The Aztec empire was the youngest Mesoamerican empire to fall to the Spanish conquistadors. It was dominant from 1300 A.D. to 1521 A.D. The Aztecs were comprised of diverse ethnic groups of central Mexico. The empire was a system of alliances between city-states, such as Tenochtitlan and Texcoco. The Aztecs continued to grow until they met the Spanish. As with the other native groups, the Aztecs had no immunity to the diseases that came from Europe.
We know a lot about the Aztecs from eyewitness accounts. They wrote about themselves using glyphs. However, their writing system was inferior to that of the Mayans. The Spanish explorers also wrote about their experiences with the Aztecs. We should be careful about trusting these sources. The writers often felt they were far superior to the indigenous people they wrote about.
Excavations have unearthed more information about the Aztecs. Excavations can show what temples and homes looked like in the past. They can help us trace how the people and their cities developed over time. Some of the most famous Aztec findings are made from turquoise, a blue-green mineral. With plenty of food, some of the people practiced a craft. Others traded commodities. People formed guilds to specialize in the craft of a certain commodity, like turquoise jewellery.
The Aztecs were skilled architects. The capital city of the Aztec empire was Tenochtitlan. We now call it Mexico City. Tenochtitlan was founded on an island. The Aztecs built chinampa beds to expand their space. The word chinampa means 'floating gardens'. These long plant beds were great tools for growing plants. They could provide up to seven harvests a year! Over time, the chinampas also helped the Aztecs add land around the sides of their island.
The Aztecs played a similar Mesomarican ballgame that the Olmecs did centuries prior. The Mayans and Inca also played it. The Aztecs called it tlachtli. Players hit a solid rubber ball with their hips, knees, and elbows to score the ball through a stone hoop. It was an entertaining sport. But the ballgame also had religious meaning.
Religion played an important role in Aztec life. Their calendar was based around their religious festivals. The Aztecs practiced certain rites to ensure the continuation of life. Human sacrifice is one of the stranger ones for us to believe. We would call it murder. These rites usually took place in one of the shrines at the Templo Mayor. Like the Inca and Egyptians, the Aztecs practiced mummification. Unlike the famous Egyptian mummies, Aztec mummies were kept in a seated position.
For the Aztecs, no one was mightier than Huitzilopochtli. He was the god of sun and war. They had a legend that told of the origin of their civilization. The early Aztecs travelled with nomadic tribes. Then Huitzilopochtli guided these first Aztecs to their new land. He told them to look for an eagle eating a snake while perched on a cactus. There, the people should build their new home. This was the site on which the first Aztecs built their capital city of Tenochtitlan. Even today, this famous legend is embodied by the coat of arms of Mexico.