Aztec Geographical Setting

Student Name: Ashton Gandrup The Aztecs

Geographical Setting: What continent? What Landforms? What important Places?

The Aztecs lived in Northwest Mexico and their capital city was Tenochtitlan which is now Mexico City. They created a powerful empire that stretched from Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean so they ruled large regions and established many flourishing cities. Another powerful empire was one that spread from the Valley regions to the Modern Guatemala area. The Aztecs were very unique in the fact that they lived on man-made islands and created floating gardens out on the water. Their location in Mexico really affected what they were able to accomplish in their tribes.

Political (Leadership, citizenship, decision-making institutions)

They had nomadic tribes that moved from place to place in search of a food source. This way, they knew where the good food was. There were 3 classes in their society: Nobles, Artisans, and Commoners, and 4 classes if you include the emperor. Nobles were mostly landlords, and priests that were well educated that had power in the government and army. Artisans were merchants in the intermediate class with some education but not greatly advanced. Lastly, there were Commoners who were the average class. They were farmers, crafters, weavers, soldiers, and they made up the majority of the population. The Emperor was the supreme ruler. He was the top of the class, lived luxuriously, had palaces, and got paid tribute. The Slaves were the absolute bottom including war captives and poor people. Most families lived in communities, the men farmed, while the women cooked and raised children. Religion dominated so war was a sacred duty; so boys had to go to war at age 15, sadly. The social order showed where people were and how their life

The most obvious legacies are the buildings. In the jungles of Mexico, historians have found many different stone monuments and buildings half buried in the Earth. There have also been discoveries of more jewelry like beads, pottery, feather headdresses, and what they called codices. These were their formal written documents of their writing system and language. Only these are what we know of their language today. Only 4 of these codices remain found so it seems we keep knowing less and less about cultures. Archaeologists have found glyphs or pictures of what maybe significant stories they’ve had. Ost of these artifacts have helped us gain knowledge about the Aztecs