The Aztecs

1. The Aztecs The Chichimec Period Social/Political Structure Religion Tenochtitlan

2. The Chichimec Period • The fall of Tula • From A.D. 1200 to A.D. 1370 the Basin of Mexico was occupied by various central Mexican peoples. • Chichimec people settled in the area from the North and gradually overcame the people living there at that time. • primarily due to Xolotl, who ruled a somewhat barbaric horde. • Other Chichimecs followed (Tamimes) who were more civilized but stole women and practiced sacrifice. • brought knowledge of the maya calender system. • cultivated crops with irrigation • constructed with stone. • Technically squatted in the area of Tenochtitlan and were know ans the Mixeca but today Aztecs is more common.

3. Emergence as Political Power • They were a miserable band, despised by all, driven from one location to another around the lake shore. • Between A.D. 1250 and A.D. 1298 they served as vassels for the Tepanecs, but finally moved to a swampy island on the lake. • The tribal war god, Huitzilopochtli, led them and had them build their temples which they nourished with human sacrifices. • Probably just managed to out compete the adjacent groups and grow in power.

4. Basin of Mexico • Chain of interconnected lakes, 3-6, but the Aztecs talked about three-Chalco, Texcoco, and Xaltocan. • Lake Texcoco • deepest and water flowed from it to other lakes • the Basin is about 3,000 sq miles and about 15% of that is covered by water. • Population estimates at around A.D.1519 are between 1 to 1.2 million.

6. How were they all fed? • Many famines brought on by natural disasters, plagues of locusts, droughts, storms, and floods. • 1450 and 1454 bad drought and people sold themselves into slavery. • **Not all fed all of the time. • Subsistence level existence for the masses who substituted with wild foods to a large extent. • Used the Chinampas (floating gardens) for agriculture. • 25,000 acres of chinampas at the time of contact. • gardens never actually floated, but were created by making use of the vegetaion in the swamps. • Floating water plants were used to build up gardens and then were dragged onto shore for chinampas. • They became anchored to the native cypress. • Lake mud was piled on and canals were built. • However, although they were very productive, the number of people living in the area at the time of contact could not keep up with subsistence and surplus food demands. • These marsh plots also brought in birds and fish that could be gathered while they were working.

7. Cultural Innovations • Trade, Economics, Market System • Part of inter-related regions which consisted of Morelos to the south, Puebla to the east, Mezquital to the north, and Toluca to the west. • although many crops the same, some areas had their specialty crops. • tropical fruits, cotton, cacao from Morelos, beans from Puebla. • flowers were also a big part of the economy because one of the great pleasures was of the smelling of flowers. • Market days were held once each five days, four times each month. Sometimes daily in larger towns. • reflected community craft specializations as well as imported goods. • also slaves were traded, and dogs for food (400 on a slow day). • Bernal Diaz de Castillo says that he didn’t even have time to list how many things were offered one day at the market of Tlateloco. • Pochteca were a group of merchants (caste). • commodities and goods exchanged by barter.

8. Cultural Innovations • Writing • Nahuatl language spoken at conquest, living language today. • Many codices and glyphs to describe lifeways of Aztecs, as well as Spanish accounts. • Art • Stone carving to communicate ideas. • Free-standing figures of Aztec deities. • Aztec Calender stone. • Atlantean figures and chocmools • Metallurgy • acqured from Maya. • Mostly gold, silver.

9. Social Structure • Basic unit of social organization • calpulli (clan) • not all lineages within the clan were equal. • Membership by birth. • families traced their descent through fathers, which is a lineage, and these lineages make up a calpulli. • marry within the calpulli. • one lineage provides leader of that calpule.

10. Four principle social categories: • Pipiltin- • ruler of the city state and his relatives. • only ones to own their own land • Macehualtin-commoner clan. • serfs who worked others land. • Pochtea-merchant clan. • owned communal land. • Tlacotin-slaves. • no land, no rights. • reversible status.

11. Political Organization • Each city (other than Tenochtitlan) ruled by a petty-king selected from the pipiltin. • Dual leadership-military and religious • supreme leader chosen from special lineage, with brother succeeding brother. • court which ruled over military, justice, treasury, and commerce. • Judicial branch • both pipitlin and commoners chosen. • higher and lower courts. • commoners went to lower court (tecalli). • higher court for upper class (tlacxitlan). • Prisoners kept in wooden cages, sentencing could be death, mutilation or slavery. • * Even elite tried-the sister of Motecuhzoma II was tried by her husband for extramarital affairs and she and her lovers were put to death.

12. Rulers 1Acamapichtli A.D.1376-1396 -married Ilancueil (Toltec Princess) 2Huitzilihuitl 1397-1417 3Chimalpopocoa 1417-1428 4Itzcoatl 1428-1440 5Moctezuma 1440-1469 Atotozli = Tezozomoc 6Axayacatl 1469-1481 7Tizoc 1481-1486 8Ahuizotl 1486-1502 10Cuitlahuac1520 9Moctezuma II 1502-1520 11Cuauhtemoc 1520-1525

13. Moctezuma II

14. Religion • Worlds • Four worlds before the present, each called a sun, each had different types of inhabitants. • Each had perished through its own imperfections • The fifth sun or world in which people now lived would also perish through a series of devastating earthquakes. • It was not know when this would occur. • but it would occur at the end of one of the 52 year cycles. • Aztec calender stone depicts four suns with the present sun at the center.

16. Deities • Organized by fundamental characters, cult themes, and clusters. • Most Important: • Tlaloque-Main rain god • Also lesser rain gods, tlaloque, resided in mts. and produced rain clouds. • Mount Tlaloc, is aligned with the location of the Tlaloc shrine on top of the great temple at Tenochtitlan. • Hutizilopochtli-War God, god of the Mixeca-became very important-sun. • Multiple aspects of most gods. • Creator deities come in pairs and in both sexes. • Most gods have four of five aspects that are related to the four directions and the zenith (fifth). • directions were associated with different colors. • White god of the east (Quetzacoatl) • Red god of the west (Xipe)

17. Basic ritual pattern-Ceremonies • Mainly elitist in organization, involved members of the stae-supported church or upper class. • usually preceded by fasting and other abstentions. • offerings, processions, deity impersonations, dancing and singing, mick combats and human sacrifice. • followed by feasts. • Calendrical and non-calendrical. • 365-day ceremonies were fixed, occurred during each of the 18 months. • 260-day ceremonies had movable feasts which rotated in relation to the 365-day year. i.e. Christian easter. • noncalendircal were tied to life cycle, crises, homecoming, domestic rituals, curing, etc. • Ceremonies held in temples, several aspects similar to Christianity, • such as confession of sins, • sacred dough which was made in the image of a god and eaten, • -similarity of the mother of the gods, Coatlicue, and the Virgin Mary were noted. • Also many personal gods to different jobs, tlaloc to farmers, Yacateuctli to merchants.

18. Human Sacrifice

19. Skull Rack

20. Warfare • Aztec Empire • held in loose control physically, but control held by intimidation and overwhelming power. • made an overwhelming force, as it did for the British in India, where no immense standing armies or garrisons needed. • Armies (main army numbered nearly 500,000) • all males were militarily trained, in schools. • further training was under a more experienced warrior. • social prestige and advancement for both commoner and noble available in military. • more likely, that a noble would gain more prestige due to better access to training. • military societies graded according to caste. • rank determined by kinship, social status, military achievement, and personality. • fluid and volatile organizations. • Declarations of war kept inside society to gain surprise. • intelligence was also a factor, spies, merchants and diplomats acted to aid in war. • relay stations 2 and a half miles apart relayed information. • supply lines and armories provided food and weapons.

21. Tenochtitlan: Aztec Capital • Artificially created island with Tlatelolco (Market) • Built up by chinampa construction and use of small islets and landfills. • The main city was only the largest of at least ninteeen island communities in Lake Texcoco. • Measured at least 5.4 sq miles • High-density urban development limited to the main island. • System of measurement • Complex, but consistent and practical. • omitl (bone)=1.8 feet. • maitl (hand)=5.4 feet • Heart of island consisted of two ceremonial precincts and the market of Tlatelolco. • series of adjacent plazas arranged around major buildings. • including temples, administrative structures, palaces. • Lists for the center include • 25 pyramid temples • 9 priests quarters • 7 skull racks • 2 ball courts • arsenals, shops, etc.

22. Tenochtitlan Reconstruction

23. Sacred Central Square • Secular and Religious focus • planned from arrival of Mixecas and based on astronomical principles. • Great Temple (Temple Mayor) • aligned with the rising of the sun at the equinox. • twin pyramid with two staircases. • two temples or shrines at top, one to Huitzilopochtli and one to Tlaloc. • skewed seven degrees east of true north I order to accommodate such observations. • also aligned with Mt. Tlaloc and another sacred mountain. • placed where a priest saw an eagle eating a snake on top of a cactus. • Temples placed to right and left of great temple-Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. • from there extended the four major avenues running east-west and north-south. • divide city into four quarters each marked by a major temple. • Layout • avenues laid out on 400 maitl (2160 foot) and cross streets spaced at 400 omitls (720 feet). • earliest temple dates to 1428, with construction and refurbishment continuing all the time.