> Doesn't the word cochineal refer specifically to the product obtained > from > the New World scale cultivated by the Aztecs and exploited so > successfully > by the Spanish? Am I splitting hairs? Cochineal was not exploited by the Aztecs, but by the Mixtecs. In fact, the Mixtecs were never subjugated by the Aztecs, instead, they entered into a commercial relationship with the Aztecs. They were able to keep their noble class and social structures, probably due to the power they derived from the cochineal trade. The Mixtecs were barely subjugated by the Spanish when they arrived. The Oaxacan highlands were conquered much later than the central highlands of Mexico. Once again, the Mixtecs continued their cochineal trade and maintained their social structures (the nobles became caciques -- indigenous strongmen) even after being conquered. It was only after the loss of the secret of cochineal production and the loss of their topsoil due to growing maize that the Mixtecs finally floundered. Now, the middle elevations of the Mixtec region of Oaxaca are completely stripped of soil and are landscapes of eroded gullies of richly colored, barren, mineral subsoils. The people who inhabit the area are frighteningly impoverished. On a further tangent, the British redcoats who enforced the King's wishes prior to the US revolution wore coats dyed red with... cochineal. Too much information? If so, please forgive me. Brook Klehm