The Aztec Civilization

GEOGRAPHY

The Aztec empire lasted from A.D. 1200- A.D. 1500. It had a total population of 80,000 people at its height. It existed in what is current day Mexico City. They made an artificial island in lake Texcoco that they lived in. Their capital was named Tenotichilan. The terrain of their empire did not allow them to use the wheel even though they did have the knowledge of the wheel. They also made gardens called chinampas (made on artificial islands).

COMMUNICATIONS

They had a hieroglyphic form of written language (symbolic). They also had written records. They no alphabet that they used unlike modern societies. They were also had forms of mathematics.

ARCHITECTURE

The Aztecs built their city inside of Lake Texcoco which they emptied out and put earth, dirt, clay, and sand inside of. On the islands they had their chinampas. They had layered step pyramids like the Egyptians with temples at the top of them. The temples were used for human sacrifices. Their tallest pyramid they named “pyramid of the sun”. They also built a total of over 3,000 apartment-like houses. They were able to make very complicated and sophisticated buildings.

RELIGION AND BELIEFS

The Aztecs were a polytheistic tribe. They believed in human sacrifice and sacrificed from 20,000-50,000 people per year because they thought that that would please their gods (that probably helped bring their empire to an end). They would perform a rain dance thingy by having 4 people tie a rope to their legs and swing around a pole upside down to bring rain and plentiful harvests (wouldn’t want to be them, but some people might- until the rope snapped). They usually sacrificed slaves and war prisoners but sometimes people would volunteer to get sacrificed (they thought they would be granted eternal life if they were sacrificed).