Aztec Culture

The Aztecs lived in the twelfth to the sixteenth century. They were a group of people who travelled across Central America looking for a place to call home, the place they found is now called Mexico. They were very religious people and their lives were based on keeping their gods happy so they could survive. The Aztecs lived very differently to the way we live today. The Aztecs are very interesting, intelligent people but they were also very vicious. They are sometimes known as the ‘Angry Aztecs’ or the ‘Amazing Aztecs’. There are lots of areas of their culture to explore but this report will focus on how they passed their culture and knowledge on from one generation to the next, the literature of the time that is still available to read

Two ways of doing this were through school and record keeping. The Aztecs invented school and they made it law that every child in the whole Aztec empire had to go, boys, girls, and even slaves. Boys went to one of two schools. One school was for the sons of the successful and wealthy. The other school was for the common people and slaves. Boys and girls did not go to the same school. School was very tough and they didn’t have breaks or have any fun it was all work. At school children learnt about their culture through religious songs and dances and they also learnt skills and knowledge to help the empire. The schools were very strict and everyone had to behave because it was the law. If you broke a law, you could be killed or be sacrificed to the gods. Unlike today boys and girls learnt different things. Most boys were trained in hunting, farming, fishing, and fighting and the girls were taught how to be good mothers, good cooks or things like sewing. If a child was talented they were moved to special classes for example if they were good at maths they did engineering classes or if they were good with plants and making medicines they would learn to be a doctor or nurse. The Aztecs understood they needed people to do lots of different things to develop their culture, knowledge and empire. Another way the Aztecs passed information and knowledge onto future generations

Musical traditions were important to Aztec life and some musical instruments were very important. Music was used for fun and entertainment but its most important use was to record and pass on their culture and religion. Many of the gods Ometeotl, Tlaloc, Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca were all honoured in sacred hymns and songs asked or thanked the gods for things. Children from twelve to fifteen learned to dance, sing, and play different kinds of musical instruments. Everyone, even peasants, participated in dances and chanting for the gods. Some musical instruments were said to be holy and mistakes were thought to be an offense to the gods. An Aztec 'orchestra' was generally made of several types of rattles and different styles of drums. The trumpet sounds were long and deep while the drums created hypnotic rhythms. The big temple drums could be heard for miles around. Drums would accompany music or be used by themselves, they would also be used to lead warriors and tribes into the many battles the Aztecs had. The Aztecs believed the drums Teponaztli and Huetuetl were special sacred instruments. They believed that the gods Teponaztli and Huehuetl were two gods turned into these special and sacred drums and sent down to earth. Flutes were used to add melody to the music. The flute was called the huilacapitztli. Horns and trumpets were used too, such as the conch (tecciztli) and snail