Geography-Tyler

The Aztecs had an interesting and unbelievable culture. From human sacrifices for the gods, to the amazing chinampas or artificial islands they created. The Aztecs lived on an island in Mexico were it was very hot and humid. The soil, however, was perfect for growing crops. Their water came from mountain springs because their lake water was generally salty. The Aztec’s mountains could serve as protection, because they could see everyone coming up the trails! There were two levels of social structure in the city. Of course the higher social structure was the higher social class, and the lower social structure was lower class.

The Aztecs had a way with architecture, their plazas were laid out perfectly. Since they lived on an island they had to build causeways to get on to the island. The Three main causeways were the main entrances, the three main causeways met up at the great plaza. The great plaza measured 520 feet by 600 feet wide. It had 60 buildings, it also had a pyramid with a double temple honored to the gods Huitzilopochtli god of war and Tlaloc god of rain. This temple was plastered and painted red like the other houses. Another temple was the Temple of Quetzalcoatl. This temple had faces of Quetzalcoatl on the railings of the stairs. The city of Tenochtitlain was 8 square miles long and had four major units each had 20 buildings.

Aztecs cut and polished jade and turquoise to make religious objects and jewelry. The temple was most magnificent structure in each Aztec town. It was visible from miles away and stood on the top of huge pyramid structures. Great staircases rose up the sides of the pyramid. The great pyramid at Tenochtitlan had two temples at its peak. Aztecs used sculptures to decorate temples and other buildings. The Aztecs used a variety of material for their sculptures. Stone was the most often used material. However, examples of Aztecs art remain that were made of wood, jade, turquoise, emerald, and volcanic glass. Some of the sculptures are huge, like the calendar stone weighing over 20 tons, and some is very small and delicate.

The capital of the Aztec empire was Tenochtitlan (tay-nohch-tee-tlahn), and the Aztec empire stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico (as seen to left). Tenochtitlan now lies under the over-populated Mexico City.

The Aztecs family was an extended family. The extended family included grandparents, aunts, uncles and of coarse parents, brothers and sisters. Groups of extended families joined to form clans. Clan means groups of people. The maximum was 20 clans combined to form a tribe. Also callopi was the Aztec word for clan. At the age of 13 Aztecs began attending to the telpuchcalli a school operated the clan.

Each callopi elected their own officer. The Aztecs home was made of abode brick, and the Aztecs roof was made of the attached straw. The Aztecs slept on wooden straw mats. The type of furniture the Huetzins had was a few wooden chests. Some of the homes were big because so many families lived in that home.

The rooms in the home surrounded the patio. Training at school included lessons of citizenship, history, tradition, religion, ceremonies, arts and craft.

The boys In addition learned a new method and warfare. The girls learned dancing and singing skills. Some students went to calmancac witch was a special school to train priest. All the children helped the house hold clean up after the family ate. The girls learned cooking, spinning cotton, weaving and other house hold skills. The women of the house holds made the meals and prepared the clothing for the family. The huetzins and his family wore cotton with decoration sewed on. The Aztecs wore clothing that was made out of fiber. Out of the Aztecs and the huetzins the Aztecs were poorer.

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