All about the ancient tribes
The Aztecs (/ aeztks /) were a Mesoamerican society that thrived in central Mexico during the post-classic era, roughly between the years 1300 and 1521.Different ethnic groups of central Mexico, notably those ones that spoke the Nahuatl language and who ruled significant areas of Mesoamerica between the 14th and 16th centuries, made up the Aztec peoples.Nahuatl was the language spoken by these communities.
The Valley of Mexico was the birthplace of the Aztec civilisation.The valley was sandwiched between towering mountains and was encircled by lakes, which provided the Aztecs with fish, waterfowl, drinkable water, and reeds for thatching and weaving.The weather was pleasant overall.The Aztec empire had a territory that was approximately 800 miles long and was oriented northwest to southeast.
Ancient Aztec thinkers conceived of the planet Earth as a round, flat disc that could be split into four equal halves. Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital city, was located in the geographic center, at the point where the two portions met. The Aztecs had a profound faith in the idea that the gods had bestowed upon them a unique position or domain within the cosmos.
Additionally, religious practices were written down in the codices.In addition to a solar calendar that included 365 days, Aztec priests employed a ceremonial calendar with 260 days for divination purposes.Both bloodletting (the practice of sacrificing one’s own blood) and human sacrifice were common religious rites carried out by the Aztecs at Templo Mayor, the principal temple in Tenochtitlan where they performed their religion.
The mountains served as the defenses of a fort for the Aztec people, preventing others from attacking them. Following the devastating flood that occurred in Tenochtitlan in the year 1500, Aztec engineers constructed a dam made of earth that spanned the lake to the east of the city. The amount of water that surrounded their island was easier to manage as a result of this.
Because of the Empire’s location close to the equator, the climate was generally quite warm. A language known as Nahuatl was spoken by the people of the Aztec civilisation. Rulers, priests, warriors, aristocracy, the middle class, free poor, slaves, and servants are the different social classes of this society.
They constructed boats so that they could hunt and fish more effectively. They made medicinal preparations from of the many plants they discovered in the region. They accomplished this by cultivating food in gardens that were suspended in the water. They constructed dikes to contain the water in the marshy regions so that the land could be used for cultivation and construction.
The Aztec people are said to have migrated from their native territory, which was known as Aztlan, to what is now the Mexican state of Mexico, according to their origin myth.Although it is not known for certain where Aztlan was located, a number of academics are of the opinion that the Mexica, who were known as such by the Aztecs, moved southward to the central region of Mexico in the 13th century.
The Aztecs constructed a vast network of aqueducts that supplied water for agricultural purposes as well as for bathing and drinking.
They concentrated on constructing sturdy foundations since the warm and frequently wet environment made the soil on their land prone to sinking. As a result, they were successful. The foundations of the structures that the Aztecs built were made out of tezontle, a beautiful volcanic stone that was also very simple to carve.
The summers in Aztec are extremely warm, dry, and mainly clear, but the winters are extremely cold, snowy, and partially overcast. The temperature seldom drops below 7 degrees Fahrenheit or rises over 96 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the course of a year, although it regularly ranges from 19 degrees Fahrenheit to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
What caused the Aztecs to go extinct? Researchers Have Discovered Some New Leads. Salmonella might have been a contributing factor in an epidemic that occurred in the 16th century and claimed the lives of millions of people. Aztecs living in what is now the southern region of Mexico were affected by a devastating epidemic from 1545 to 1550.
The Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs established their civilization in the central region of Mexico during the 14th and 16th centuries.Their dominion based on tribute grew to encompass all of Mesoamerica.As early as 2600 BC, the Maya people established their culture in southern Mexico and northern Central America, a vast region that encompasses the whole Yucatán Peninsula.They called this region of the world home.
The use of aqueducts to bring spring water from the adjacent hills into the city was the Aztecs’ primary method of obtaining water for consumption. This was the most sanitary and recent version.
Water Supply (2007), volume 7, issue 1, pages 147–154. It is crucial to have access to clean drinking water, and the Aztecs were extremely sophisticated in their provision of such access.
Lake Texcoco was quite shallow and its waters were peaceful because it was supplied by springs rather than rivers that were constantly running into it. Over the course of their civilization, the Aztecs learned how to manufacture irrigation systems such as aqueducts and construct man-made islands on that lake and the other bodies of water in the area.
Around the year 1325 C.E., the Aztecs settled a marshy island in the middle of Lake Texcoco and founded a metropolis there. They were aided by the topography of the area in which the city was situated since it was an aquatic environment that offered protection due to the fact that it was encircled by a large lake.
The Aztecs were skilled builders who created a wide variety of buildings, including pyramids, ball courts, plazas, temples, and dwellings, among other sorts of constructions. On the other hand, the Aztecs acknowledged the Toltec to be a significant source of inspiration for their own architectural style.
Because the island was too small to support a temple and a large number of gardens, the Aztecs frequently struggled to find sufficient supplies of food. Another environmental problem that they had to deal with was getting back to the main land, which was the center of civilization, because it was on the island.