Did pre-contact Mesoamericans have a four season conception of the year?

by shamwu

Did they have analogous ideas for spring, summer, fall, and winter?

400-Rabbits

Most of what we call Mesoamerica does not really have four seasons, so it would be surprising if they did. Barring the northern reaches (really, what could be called aridoamerica), Mesoamerica is in the tropics and as such the seasonal fluctuations are fairly mild. The biggest climate events are the rainy and dry seasons.

In Mesoamerica, the rainy season starts about May or June and lasts for several months, tapering off in October. This seasonal pattern is reflected in the Aztec solar calendar, the xiuhpohualli, particularly with regards to the end of the dry season. The months at the tail end of the dry season often focus on water and fertility rituals, such as sacrifices to the rain god Tlaloc during Atlcuahualo or the flaying of captives (representing the shucking of corn) during Tlacaxipehualitzli. The month right at the cusp of the rainy season in the Valley of Mexico was called Toxcatl, which translates to something like "dryness/dry thing," involved a complicated and highly sacred ritual of the avatar of the god Tezcatlipoca sacrificing himself in a symbolic renewal (I wrote a bit more about this here).

So the seasons are really just warm/wet and cool/dry, with the distinction between warm and cool being even more blurry in the lowland, tropical parts of Mesoamerica. Notably though, the dry season was also the season for warfare. Not only would roads not be flooded, but it also coincided with a break from the planting cycle.