Abstract:Herodotus was the first to write of the A-Mazons, placing them in Pontus near the shore of the Euxine Sea, and describing their raids against scythes, Thrace, and the coasts of Asia Minor.No men were ...Herodotus was the first to write of the A-Mazons, placing them in Pontus near the shore of the Euxine Sea, and describing their raids against scythes, Thrace, and the coasts of Asia Minor.No men were permitted to dwell in their country, though once a year the warrior women visited a neighboring nation for purposes of procreation, slaying all male children or returning them to their fathers, and recruiting the baby girls.Their name allegedly came from the Greek a-mazos (without breast), from their custom of amputating the right breast to make the drawing of the bow more convenient, but a variety of other derivations have been put forward.The explorer Francisco de Orellana, at Amazonas Forest, 1541, said that women at Maranhão River threw arrows against his expedition.This myth dissipated that because of these actions the women received the name of the Greek warriors. 1Who were those "single-breasted" maidens, and what was their role in society?And how did their sexuality defy gender relations?Embarking on Isabel de Montoya's individual life history, and thereafter parting onto the vast landscape of singleness in early and mid-colonial Mexico, the goal of this book is to provide a fresh approach to lingering views on single, plebeian women in Latin American historiography in general, and in Mexico in particular.This book is dedicated entirely to single women of the lower echelons of society, whether they were Spanish, creoles, mulatas, or blacks.Indigenous single women during the period discussed amounted to as high as 39% of all mothers in rural areas such as San Martin Huequechula (state of Puebla); however, they are usuallyRead More