A Few Important Facts about the Aztec Empire
- Population: In 1519, the population of the Basin of Mexico was estimated at 1 million inhabitants, between 100,000 and 200,000 in the capital city alone
- Extent: Thirty-eight provinces were submitting tribute to Tenochtitlan in 1519, according to the Codex Mendoza
- State Language: Nahuatl, a Uto-Aztecan language
- Life Expectancy: 37 years, due to high birthrates and high infant mortality rates
- Writing: State documents concerning administrative details such as the amount of tribute paid to the capital city by each province were preserved on colorfully painted bark cloth paper, made by soaking and pounding the inner bark of the fig or mulberry tree.
- Calendars: Like the Maya and other American civilizations, the Aztecs had two cycles to their calendar, one a 365-day solar year and one a 260 ritual year. Combined, they made a 52-year 'Calendar Round'. The Aztecs believed bad things happened at the end of a Calendar Round.
- Marriage: Men could take as many wives as they could afford. The first wife was principal, but all wives spun thread and wove cloth, both sources of wealth for Aztec families.
- Ethnographic Data: The most complete information we have on the Aztecs today comes from members of the Spanish colonization force, such as Bartolome de las Casas and Fray Diego Duran.
Aztecs Ritual and the Arts
- Intoxicants: Pulque, from fermented agave sap; peyotl buttons, datura, psilocybin, black nightshade, tobacco, morning glory seeds, chocolate in a drink, sometimes flavored by chili peppers and/or vanilla
- Lapidary Arts: Jadeite, obsidian, chalcedony, spondylus shell
- Metallurgy: Two bronzes, one of combined copper and tin, and one of copper arsenic; cast bells, rings and tweezers; some gold and silver. Much was imported from west Mesoamerican mines and metalworkers; craft work in Tenochtitlan included hammering, filigree and lost wax methods.
- The Feathered Serpent: This pan-mesoamerican fantastic creature was called Quetzalcoatl in the Aztec language.
- Tlachtli Ball Game: Played with a rubber ball in a masonry court, the ball game called tlachtli was so important to the Aztecs that 16,000 balls were imported from the Maya lowlands into Tenochtitlan annually.
Aztecs and Economics
- Markets and Trade Network: Cortes reported that he found a large market system in place in the Aztec capital city, where 60,000 people came to trade goods. During the Aztec Empire (1325-1520), the distribution of goods was so widespread that many of the materials traded were mass-produced in villages. A long-trade exchange system was in place throughout the Aztec Empire, with professional traders called pochteca carrying goods such as bird feathers, cacao beans and, most importantly, information.
- Currency: Gold jewelry, textiles, cacao beans, and beaten copper axes.
- Cultivated Crops: Maize, beans, salvia, squash, tomatoes, cactus, cotton, chile, manioc, goosefoot, amaranth, cacao (chocolate), avocado, agave
- Domesticated Animals: Turkey, duck, dog
- Agriculture: The chinampa system of agriculture used by the Aztecs consisted of a raised planting platform built in a shallow swampland and irrigated through a series of dikes.
Aztecs and Warfare
- Weaponry: Bow and arrow, atlatl, oak broadswords with obsidian blades, thrusting spears, round shields of fire-hardened cane, quilted cotton armor, and shield and armed canoes.
- Ritual Sacrifice: According to written records by the Spanish, prisoners of war were led to the top of the Great Pyramid in Tenochtitlan and sacrificed by having their hearts cut out. Their bodies were then thrown down the steps of the pyramid, where they were decapitated, dismembered and eaten by Aztec warriors. This may have been exaggerated by Sahagun, but there is no doubt that ritual sacrifice was part of the rituals of Aztec war.
- Ritual Bloodletting Bloodletting, or auto-sacrifice, was a personal ritual performed by Aztec elites.
- Empire: The Aztec mode of imperialism was to conquer a new territory, and then put in a leader over the existing system, rather than replace the entire ruling leadership. This unique blend of force and bribery was extremely effective in maintaining a far flung empire.
