Precolumbian Aztec society was the highly complex and stratified society that developed among the Aztecs of central Mexico in the centuries prior to the Spanish conquest of Mexico, and which were built on the cultural foundations of the larger region of Mesoamerica. Politically the society was based around the independent citystate, called an "Altepetl", which was composed of smaller divisions called Calpulli, which were again normally composed of one or more extended kinship groups. Socially the society depended on a rather strict division between nobles and free commoners both groups which were divided into elaborate hierarchies of social status, responsabilities and power. Economically the society was dependent on agriculture and also to a large extent warfare, other economically important factors was commerce, long distance and local, and a high degree of trade specialisation. In anthropology and archaeology, a complex society is a social formation that is otherwise described as a formative or developed state (i. ... social stratification is the division of people of a particular society on the basis if occupation, income, power, prestige, authority, status, dignity, education, class, castle, gender, race and ethnicity In sociology, social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of social classes, castes and strata within a society. ... For other uses, see Society (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Aztec (disambiguation). ... Aztec empire The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of America. ... This article is about the culture area. ... The altepetl, in Pre-Columbian and conquest-era Aztec society, was the local, ethnically-based political entity. ... Calpulli is the Nahuatl term for a group of families (or a single large family) that usually had a particular function in the Pre-Columbian society (such as priests, warriors, etc. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

Overview

Mesoamerica

In the middle of the first millenium CE the first waves of tribes speaking the forefather language of the Nahuan languages migrated south into Mesoamerica. They were nomadic hunter-gatherers and arrived in a region that was already populated by complex societies at a highly advanced techonological level. Under the influence of classic Mesoamerican civilisations such as the Teotihuacanos, the Maya, the Totonacs and the Huastecs the proto-Aztecs became sedentary agriculturalists and achieved the same levels of technology and complexity as their neighbouring peoples. They held on to their language, much of their religious systems and probably aspects of their previous social customs, and the foundations of "Aztec society" were developed as a synthesis between Mesoamerican societies and Aztec traditions, although today it cannot easily be discerned which parts come from where. Aztec society was not isolated from the larger Mesoamerican context, and in fact most aspects of it were similar in structure to what existed in the surrounding societies. ^[1] For the Spanish language as spoken in Mexico, see Mexican Spanish. ... In anthropology, the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by certain societies of the Neolithic Era based on the exploitation of wild plants and animals. ... In anthropology and archaeology, a complex society is a social formation that is otherwise described as a formative or developed state (i. ... Mesoamerican chronology The chronology of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica is usually divided into the following eras: Paleo-Indian Period c. ... Teotihuacan was the largest Pre-Columbian known city in the Americas, and the name Teotihuacan is used to refer to the civilization this city dominated, which at its greatest extent included most of Mesoamerica. ... Maya may refer to: // The Maya, Native American peoples of southern Mexico and northern Central America Maya peoples, the contemporary indigenous peoples Maya civilization, their historical pre-Columbian civilization Mayan languages, the family of languages spoken by the Maya Yucatec Maya language, specific and most widespread Mayan language, frequently referred... The Totonac people resided in the eastern coastal and mountainous regions of Mexico at the time of the Spanish arrival in 1519. ... Huastec statue from the Tampico Region, 14th–16th centuries The Huastec, also rendered as Huaxtec, Wastek and Huastecos, are an indigenous people of Mexico, historically based in the states of Hidalgo, Veracruz, San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas concentrated along the route of the Panuco River and along the coast of...

"Aztecs"

The definition of the term "Aztec" which will be applied here is that of Michael E. Smith. ^[2] He defines "Aztec" as including all the Nahuatl speaking peoples of central Mexico, that is in opposition to a definition restricting the term "Aztec" to cover the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan or the parties in the Aztec Triple Alliance. This definition is useful when describing Aztec society because the principles of political, social and economical organisation as well as the terminology which they used were largely the same for all of the Nahuatl speaking groups in central Mexico. When referring to specific circumstances of one particular Aztec group it will be done with the ethnonym referring specifically to that group e.g. Mexica for the inhabitants of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Tlaxcaltecs for those from Tlaxcallan and so on. For the Spanish language as spoken in Mexico, see Mexican Spanish. ... Tenochtitlan, looking east. ... The Aztec Triple Alliance, also known as The Aztec Empire, was an alliance of three Aztec city-states: Tenochtitlán; Texcoco; and Tlacopán. ... The word Aztec is usually used as a historical term, although some contemporary Nahuatl speakers would consider themselves Aztecs. ... Tlaxcaltec leader speaking to conquistador as depicted in History of Tlaxcala by Diego Muñoz Camargo, published in 1590 The Tlaxcaltecs or Tlacullos were an indigenous group of the Nahuatl culture that inhabited the area in Meso-America that approximates the territory currently known as the state of Tlaxcala, Mexico. ... Picture from the History of Tlaxcala showing Cortés meeting with the Tlaxcallan messengers. ...

Sources

The sources for information about Aztec society are primarily documents written in the spanish language in the first century after the Spanish conquest. Important among these are the Florentine Codex a 12 volume ethnographic description of precolumbian Aztec society compiled by Bernardino de Sahagún, the chronicle of Diego Durán, and the descriptions of the first conquistadors such as those of Hernán Cortés himself and of Bernal Díaz del Castillo. In recent decades the archaeological study of precolumbian Aztec civilization has also unearthed important information about Aztec society which has lead to a deeper understanding particularly of social structures and trade.^[3] Aztec empire The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of America. ... Page 51 of Book IX from the Florentine Codex. ... Bernardino de Sahagún Bernardino de Sahagún (1499 – October 23, 1590), was a Franciscan missionary to the Aztec (Nahua) people of Mexico, best known as the compiler of the Florentine Codex, also known as Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España (General History of the Things of... Diego Durán (c. ... Hernán(do) Cortés Pizarro, 1st Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca (1485–December 2, 1547) was the conquistador who became famous for leading the military expedition that initiated the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. ... Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492 or 1493 - 1581) was a conquistador, who wrote an eyewitness account of the conquest of Mexico under Hernán Cortés. ...

Political Organisation

According to ethnohistorian James Lockhart who specialises in the historical description of the Nahua, Aztec society was characterised by a "tendency to create larger wholes by the aggregation of parts that remain relatively separate and self-contained brought together by their common function and similarity". ^[4] This understanding entails a social stratification that is built from the bottom - up, rather than from the top - down. Aztec hierarchy by this understanding was not of the type "where a unit of one type - the capital - controls subordinate units of another type"^[5] but instead a type where the main unit is composed out of several constituent parts.

Family and lineage

Family and lineage were the basic units of Aztec society. Ones lineage determined ones social standing, and noble lineages were traced back to the mythical past, as the nobles were said to be descended from the god Quetzalcoatl.^[6] Prestigious lineages also traced their kin back through ruling dynasties, preferably ones with a Toltec heritage. The extended family group was also the basic social unit and living patterns were largely determined by family ties, because networks of family groups settled together to form calpollis. Lineage was traced through both the maternal and paternal lines, although with a preference for paternal lineage. It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... The Atlantes – columns in the form of Toltec warriors in Tula. ...

Calpolli

The calpolli (from Nahuatl calpōlli meaning "big house") was a political unit composed of several interrelated family groups. The exact nature of the calpolli is not completely understood and it has been variously described as a kind of clan, a town, a ward, a parish or an agriculture based cooperative.^[7]. In Nahuatl another word for calpolli was tlaxilacalli - "a partition of houses". For the Spanish language as spoken in Mexico, see Mexican Spanish. ...

The calpolli was centered around the local chief (calpōleh), to whom its members were normally related and he provided the calpolli members with lands for cultivation (calpōllālli) or with access to non-agricultural occupations in exchange for tribute and loyalty. ^[8]

The calpolli also ran a temple where the adoration of the deity of the calpolli was performed and a school called the Telpochcalli where young men were trained, mostly in martial arts. In some Aztec citystates calpollis were specialised in a trade, which was practiced by all of its members, and these calpollis functioned something like a medieval trade guild. This was the case in Otompan^[9] and in Texcoco and Tlatelolco.^[10] Other calpollis were composed of immigrant groups from other areas of Mesoamerica who settled together in a tightly knit community when they arrived in their new home city - for example there is evidence that Tenochtitlan had calpollis composed of Otomis, Mixtecs and Tlapanecs.^[11] A guild is an association of people of the same trade or pursuits (with a similar skill or craft), formed to protect mutual interests and maintain standards of morality or conduct. ... Otumba (from Nahuatl Otompan, place of Otomis) is one of the 125 municipalities of the state of México. ... Texcoco is a city in México State, Mexico, located to the east of Mexico City at 19. ... Tlaltelolco is an area in Mexico City, centered on the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, a square surrounded on three sides by an excavated Aztec pyramid, the 17th century church Templo de Santiago, and the modern office complex of the Mexican foreign ministry. ... Tenochtitlan, looking east. ... The Otomi are an indigenous people of central Mexico. ... Jade mask found in Tomb 7, Monte Alban, c. ... Tlapanec is a Mexican indigenous language spoken by around 75,000 Tlapanec people in the states of Guerrero and Morelos. ...

Altepetl

The altepetl (from Nahuatl āltepētl "water-mountain") was a citystate composed of several calpollis and ruled by a tlatoani. The altepetl was the unit that held sway over a given territory and defended and possibly expanded it by military might. The tlatoani was the head of the most influential calpolli, often because of having the most prestigious lineage.^[12] The word altepetl, however, did not only refer to the area but also to its population, and altepetl affiliation is thought to have been the primary criteria for ethnic divisions in Mesoamerica - rather than linguistic affinities. The altepetl, in Pre-Columbian and conquest-era Aztec society, was the local, ethnically-based political entity. ... A tlatoani was a member of the Aztec nobility. ...

Alliances and political hegemony

Altepetl states would normally strive towards dominating neighboring altepetl through warfare. In this way weak altepetl would become subjugated by stronger ones to whom they then paid tribute. This often lead to the formation of alliances between subordinate altepetl in order to overthrow a dominant altepetl. Some alliances were shortlived, or ad-hoc and others were long term relationships where a group of altepetl would converge to form what was sometimes almost a single political entity. One example of a long term alliance between independent city-states would be that between the four altepetl of Tlaxcallan, Ocotelolco, Tizatlan, Quiyahuiztlan and Tepeticpac, which is normally thought of as a single state although it had four independent rulers and a certain level of internal competition.^[13] Another is the so-called Aztec Triple Alliance between Tlacopan , Texcoco and Tenochtitlan which was originally formed to end the dominance of the altepetl Azcapotzalco and which eventually achieved political hegemony in the greater part of Mesoamerica and has become known to posterity as the Aztec empire. The Aztec Triple Alliance, also known as The Aztec Empire, was an alliance of three Aztec city-states: Tenochtitlán; Texcoco; and Tlacopán. ... Tlacopan means florid plant on flat ground or also named Tacuba was one of the mesoamericans kingdoms of the prehispanic age Triple Alianza (together with Tenochtitlan and Texcoco). ... Texcoco is a city in México State, Mexico, located to the east of Mexico City at 19. ... Tenochtitlan, looking east. ... Azcapotzalco (Place of the ants in Nahuatl) is one of the 16 delegaciones (boroughs) into which Mexicos Federal District is divided. ... The word Aztec is usually used as a historical term, although some contemporary Nahuatl speakers would consider themselves Aztecs. ...

Social Organisation

The most basic social division in Aztec society was that between nobles (Nahuatl pīpiltin) and commoners (Nahuatl mācehualtin ). Nobles held a large number of privileges not shared by the commoners most importantly the right to receive tribute from commoners on their land. Commoners on the other hand were free to own and cultivate land and to manage their own possessions, while still completing the services required by their lords and their calpolli, such as tribute payment and militay service. Mobility between the two social layers was difficult, but in practice both the commoner and noble groups were structured into finer hierarchies and a high degree of social mobility was possible within a given layer. For example the pochtecah long distance traders were considered commoners, but at the same time held a number of privileges comparable to those of the lesser nobility. A pochteca was a traveling merchant in the Aztec Empire. ...

Nobles

Rulers Lords Nobles

Commoners

Free commoners Pochteca Artisans Tenant commoners Slaves Sacrificial victims

Social Mobility

Landownership Warfare Trade

Gender roles

Education

Representation of Aztec education.

The Mexica, the founders and dominant group of the Aztec Empire, were one of the first people in the world to have mandatory education for nearly all children, regardless of gender, rank, or station. File links The following pages link to this file: Aztec Categories: Author died more than 100 years ago public domain images ... File links The following pages link to this file: Aztec Categories: Author died more than 100 years ago public domain images ...

Until the age of fourteen, the education of children was in the hands of their parents, but supervised by the authorities of their calpulli. Periodically they attended their local temples, to test their progress. Calpulli is the Nahuatl term for a group of families (or a single large family) that usually had a particular function in the Pre-Columbian society (such as priests, warriors, etc. ...

Part of this education involved learning a collection of sayings, called huehuetlatolli ("The sayings of the old"), that embodied the Aztecs' ideals. It included speeches and sayings for every occasion, the words to salute the birth of children, and to say farewell at death. Fathers admonished their daughters to be very clean, but not to use makeup, because they would look like ahuianis. Mothers admonished their daughters to support their husbands, even if they turn out to be humble peasants. Boys were admonished to be humble, obedient and hard workers. Judged by their language, most of the huehuetlatolli seemed to have evolved over several centuries, predating the Aztecs and most likely adopted from other Nahua cultures.

Children were taught at home until about 15 years of age, but all Aztec children, boys and girls, were expected to attend school for some time when they were between 10 and 20 years old. Boys and girls went to school at age 15. Probably this was one of the first societies that required education for all its members, without regard of gender or social status.

There were two types of schools: the telpochcalli, for practical and military studies, and the calmecac, for advanced learning in writing, astronomy, statesmanship, theology, and other areas. The two institutions seem to be common to the Nahua people, leading some experts to suggest that they are older than the Aztec culture. In the Aztec empire, children of nobility would attend special schools, called Calmecacs, where they would receive very rigorous religious and military training that would prepare them to be future leaders. ...

• The telpochcalli or House of the Young, taught history, religion, military fighting arts, and a trade or craft (such as agriculture or handicrafts). Some of the telpochcalli students were chosen for the army, but most of them returned to their homes.

• The calmecac, attended mostly by the sons of pillis, was focused on turning out leaders (tlatoque), priests, scholars/teachers (tlatimini), healers (tizitl) and codex painters (tlacuilos). They studied rituals, ancient and contemporary history, literacy, calendrics, some elements of geometry, songs (poetry), and, as at the telpochcalli, military arts.

Each calpulli specialized in some handicrafts, and this was an important part of the income of the city. The teaching of handicraft was highly valued.

The healers (tizitl) had several specialities. Some were trained to just inspect and classify medicinal plants, others were trained in the preparation of medicines that were sold in special places (tlapalli). More than a hundred preparations are known, including deodorants, remedies for smelly feet, dentifric paste etc. Also there were tizitl specialized in surgery, digestive disease, teeth and nose, skin diseases, etc.

Aztec teachers (tlamatimine) propounded a spartan regime of education – cold baths in the morning, hard work, physical punishment, bleeding with maguey thorns and endurance tests – with the purpose of forming a stoical people.

There is contradictory information about whether calmecac was reserved for the sons and daughters of the pillis; some accounts said they could choose where to study. It is possible that the common people preferred the telpochcalli, because a warrior could advance more readily by his military abilities; becoming a priest or a tlacuilo was not a way to rise rapidly from a low station.

Girls were educated in the crafts of home and child raising. They were not taught to read or write. Some of them were educated as midwives and received the full training of a healer; they were also called tizitl. Female tizitl would treat women throughout their reproductive life. They would admonish young wives, and after the second month of pregnancy, they began to watch for any problems. Probably because they were women, they preferred to save the woman's life over that of a fetus, resorting to embryotomy. Because of this, their work, called temiuxiuliztli, has sometimes been translated as "obstetrics" (Medicine in Mexico, before the Discovery. Dr. Manuel Valdez 1992). All women were taught to be involved "in the things of god"; there are paintings of women presiding over religious ceremonies, but there are no references to female priests.

There were also two other opportunities for those few who had talent. Some were chosen for the house of song and dance, and others were chosen for the ball game. Both occupations had high status.

Trade and commerce

Prior to the fall of the Aztec Empire, the Aztec people had a stable economy driven by a successful trade market. The markets, which were located in the center of many communities, were well organized and diverse in goods, as noted by the Spanish conquistadors upon their arrival. The regional merchants, known as tlanecuilo tended to barter utilitarian items and foodstuffs, which included gold, silver, and other precious stones, cloth and cotton, animal skins, both agriculture and wild game, and woodwork. The trade market of the Aztec people was not only important to commerce, but also to the socialization, as the markets provided a place for the people to exchange information within their regions. This type of trade market was used primarily for locally produced goods, as there was not much traveling needed to exchange goods at the market. With no domestic animals and to effective way to transport goods, the local markets were an essential part of Aztec commerce. However, the Aztec nobility obtained much of their merchandise from neighboring highland basins, distant places within the empire, and from land beyond the empire, therefore creating the need for a long distance trade organization. The word Aztec is usually used as a historical term, although some contemporary Nahuatl speakers would consider themselves Aztecs. ...

The long distance trade was carried out by merchants called pochteca, who were defined by their positions within the system. These professional merchants occupied a high status in Aztec society, below the noble class. The pochteca were responsible for providing the materials that the noble class used to display their wealth. These materials were often obtained from foreign sources. Due to the success of the pochteca, many of the merchants became as wealthy as the noble class, but were obligated to hide this wealth from the public. The pochteca were an advanced group who reported to 12 locations throughout the Empire, where the high officials were located.

The highest officials of the pochteca were the pochtecatlatoque. The pochtecatlatoque were the elder of the pochteca, and were no longer travelers, but rather acted as administrators, overseeing young pochteca and administering the marketplace. The second group of pochteca was the slave traders, known as the tlatlani. These people were often referred to as the richest of merchants, as they played a central role in bathing the slaves used for sacrificial victims.

The third group of long distance traders was the tencunenenque, who worked for the rulers by carrying out personal trade.

A group of trader spies, known as the naualoztomeca, made up the last group of pochteca. The naualoztomeca were forced to disguise themselves as they traveled, as they sought after rare goods. The naualoztomeca were also used for gathering information at the markets and reporting the information to the higher levels of pochteca.

All trade throughout the Aztec Empire was regulated by officers who patrolled the markets to ensure that the buyers were not being cheated by the merchants. Because markets were so large in numbers, in large cities reaching upwards of 20,000 people, the organization was crucial, and the Aztecs were able to create a successful market due to the success of enforcing the laws of the

Agriculture

The pre-conquest Aztecs were a society that prospered agriculturally, and they did so without the wheel or domestic beasts of burden. They had four main methods of agriculture that were quite successful. The earliest, most basic form of agriculture implemented by the Aztecs is known as “rainfall cultivation.” The Aztecs also implemented terrace agriculture in hilly areas, or areas that could not be used for normal farming. Terracing allowed for an increased soil depth and impeded soil erosion. The terraces were built by piling up a wall of stones parallel to the contour of the hillside. Dirt was then filled in, creating viable, flat farmland. There were three types of terrace agriculture, each one used for specific circumstances. The three types were; hillslope contour terraces (steeper slopes), semi-terraces (gentle slopes, walls were made with Maguey plants rather than stone), and cross-channel terraces. Terracing was used mostly in the highlands of the Aztec empire. In agriculture, a terrace is a levelled section of a hilly cultivated area, designed to slow or prevent the rapid run-off of irrigation water. ...

In the valleys of the empire, irrigation farming was used. Dams diverted water from natural springs to the fields. This allowed for harvests to be successful on a regular basis. The prosperity of a field was not dependent upon the rain. Irrigation systems had been in place long before the Aztecs. However, they built canal systems that were longer and much more elaborate than any previous irrigation systems. They even managed to divert a large portion of the Cuauhtitlan River to provide irrigation to large areas of fields. The network of canals was a very complex and intricate system. Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops. ... For other uses, see Canal (disambiguation). ...

In the swampy regions along Lake Xochimilco, the Aztecs implemented yet another method of crop cultivation. They built what are called chinampas. Chinampas are areas of raised land, created from alternating layers of mud from the bottom of the lake, and plant matter/other vegetation. These “raised beds” were between 2 and 4 meters wide, and 20 to 40 meters long. They rose about 1 meter above the surface of the water, and were separated by narrow canals, which allowed farmers to move between them by canoe. The chinampas were extremely fertile pieces of land, and yielded, on average, seven crops annually. In order to plant on them, farmers first created “seedbeds,” or reed rafts, where they planted seeds and allowed them to germinate. Once they had, they were re-planted in the chinampas. This cut the growing time down considerably. Lake Xochimilco is a lake located in the Mexican Basin, this water body was an important element for the human development in central Mexico. ... Chinampas is an Aztec term referring to a method of ancient Mesoamerican agriculture through floating gardens—small, rectangle-shaped areas of fertile arable land used for agriculture in the Xochimilco region of the Basin of Mexico. ...

Modern chinampas

While most of the farming occurred outside the densely populated areas, within the cities there was another method of (small scale) farming. Each family had their own garden plot where they grew maize, fruits, herbs, medicines and other important plants. Image File history File links Camas_chinampas. ... Image File history File links Camas_chinampas. ...

Of the various crops grown by the Aztecs, maize was by far the most important. Aztec diets centered around it. Maize was grown across the entire empire, in the highland terraces, valley farms and also on the chinampas. Women grounded maize into a coarse meal by rubbing it with a grinding stone called a mano against a flat stone called a metatate. The Aztecs made tortillas from the corn meal. This article is about the maize plant. ... This article is about the Mexican Tortilla. ...

Other crops that the Aztecs relied upon were avocados, beans, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, chia, amaranth and chilies. These crops were also grown everywhere. Crops that were specific to the lowland regions were cotton, fruits, cacao beans and rubber trees. Binomial name Mill. ... Green beans Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of Fabaceae (formerly Leguminosae) used for food or feed. ... Species - hubbard squash, buttercup squash - cushaw squash C. moschata- butternut squash C. pepo- most pumpkins, acorn squash, summer squash References: ITIS 223652002-11-06 Hortus Third Squashes are four species of the genus Cucurbita, also called pumpkins and marrows depending on variety or the nationality of the speaker. ... Binomial name (L.) Lam. ... For other uses, see Tomato (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Salvia hispanica L. Chia (Salvia hispanica) is a plant of the genus Salvia of the mint family. ... For other uses, see Amaranth (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Chili. ... For other uses, see Cotton (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Theobroma cacao L. For the town in French Guiana see Cacao, French Guiana Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is a small (4–8 m tall) evergreen tree in the family Sterculiaceae (alternatively Malvaceae), native to tropical South America, but now cultivated throughout the tropics. ...

Notes

References