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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 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 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.
They are known to have been in use since 600 BCE. Some calendars were so precise, that by the 5th century BCE, they were only 19 minutes off. [15] Canals – the Aztecs constructed great canals used for transporting food, cargo, and relaying people to the chinampas (floating gardens used for growing food) in their great metropolis of ...
The other constants of Aztec food were salt and chili peppers and the basic definition of Aztec fasting was to abstain from these two. The other major foods were beans, squash [1] and New World varieties of the grains amaranth (or pigweed), and chia. The combination of maize and these basic foods would have provided the average diet.
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]
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 ...
Mexica children were forcibly taken to newly established Christian schools where they were indoctrinated into Christian beliefs and Spanish culture, and the surviving Mexica men and women were sent to work in newly-established Spanish estates, known as haciendas, as well as mines and other civil projects, such as digging canals.