Assessing documents: Both Durán and Cieza were outsiders to the societies they described, and they were part of the conquering Spanish forces. In what ways did these conditions affect their descriptions of the Aztec and Inca empires?
Considering the subtext of documents: In what ways might these authors have been using their observation of Aztec or Inca society to praise or to criticize their own European homeland?
Evaluating the credibility of documents: Which statements in these documents do you find most credible, and which ones might you be inclined to question or challenge? What criteria might you use to assess the evidence in these documents?
Relating primary documents and text narrative: How might you use the information in these documents to support the descriptions of the Aztec and Inca empires that are contained in this chapter? Are there ways the documents might challenge statements in the text?
Making comparisons: What similarities and differences between Aztec and Inca societies can you glean from these documents?
Seeking more data: What additional primary sources about the Aztec and Inca empires of the fifteenth century would you like to have? What other perspectives on those empires would be useful for historians?