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The Aztecs [a] (/ ˈ æ z t ɛ k s / AZ-teks) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to the 16th centuries.
The Aztecs were conquered by Spain in 1521 after a long siege of the capital, Tenochtitlan, where much of the population died from hunger and smallpox. Cortés, with 508 Spaniards, did not fight alone but with as many as 150,000 or 200,000 allies from Tlaxcala , and eventually other Aztec tributary states.
The Aztecs did not invent chinampas but rather were the first to develop it to a large scale cultivation. [3] [4] Sometimes referred to as "floating gardens," chinampas are artificial islands that were created by interweaving reeds with stakes beneath the lake's surface, creating underwater fences. [5]
The earliest, and most basic, form of agriculture implemented by the Aztecs is known as " rainfall cultivation." The Aztecs implemented terrace agriculture in hilly areas, typically in the highlands of the Aztec Empire. Terracing allowed for an increased soil depth and impeded soil erosion. Terraces were built by piling a wall of stones ...
The word Aztec in modern usage would not have been used by the people themselves. It has variously been used to refer to the Aztecs or Triple Alliance, the Nahuatl-speaking people of central Mexico prior to the Spanish conquest, or specifically the Mexica ethnicity of the Nahuatl-speaking tribes (from tlaca). [7]
The Mexica were subjugated under the Spanish Empire for 300 years, until the Mexican War of Independence overthrew Spanish dominion in 1821. In the 21st century, the government of Mexico broadly classifies all Nahuatl-speaking peoples as Nahuas, making the number of Mexica people living in Mexico difficult to estimate. [4]
The Totonacs were one of the peoples that were politically subjugated by the Aztecs and word was immediately sent to the Aztec Emperor (in Nahuatl, Tlatoani) of Tenochtitlan Motecuhzoma II. Going inland the Spaniards encountered and fought with Totonac forces and Nahua forces from the independent Altepetl of Tlaxcallan .
Aztec maize agriculture as depicted in the Florentine Codex One of the greatest challenges in Mesoamerica for farmers is the lack of usable land, and the poor condition of the soil. The two main ways to combat poor soil quality , or lack of nutrients in the soil, are to leave fields fallow for a period of time in a milpa cycle, and to use slash ...