits followup comments.
>>23826645>>23826647>>23826649>>23826655>>23826657>>23826667I've never heard of dirt eating as a Mesoamerican thing. It's possibly ir's a practice I overlooked, a variety of cultures actually did or do it to make up for mineral deficiencies, but it's probably BS in regards to Mesoamerica.
>>23826648The Mexica of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan weren't fighting "tribesmen" much: Mesoamerica had urbanized civilizations for thousands of years, the only tribal societies were at the fringes of the region (such as the Chichimeca, which ironically enough the Mexica and other Nahuatl speaking groups originated as before migirating into Central Mexico and adopting Mesoamerican civilization).
The idea of the Mexica going out and fighting Garland/Flower Wars to farm captives is also mostly outdated. While there's some contradiction between sources, Mexica Flower Wars weren't really commonly used outside against Tlaxcala and it's allies, and while Moctezuma II told Cortes that Tlaxcala etc were left unconquered to target them for flower wars to get a steady supply of captured enemy soldiers, the reality is likely also that Tlaxcala was a legitmately tough military target to crack and that the flower wars were also a sort of extended siege to wear them down, see:
desuarchive.org/tg/thread/97008953/#97015784 and my post after that one
3/?
