Aztecs: Mesoamerican Civilizations
Last Updated     12/27/2007      11/10/2007      11/9/2007     11/8/2007      11/7/2007     11/6/2007      11/5/2007     11/4/2007      11/3/2007

Aztecs were a wandering Native American tribe who came to Mexico during the 13th century.   The Aztecs began moving south into the central valley of Mexico in 1200 AD.   There they built a great civilization including cities, pyramids, and temples.   By 1400 AD, Aztec Empire had 5 million people.  In 1519 Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico and defeated the Aztecs.



Founding of Tenochtitlán
Tenochtitlán means "near the cactus."
Huitzilopochli, the god of sun and war, told the Aztecs where to build.
They were to build where they saw an eagle with a snake on a cactus.
This symbol is part of the flag of Mexico.

Tenochtitlán
Tenochtitlán was the capital of the Aztec Empire.
It was an island built in Lake Texcoco.
1325 AD constructed on an artificial island on Lake Texcoco (4.5 sq. miles)
Paved causeways connected the island to the mainland.
6 Main Canals - Canoe Transportation
City had pyramid-temples, palaces, gardens, zoos, schools, and markets.
25 Pyramid temples, 9 Priests Quarters, 7 Skullracks, 2 Ballcourts
120,000-200,000 People
Destroyed by the Spanish and is located below present-day Mexico City

People
Membership by birth - Strict Caste System
Macehualtin- worked land, commoners
Pipiltin-Noblemen- administrators
Pochteca- long-distance merchants treated like nobility, gathered intelligence

Women
Aztec girls were taught at home and began spinning at four and cooking at twelve.
Their education was basically a training for marriage.
Noble girls spent a year at twelve or thirteen helping in the temple.
Some became professional priestesses.
Women took little direct part in public life, but had a lot of influence behind the scenes.

Fashion
Dressed in feathered capes and cloaks of many colors.
Staining of the teeth red or black was popular.
Tattoos were used to improve the look of the lower class.
Cotton and other textiles were used to make clothing materials.
Jewels were used as a sort of caste marker.
Some jewels could be used to raise a person almost to a state of godliness.
Coupled with feathers, the jewels were highly important in the Aztec social structure.   

Women
Women wore flowers and feathers in their hair.
Aztec women wore a skirt wrapped around their hips and waist.
Noble women used cleanliness for attraction.
It was also desirable to have yellow skin.
Women used the resin of the axin tree to change their color.
Women wore earring, necklaces and bracelets on their arms and ankles.

Men
Men wore loincloths and sandals, often wearing a sleeveless poncho or a cloak over it.
Most of the working class went barefoot.
All men carried a small pouch under their cloak or poncho that was slung over the shoulder.
They used it to carry coca leaves to chew which were like tobacco leaves.
They also carried amulets for good luck.
The men also had pierced their septum and used gold hoops or metal jewels as ornaments.
They also pierced their lips.

Feathers
The bright colors and the shine of tropical bird feathers made them very desired.
The birds were hunted and kept in captivity for their feathers.
The feathers were plucked and then woven into beautiful designs.
They were used for head dresses.

Schools
Calmecac
Children of the noble class attended a calmecac, a school for noble children.
The school was attached to the temples and the teachers were priests.
Girls and boys went to separate calmecac schools.
The children learned to live prudently, to govern, and to understand the history and ways of their elders 
Learning in the calmecac was essential for advancement within the imperial administration. 
The children of tradespeople, peasants, and builder attended a local school, called telpochcalli.
There they were taught basic occupational skills, the elements of warfare, and good citizenship.
The children learned the fundamentals of their history and religion.
Some Macehualtin children who were bright were sent to a calmecac.
Cuicacalli
The cuicacalli was more of a military school.
All boys were trained in war.
There was great rivalry between the schools, often leading to fights.
All boys also had to work hard on their family's land.

Calendar
The Aztecs had a sacred calendar which was read by Astrologer priests.
The Aztecs had two calendars: the ritual year and the solar year.
The ritual year lasted for 260 days and the solar year lasted for 365 days.
There were twenty named days.
Children were often named after the day they were born on.

Twenty Days of the Aztec Month

Scribes
They had scribes for each branch of knowledge.
Some put down in order the things. which happened each year, giving the day, month, and hour.
Others recorded the lineage of rulers, lords and noblemen.
They recorded boundary markers, provinces and villages,  and distribution of fields.
They kept the law books and those dealing with the rites and ceremonies.
The priests recorded all matters to do with the temples; images, the gods, and their calendars.
Recording all the sciences.

Houses
Homes were made of sun-dried bricks.
Number of rooms increase with wealth of family.
People slept on woven mats.
There were not many chairs, tables, or desks.
Hearths in center of home symbolized the fire god.

Steam Baths
Almost every dwelling had its bathhouse.
They are shaped like an igloo with a low doorway.
Against it was constructed a fire-place.
The blaze warmed the adjacent wall of the bath-house until it glowed red-hot.
The bather would throw water onto the hot wall until the interior was filled with steam.
To sweat more, the bather switched himself with twigs or bundles of grass.
Both men and women used the steam baths.

Farming
To feed its people the Aztecs created more farmland.
They filled in parts of the lake and irrigated.
Canoes delivered water to people's houses.

Food
Maize, a type of corn, was the Aztec's main food source.
The Aztecs also ate tomatoes, avocados, atole (a type of porridge), tortillas, and tamales.
The Aztecs ate twice a day.
The main meal was eaten during the hottest part of the day.
Some of the food in an Aztec market were fruit, vegetables, spices, flowers, edible dogs, and birds.
The Aztecs had an alcoholic drink called octli.
An octli gatherer would take the sap out of the maguey plant and put it in a large jug.
Then they would let the sap rot and then they would drink it.
Only nobles, royalty, and warriors could drink octli.
Any nobleman who got drunk would be put to death.
Aztecs ate chocolate.

Religion
Aztecs worshipped two major gods.
The rain god stood for peace and farming.
The sun god stood for war and expanding empire.
The sun god needed human sacrifice.
Victims were prisoners of war.
They ripped out the heart with stone knife.
The dead captive was then decapatated.

War
Main goal of the state was war.
Everyone fought- priests and merchants alike.
Goal to capture town and inhabitants for sacrifice.
Most glorious activity was to furnish captives
Used Sword-club, bow and arrow, barbed darts, shields

Tribute
Conquered people had to pay in corn, clothing, rubber, and wood.
In 1520 Ad, there were 38 conquered tributary provinces.

End of the Empire
Aztec ruler was Montezuma II.
Aztecs thought Cortez was a representative for a certain white skinned god so they respected him.
It all changed when the Aztecs saw that Cortez was melting down their golden statues and shipping them back to Spain.
TIn 1521 AD, the Aztecs decided to attack Hernando and his men.
The Aztecs were successful and drove the Spanish away.
In 1521 AD, the Spaniards returned and attacked and defeated the Aztecs.

Accomplishments
Formation of a highly specialized and stratified society and an imperial administration.
Expansion of a trading network as well as a tribute system
Development and maintenance of a sophisticated agricultural economy.
Cultivation of an intellectual and religious outlook.

Rulers

Aztec Time Line

Bibliography
“Aztec Indians”. Young Students Learning Library. 1993

"The Aztecs/Mexica." American Indians Resource Directory.  8 Nov. 2007. http://www.indians.org/welker/aztec.htm

Lo, Lawrence. "Aztec."  9 Nov. 9, 2007 http://www.ancientscripts.com/aztec.html.

"Mummy's Amazing American Maize." ScienceDaily. 12 Feb. 2007. 6 Nov. 2007.
http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/02/070211202525.htm.

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