Aztec

The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th century. They were a civilization with a rich mythology and cultural heritage. Their capital was Tenochtitlan on the shore of Lake Texcoco - the site of modern-day Mexico City.

The Aztec civilization had a vibrant culture which included mandatory education and a rich mythology. For Europeans, the most striking element of the Aztec culture was the practice of human sacrifice which was practiced throughout Mesoamerica prior to the Spanish conquest.

Aztec External Links

Aztec Calendar
Learn about the Aztec Calendar and the culture of the Aztecs.

Aztecs The BasicsAztecs were a wandering Native American tribe who came to Mexico during the 13th century. There they built a great civilization including cities, pyramids, and temples. In 1519 Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico and defeated the Aztecs.

Smith's Aztec Bibliography for Students
All are scholarly, well-written works by leading authorities on the Aztecs, and most are not too technical or specialized...

Mesoamerica (Aztecs)
The term "Aztecs" is used in the title of this since that's the word in common usage; everyone "knows" the Aztecs were conquered by Cortez.

Aztecs: Fierce Wanderers
Three cities important to the Aztec empire.

Aztec God
The Aztecs brought their many gods and goddesses with them.

Aztec Religion
Aztecs beliefs were based in their perception of nature, its time space, and cycles. They were particularly concerned with the destructive aspect of nature, and most of their rituals are means of avoiding the destructive and chaotic forces of nature, and finding harmony within nature.

Aztec Books, Documents, and Writing
The Aztecs used a vigesimal system, counting by 20s. The numbers 1-19 were expressed by dots or occasionally by fingers; 20 was represented by a flag; 400 (i.e. 20 >(20) by a sign which looks like a feather or a fir tree; and 8,000 (20 x 20 x 20) by a bag or tasselled pouch which was imagined to contain 8,000 cocoa beans...

Aztec Ruins
Established in 1923 and covers 320 acres. Early Euro-American settlers erroneously assumed the people who built these villages were Aztecs, hence the name of the ruins and of the modern town of Aztec.

Mexica / Aztec Calendar Systems
The solar year was the basis for the civil calendar by which the Mexicas (Aztecs) determined the myriad ceremonies and rituals linked to agricultural cycles.

Resources:

Secret Lives of the Aztecs - As a budding anthropologist in Mexico, Michael Smith wasn't lured by the glitz of Mayan monuments or the opulence of the Aztec Empire's temple pyramids...

Laurette Sejourne in a study about the Aztec World - The city of Tenochtitlan, together with her neighbour Tlatelolco, counted with more than 60 000 houses and had a population over 300 000 inhabitants; in other words, it had a size 5 times bigger than London in the times of Henry VIII...

Aztecs Nahuatl Tenochtitlán - Ancient Cultures of Middle America...

Aztec Adventure! - A WebQuest about a PreColumbian Civilization.

Aztec Dances - The Aztec Dance has been preserved through many years throughout the center of Mexico. It is a legacy that will never disappear as long as the Aztec race exists. The Spaniards destroyed their temples and deities, but they couldn't get rid of the dances and rituals.

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