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Becka O’Neil
THE AZTECS
WHERE WERE THEY?

The Aztecs lived in central Mexico
TYPICAL LIFE
Aztec men worked as warriors, farmers, priests,
craftsmen and teachers
 Women preformed domestic tasks like weaving,
cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children
 All children were expected to help with chores,
usually starting at age three
 Men were gone all day, sunrise to sunset.
 Women served the men dinner, then ate their own
separately.

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
The Aztecs had many gods and goddesses. Here are
a few.
Tezcatlipoca: Sun god, most powerful
Huitzilopochtli: War god
Tlazoleotl: earth goddess, mother of gods
Coatlicue: another earth goddess
Tlaloc: Rain god
Mictlantecuhli: god of the dead
Aztecs sacrificed many people to their gods to please
them.
SCHOOL
Ancient Aztecs had school for all children,
called Teipuchcalli.
 Things such as history, religious ceremonies,
arts and crafts, tradition and citizenship were
taught.
 Boys also learned warfare tactics
 Girls were taught to sing and dance

RECREATION
Tiachtli was an Aztec game. It’s a combination
of basketball and soccer. It was played during
religious ceremonies. Sometimes the Aztecs
sacrificed the losers
 Aztecs also played board games, like patolli.
The exact rules are unknown, but it was similar
to Parcheesi. It was a gambling game.

WARFARE
Every man who could fight, did, starting at
about 13
 They took many prisoners, which later would be
slaves or sacrifices. Special rank, land or office
were rewards to bringing back captives.
 Some weapons used were macuahuitl (a sword
edged with obsidian glass), bow and arrows,
javelins, clubs and slings.

ART
Aztec sculpting is still
among the most elaborate
in the Americas.
 One of the most remarkable
is this 9 foot statue of the
goddess Coatlicue.
 Temples were the most
decorated
 They made pottery, jewelry,
cloth and many everyday
items.

AZTEC CALENDAR (LUNAR)
Like the Egyptians and the Mayans, the Aztecs
used two calendars.
 The first is a lunar calendar, consisting of 260
days. From there, the Aztecs divides the days into
13 months. The lunar calendar was used to
determine when to have religious ceremonies,
plant crops and go to war.
 Each of the 20 days of the month had a name,
hieroglyphic, and a number of dots to represent
the month

AZTEC CALENDAR (SUN)
The second calendar was established on the
movement of the sun.
 It had 365 days like our calendar.
 The calendar had 18 month, and five ‘unlucky’
days
 Aztecs did nothing on the five extra days, and after
the five days, they would sacrifice someone to the
gods
 Both of the calendars had 52 year cycles, similar
to centuries.
 The end of the cycle was celebrated with
ceremonies including the new fire ceremony.

SOCIETY
Clans were the basis of Aztec society. The clan
would consist of all extended family members.
 Twenty clans would be a tribe, called calpolli.
 Each tribe elected officials to run it, so it was a
democracy, but women didn’t have the right to
vote.
 The council of elected officials selected a chief,
who was in charge of civil and religious stuff,
and another in charge of war.

FAMILY MATTERS
At a birth, the tribe’s chief would look in the book
of fate to see if the birthday was lucky.
 Four days later, the family would have a feast and
name the child.
 Families always arranged marriages, but the boy
and girl usually gave consent.
 You could only marry someone outside the clan.
 During the wedding, the priest tied a cloak around
the couple, as a symbol of their becoming one.
 Afterwards, the bride became a member of her
husband’s clan.

THE END!!!!!!