By: S.R., N.S., and S.T.Period 2

Wet and nurturing type of enviroments were the only kind of land that the aztecs would most likely live on.A terrain of land that was also most of the time year round very humid and hot,rain was always supplementary for them,to grow crops and everyday needs.Mountains and deserts were also included in some parts of their territory.

The aztecs social class was their way of organization in the society.It would also grow very fast and become into a very challenging state of society being compared to the other societies that were also being built on at the time.The Aztecs were either commoners or nobles. But these two classes worked as the main types of the people that were to ever fall into any of the categories. The common people were the macehualli. Subclasses were also put into all of these categories no matter how small it all ready was.

The Aztecs were polytheistic. They believed in about a thousand gods. They believed in these gods because they each represented a force of nature, and the Aztecs believed that disrespecting a single god could lead to distruction and chaos in the world. Thus, T\the calendar helped them know, on which day they worshipped a specific gods. But they worshipped the sun god the most. Religious ceremonies took place in a temple called teocalli, and were conducted by priests. If a person died a normal death, their souls would have to go through the nine lives of the underworld before reaching Mictlan, the realm of the dead. But a warrior who died in war, or a woman who died during childbirth was thought to go straight to heaven.

They conducted human sacrifice because they believed that if they fed the sun blood, it would keep the sun god happy and that it would rise every morning. Being sacrificed was considered an honor to the Aztec people because they were thought they would go straight to heaven. To the Aztecs, it was the way they died rather than the way they lived that determined whether they went to the sun god (heaven) or hell. If a person died a normal death, their souls would have to go through the nine lives of the underworld before reaching Mictlan, the realm of the dead. But they also sacrificed men who they captured in war.

TOOLS/ WEAPONS The Aztecs had no iron or bronze: their tools were made with obsidian and chert as

well as copper. Their technology was so advanced, though, that they had even made drills; which were made of reed or bone. Some of the most well designed and efficient consisted of: the atlatl, this made it easier to throw a spear more accurately; a macuahuitl, this was a wooden club containing sharp pieces of volcanic glass, or obsidian. It was used to disable an enemy without killing them. They even utilized the bow and arrow.

TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSPORTATION The Aztecs, while familiar with the wheel, only used it for toys. Also, not having

any horses or mules, they developed dugout canoes that could be used to transport themselves and goods to various parts of Mexico through its numerous waterways.

TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION The Aztecs were very advanced scientific thinkers and mathematicians. The Aztec

number system was far more advanced than other cultures at the time. It involved the concept of zero, which, at the time, was not a very widespread or accepted idea. As well as being outstanding mathematicians, they were also very talented astronomers. This led to the development of their amazingly accurate calendar.

Economy In the beginning, the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan could support itself. In the chinampa-

a method of farming used throughout Mesoamerica- flat reeds were placed in the shallow areas of a lake, covered with soil, and then cultivated. As the population grew, the economy of Tenochtitlan depended on high levels of economic support from surrounding areas. A large number of the city were farmers. These farmers would leave in the morning and return at night to help support their city. Tenochtitlan was a true urban center: it was constantly filled with much activity. It also had the beginnings of economic class. Aztec merchants also played a large part in the economy with the markets and trading with other peoples in the land.

Culture/ politics Within Aztec society there are four social classes: nobles, commoners, serfs, and

slaves. Nobles were the highest in rank and could easily be recognized by the manner that they dressed. To achieve noble status one could become a religious leader or inherit the status. Commoners and serfs were much alike though serfs had less freedom and privileges. Slaves had no rights and few to no possessions. Of course there were the priests and emperors on the top of the social pyramid. The position of emperor was hereditary, thus passed down to the eldest son. The role of priest would mean to sacrifice people to the sun god by ripping out their hearts and arranging ceremonies to do so.

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S.Thttp://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-social-classes.html http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/latam/aztec.html http://www.aztec-history.net/ http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-technology.html http://www.crystalinks.com/azteculture.html http://aztec.com/page.php?page=economy