Tenochtitlan

• built 1325

• estimated to have around 150 000 - 300 000 people

  • one of the biggest cities of its time (6th century)

• Built in the middle of Lake Texcoco

• Transport → canoe

features:

• Aztecs dug canals through the marshes and piled mud on either side to increase the island’s size

  • allowed them to reclaim marshy lands from the lake

• Aqueducts built to source city with freshwater from mainland

• Dykes built to control flood waters and drive salt water away

• Three main causeways linked to Texcoco’s shore

  • guarded by watchtowers.

  • Used by Aztec warriors, traders & tribute bearers

• Templo Mayor:

  • largest temple in Tenochtitlan.

  • very magnificent temple made of monumental stone

  • pyramid like

  • made for Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc

Agriculture/diet

• Chinampas:

  • floating gardens

  • To create farmland, Aztecs loaded soil from the bottom of the lake onto a raft made of wood, reeds and other vegetation

  • trees planted on corners to anchor raft to lake bottom

• produced much of their own produce/ took from local environment

The Aztecs grew:

• Maize

• beans

• squashes

• tomatoes

• chilli peppers

• decorative flowers

Animals that were eaten:

• fish

• geese

• axayacatl

  • type of marsh fly

• agricultural worm

Other foods:

The Aztecs also drank an alcoholic drink called pulque → made from agave cactus.

Ate wild mushrooms that induced hallucinations → prevalent among religious class and poets

Tlateloc

• great market that sold produce

Produce sold:

• cocoa

• quetzal feathers

• obsidian

• paper

• gold

• silver

• salt

• tortilla

• maize

• turkey eggs

• custard apple

• tuna

• all tropical fruits

Sacrifice

• believed that unless they made offerings of blood and human lives to the gods, the Sun would die and the world would come to an end

• also offered gifts such as maize and marigolds to the gods

Method

Who?

• Aztec warriors would capture prisoners for sacrifice

• extreme cases where family might offer someone in order to procure favours from the gods

• rebellious slaves

• between 10 000 - 50 000 could be sacrificed each year

Where?

• Top of Templo Mayor

How?

1. held on a stone tablet by 4 priests

2. fifth priest slice abdomen with ceremonial knife, although the cut would often go through the diaphragm

3. fifth priest pulls beating heart out

4. heart was placed in special bowl and body was thrown down the stairs of the temple

5. body was taken by the owners to be eaten

Tzompantli

• archaelogists discovered remains in Mexico City (Tenochtitlan)

• enormous rack of skulls, rows of skulls and mortar lined up on vertical posts connected by crossbeams

• discovered in 2015

• hundred of skull fragments were excavated

• 35m x 14m x 4.5m (w x l x h)

Sport

Tlatchtli

• gods play tlatchli as well → sky = court, sun = ball

• Priests would use results of match to predict future

• priests watched every game

• prayed to gods before playing

How to play

• had to shoot a ball through the hoops using only hips elbows

• hoops were high above

• foul if you handle or kick the ball

• game ended when shadow reached a line

Volador

1. drummer sat on seat on a seat on top of a high pole, with his feet resting on a rectangular frame that swivelled

2. Four men dressed as birds climbed the pole, each taking a rope over the frame and winding it around the top of the pole.

3. each man then tied the rope to his ankles

4. men dived from the pole together

5. the drummer beat the drum and kept the men swinging around the pole 13 times before slowing them down so that they touched the ground

Social pyramid

1. Emperor

• religious and political leader

• wore turquoise-green clothes

• everyone had to approach him bare foot

• 100 wives

• downcast eyes

• bowing when meeting him

• elaborate food and drink

• great priest

2. nobility

• members became priests, military leaders or emperor advisors

  • Priests:

    • boys joined priesthood at 17

    • painted body black and pierced himself with cactus spikes

    • drank special herbs to have holy visions

    • most important honour was to perform human sacrifice

  • elite warriors (see elite warriors in warriors section)

• 10-20% of population

• wore brilliantly feathered costumes

• everyone stood aside and bowed when they passed

• only people allowed to wear jewellery, decorated capes, and to live in two storey houses

3. merchants and craftsmen

• included goldsmiths and stonemasons

• often acted as spies

4. farmers and labourers

• taxes and hard work heavily support nobility

5. peasants and slaves

• landless

Warriors

• never fought at night or during harvest times

• didn’t try to kill their enemy, tried to capture for sacrifice

Weapons and attire

Attire

• Both eagle and jaguar warriors wore feathers as animal skins were rare

• Ichcahuipilli: quilted armour covered in feathers

• wooden helmets

Weapons

• chimalli: brightly covered shield decorated with feathers

• Maquahuitl: clubs made of obsidian and wood

• Atlatl: spear thrower

• spears

• tlahu tolli: long bows

• weapons designed to stun and capture instead of kill → sacrificial purposes

• obsidian would shatter on the first strike and would need to be repaired

Types of warriors

• army was made up of common people

• Pipiltin: nobles leading warriors into battle

• raise rank by capturing more people

Elite Warriors

• eagle and jaguar warriors were highly revered as their respective animals were known for their agility and ferociousness

• membership solely based on taking captives → therefore opportunity to join their ranks by a commoner

Eagle Warriors:

• wore feathers and helmet with beaks

• used as scouts to search and watch their enemies before battle

• headdress could be different colours → blue, yellow, red, white

• part of nobility

Jaguar Warriors:

• Covered bodies with jaguar skins → believed that it gave them jaguar strength

• wore helmets resembling jaguar head

• part of nobility

Shorn Ones:

• Most deadly Aztec warrior

• wore long braids on the left side of their heads, rest of head was shaved

Rewards

Rewards in order of how many captives taken:

1. before taking any captives, boys had a long lock of hair at the back of their head.

2. lock of hair was cut, allowed to paint face, received capes

3. allowed to wear sandals in battle, received new capes and bodysuits decorated in red feathers

Highest ranking officers had costumes completely covered in feathers and other decorations

Training

• boys were taught basic fighting skills and practiced with clubs and spears

• noble boys received more training, learned war tactics, military strategies and how to lead armies

• boys joined war around 15 → carried weapons and supplies and watched battles to learn from older warriors

• became warriors around 17

• some young warriors fought in flower warriors → small planned battles with real fighting

• those who disobeyed orders or ran away were often killed by other Aztecs