The Aztec

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The Aztec
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Review

• The Maya lived in Southern Mexico and Central
  America, and created a complex society that
  included city-states with monumental architecture
• The Classic Era of the Maya (A.D. 250-900) ended
  mysteriously when the Maya abandoned their cities
  and returned to village life

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Questions

• Who were the Aztec, ad how did they create a
  powerful empire in central Mexico in the 15th
  century?
• How was Aztec society organized? Why did warfare
  play such an important part in Aztec life?

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Chronology

• A.D. 909 Last long count date in Maya
  inscriptions
• Early Postclassic era 900-1200
• Middle Postclassic 1200-1430
• Tenochtitlan founded A.D. 1325
• Late Postclassic 1430-1519
• Aztec Empire at Its Height (1481-1519)

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The Origins of the Aztec

• Aztec
• Aztlan
• Chichimecs
• Mexica
• Huitzilopochtli
• The Great Migrations of the Postclassic Era
• Huemac
• Chapultepec
• The Arrival of the Aztec at Lake Texcoco

Aztlan
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(No Transcript)
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Huitzilopochtli Instructs the Mexica
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Left From the Codex Mendoza An Eagle on a cactus
growing from solid rock marked the spot of the
site of Tenochtitlan
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Aztec Society

• Codex Mendoza
• Childhood and Education
• Birth date and character
• Adulthood
• Warfare and coming of age
• Marriage and sex
• Social Stratification
• King huetlatoani
• Nobles by birth pipiltin
• Nobles by achievement quauhpipiltin
• Merchants pochteca
• Commoners macehualtin
• Slaves

The birth of an infant and its first bath
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Chores for children
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Chores for teenagers
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Learning to Fight
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Aztec Crafts
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Chinampas
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Tying the Knot
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The Empire

• Triple Alliance
• Mexica, Acolhua, Tepanecs
• Itzcoatl (1428-1440)
• Motecuzoma I (r. 1440-1469)
• Crisis years of 1450s
• Continued expansion
• Rule of three brothers (1469-1502)
• Rededication of the Great Temple (1487)
• Motecuzoma II (r. 1502-1520)
• Aztec Warfare
• Flower wars
• War and sacrifice
• Empire and resources

Tenochtitlan
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(No Transcript)
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The Rewards of Empire
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Blood Offerings