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The distinct merchant class of Aztec society, the Pochteca, specialized in long-distance trade of luxury items such as plumes of tropical birds, cacao, gems, animal skins that were consumed by the elite. They also worked on commission for kings and nobles to provide political and military intelligence about the lands they visited. The pochteca in each major city were organized into powerful, hereditary guilds which sent trading expeditions throughout Central America.
The traders of the pochteca were heavily-armed to defend themselves as they trekked deep into and through hostile territory. The pochteca have even started their own wars as a result of their interactions with other tribes and clans. Because of the risk, the pochteca had their own schools to teach their young men how to bear arms and fight. Merchants also practiced a number of religious rituals before traveling. Merchants did not wash their bodies until they returned home and practiced divination to foretell danger. When they returned home, they arrived at night to conceal the quantity of goods they had purchased and gave thanks to their patron deity at the local calpulli temple for their safe return.
The cities of the Aztec had large central markets that met daily and an even larger assembly that occurred every five days. One market in the city of Tlatelolco (see artist rendition below) was estimated to have almost 50,000 attendees on peak days. At urban markets, buyers exchanged mainly maize and cloth for perishable foodstuffs, beverages, raw material such as wood, hides, and salt, goods manufactured locally or the exotic material brought in by the pochteca. Female traders played an active role in the local markets as they were often the direct sellers of the goods produced by the male relatives.
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