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Transcript
Geography
Capital: Tenochtitlán
- Built on an island in Lake Texcoco
- Swampy, high mountains surrounded city
Beginning of Decline
Not good for farming
Built chinampas: floating gardens to grow crops
Geography
Chinampas
Why did the Chinampas not sink?
Chinampas were anchored (tied) to the bottom of the lake or to a strong tree in the marsh. They were more like a raft.
Emperor Montezuma II wanted more tribute and victims
- Settled in the Valley of Mexico
- Central Mexico
Marketplace
Economy
- Trade
- Agriculture
- Beans, corn, squash, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes
- Jade, featherwork, sculptures, jewelry, and other luxury items
- Tribute
- Forced payments from conquered city-states
- Gold, corn and jade
Aztecs
Hernán Cortés and Spanish troops
Politics
- 1519 invaded the Valley of Mexico and won
- Why did they win?
- Disease
- Better weapons
- Recruited thousands of rebels
- City-states
- Ruled by one emperor
- Tribute system
Religion
1000 agricultural gods
Social Structure
Five main gods
Believed in many gods
Three main groups
- Nobles (smallest but most powerful)
- Owned lots of land
- In charge of government and military
- Priests
- King
- Merchants and skilled artisans
- Commoners: farmers, fishers, soldiers
- Slaves
Sacrifices
Human sacrifices
- Prisoners of war
War was a religious duty for soldiers
What happens if the sacrifice doesn't work?
They keep sacrificing.
Why do they sacrifice criminals and slaves (prisoners of war) to the gods?
Humans were the highest form of sacrifice. Some believe that the Aztecs used this as psychological warfare to scare their citizens and enemies.
Achievements
Codex (illustrated book) contained glyphs as writing.
Aztec Calendar
Studied sun, moon, stars and planets.
Developed two calendars.
- Farming
- Religious
Achievements
How long does it take for obsidian to form?
Social Structures
- Advancements in arts, architecture and astronomy.
- Built large temples, palaces, city walls
- Gold beads, pottery, stone urns, feather headresses, stone sculpture and jewelry.
It depends.
- By all accounts, it is very quick. If it goes into the ocean it's faster.
- Since it cooled so quickly, there is not enough time for the atoms or molecules to organize into a regular, crystalline pattern.
- So all obsidian is relatively modern because it breaks down over time.