Download 7th, Americas, Aztecs

Aztec Culture
What we think the Aztec
capital might have looked like
in 1400.
Terms to Know
• Tenochititlan = Aztec capital, now part of
Mexico City
• Chinampas = “Floating Gardens”; mounds
of soil built with swamp mud so they could
farm in the lake
• Polytheism = Belief in many gods
Aztec Farming (Chinampas)
Floating Gardens: made farming possible in the swamps
of Lake Texcoco.
Ancient Structures of the
Aztecs
• The Aztecs were a people who lived in
what is now Central Mexico. They first
came to this region in the 1300s and
dominated the region from the 1300s to
the 1500s. Their religion included human
and animal sacrifices. Their diet included
a new food known as chocolate, made
from fruit of the cacao tree.
Topic: Aztec Origins
- Question: How did the Aztecs get to
Mexico?
- Gods told them to move to Valley of Mexico
in 1200’s and to look for an eagle, sitting on
a cactus
- When arrived, other tribes already claimed
the good land
- Finally saw the eagle in Lake Texcoco (near
present day Mexico City), settled there, and
began to build their capital city
Tenochtitlan (the capital)
Formed on an island
Easy to defend and
protect
Soggy land made growing
crops difficult, until they
adapted
Lake Texcoco and Tenochtitlan
Aztec Gods
Quetzalcoatl
Huitzilopochtli
Tlaloc
God of Rain
God that created
the world
God of Sun and
War
Topic: Aztec Life
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Question: What was life like for the Aztec?
Brutal; most did not live to be 50
Built canals for trade and crops
Lake gave them fish, ducks, algae
Lake also protected them from attack
Warfare – To
protect, and
defend nation.
Training
promoted, ranks
kept it organized.
Recreation – Liked
hard work, the little
free time they had
included music,
board and ball
games
Sacrifices – Done to
please Gods by giving
blood, hearts; most were
prisoners honored to do
it. How many? 4000/yr.
Priests were cannibals!
Education – 2
main schools run
by priests. Boys
learned warfare,
girls learned
motherly duties.
Aztec Culture
Crime and
Punishment – Gods
liked good behavior,
cages instead of jail,
quick punishments.
Food – Most
Vegetarian. Included
corn, beans, squash,
apples, algae.
Starvation common
during bad crop
years.
Social Classes Ruler on top,
priests, warriors,
traders, craftsmen,
peasants, slaves.
Marriage – Arranged by
parents, four days of
feasting after ceremony,
no divorce allowed,
multiple wives OK