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.). A calpulli was, therefore, one of the main social organizations of the Aztec society. Capullis usually controlled land and also operated schools for young men. Nahuatl (pronounced in two syllables, NA-watl ) is a term applied to some members of the Aztecan or Nahuan sub-branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family, indigenous to central Mexico. ... The term Pre-Columbian is used to refer to the cultures of the New World in the era before significant European influence. ... The Aztecs were a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. ...

The districts of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, were also known as calpulli due to their association with various clans or families. Tenochtitlan, looking east. ...