Ancient Mexico Facts

Wheels were known and used on small toys in preColumbian Mesoamerica, but since there were no domesticated animals large enough to be ridden or to pull vehicles, overland transport was limited to foot traffic. Foot transport was professionalized in Mesoamerica: human carriers, called tlamemes (in Nahuatl the singular was tlameme and the plural, tlamemeque; the Spaniards called them tlamemes) earned their livelihood by carrying loads in packframes supported by tumplines that transferred the weight to the head and then down the spine, making carrying more efficient and leaving the hands free. The standard load was two arrobas, or 50 pounds (or about 23 kilograms), and though weights would vary, significantly heavier burdens reduced the distances tlamemes could carry them. Loads were standardly carried five leagues per day, but this seemingly exact measure actually reflects the duration—one day—rather than the distance, and five leagues uphill was shorter than five leagues downhill. On average, however, a day’s journey laden was probably around 16 miles (or about 26 kilometers).

Since foot transport was open to everyone, the advantage of the tlamemes was in their numbers, availability, and especially their organization. As professional carriers, tlamemes were available year round and were organized in cabeceras (main towns), from which they carried loads to the next major town, deposited them, and returned to their own towns. Thus, loads moving long distances depended on relays of carriers going only from their town to the next. This, in turn, meant that the transport system had to be organized over a broad spatial expanse, and much of this appears to have been the result of imperial expansion. As the Mexica (Aztecs) expanded, the creation of new or additional tlamemes in towns along major routes became a tributary obligation, resulting in an organized system of professional carriers that speeded transport throughout the empire.

What could be hauled by the tlameme system was limited, although some heavier-than-normal burdens could be accommodated. Notably, individuals were occasionally carried by tlamemes. A single tlameme could carry a person on his back, but not for great distances and, when this happened, relief carriers were needed, so the overall average of load per carrier per day remained at roughly 50 pounds. For elite travel, both palanquins and litters were employed, although the data indicate that these were used sparingly and not for general conveyance. Both palanquins and litters required four bearers and accommodated a single occupant, yielding a load per carrier that was probably no greater than for individual tlamemes, and these conveyances could theoretically have matched their five-league distances. Palanquins and litters could have been used to carry larger loads than was possible for individual tlamemes, but there is no evidence of this. When very large objects were moved, such as massive stones, log rollers were employed, although this method was largely limited to local use and transportation within valleys, downhill, and on level surfaces.

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