Loading presentation...

Present Remotely

Send the link below via email or IM


Present to your audience

Start remote presentation

  • Invited audience members will follow you as you navigate and present
  • People invited to a presentation do not need a Prezi account
  • This link expires 10 minutes after you close the presentation
  • A maximum of 30 users can follow your presentation
  • Learn more about this feature in our knowledge base article

Do you really want to delete this prezi?



Ancient Aztecs

No description

Happy Sheep

on 6 December 2013

Comments (0)

Please log in to add your comment.

Report abuse

Transcript of Ancient Aztecs

Ancient Aztecs
, Justin and
Rachel M
Economic Life
Political Life

War and defence: Aztec had many different warriors. Some are high ranked and some are not. They didn't wear alot of defence, and prefered to be called different types of animals. Some are tiger and jaguar. Name depends on their fighting tactics, like the actual animals.

Government and Citizenship: Families didn’t own individual land the land was owned by a group of families called a calpulli. There were leaders of the calpulli who would form another council. The calpulli was responsible to make sure taxes were collected from the group. The Aztec government left a certain amount of freedom, so they didnt control everything.

Legal System: Some of the crimes in Ancient Aztec were; getting drunk below 70, stealing someone else's crops and murder. The most common punishment for a crime was the death penalty. But there were also lighter punishments like having your house demolished or shaving your head. If it wasn't that serious, the criminal would just have to repay for what they did.

Political Structure: First there was the Tlatcani or the Huey Tlatcani who was the leader. The Tlatcani was also worshipped as a god. Then there was the city council. The city councicouncil would choose 4 people to lead and 1 would be chosen as the Tlatcani. The calpulli was a group of families that owned a piece of land because families didn’t own their own piece of land. Then there were the families or individuals.
Environmental Life
Food: Normal aztecs ate two meals a day, but workers ate three meals. Aztecs ate spicy and rich food. They also ate food similar to tortillas. Their food were almost similar to what mexicans eat.

Clothing: Aztec clothing was generally made from cotton or Ayate fibre. Slaves only wore a loin cloth. Commoners also wore a loin cloth except they had a cloak around their body called a tilma

Health: Doctors used herbal treatments to cure and prevent minor illnesses like chest pains. Aztec doctors thought steam baths could help fevers by cleaning, relaxing and sweating out the spirits that caused the fevers. To mend wounds, the Aztecs used the method of washing the wounds with fresh urine, then applying a herb to stop the bleeding.

Shelter: Aztecs lived in small one room houses made from branches, glue and mud. Wealthy Aztecs lived in town houses, which were usually bigger. Instead of a bathroom hre was usually a sweat room, they were built from stone which was heated by setting fires around he outide walls. Then, Aztecs would splash water on the walls to make it steam. A person would stay inside until he/she began to sweat then would dash out and plunge into the nearest pool. The Aztecs had very little furniture, they slept on mats in the corners of the room and sat on straw cushions during the day. The main focus of the room was the fireplace, where all the cooking was done.Town houses were usually built on tall platforms made of volcanic rock, which was easier to carve. The walls were then covered with cement made from limestone, which made the outside of the house white and shiny. Most houses were opened to an internal courtyard. Most houses opened to an internal courtyard.

Technology/inventions: Some Aztec creations that we still use today are paint, weaponry, cement, beer, and silk. The most popular invention the Aztecs discovered were chewing gum and chocolate. They created chewing gum by discovering you can get a thick milky liquid from the sapodilla (evergreen) tree and harden it into chewing gum.

Trade: The Aztecs didn't trade with currency. They used their resources like chocolate or cacao beans.
Social Life
Thank you for listening to our presentation
Animals: The Aztecs mostly hunted animals for things like food and clothing. The most important hunted animal was the turkey. Aztec fishermen fished fish oysters, turtles and crab. Different animals represented different things or gods, for example the eagle represented Huitzilopochtli, the Sun god.

Natural Resources: The Aztecs had lots of natural resources because of their location. There were marshy lakes which provided a good source of fish, plants, salt and water. The Aztecs had cacao beans, which was used as currency. Chili and tobacco were also crops that were grown. The Aztecs used plants as food, medicine and drinks.

Landforms: The capital of Aztec was Tenochtitlan which was surrounded by a salt water lake. There are also mountains surrounding them except in the North. The Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan on an island in the Lake Texcoco

Climate: The average temperature was about 12 degrees Celsius. In the North, the rainfall was about 450 mm. In the south it was about 1,000 mm.
Ancient Aztecs
Left: Aztec Soldier
Middle: Jaguar Warrior
Right: Mexican Captain
The Map of Aztec
Any Questions???
Map of Ancient Aztec
The Fall of the Aztec Empire
Religion: The Aztecs had many beliefs. They believed the sun fought darkness every night and rose to save mankind. They believed the earth was flat. They believed that if they fed the sun blood, it would rise. They also believed in 13 heavens and 9 hells.
Aztec Language
Ancient Aztecs
Here are some words in 'N'ahuatl'
There are many stories of how the Aztec empire fell. Some possible reasons are because there were lots and lots of sacrifices which meant the loss of citizens. But the reason that most people believe is because of disease, a Spanish army came to Mexico led by Hernan Cortez. They conquered the Aztecs with better weapons and armour. An African slave carried a very contagious disease, small pox. The disease quickly spread and no one knew the cure, in most cases everyone in a house died.
The Start of the Aztec Empire
The Aztec empire started when a group of people named Mexica left their home in Atzlan in North-West Mexico at around the year 1300 led by their cheif, Tenoch. Tenoch had a vision about Huitzilopotchtli, their main god, telling him to find an eagle on a cactus growing on a rock surrounded by water. Then in 1325, they found the eagle on the cactus and they built their city there named after the cheif, Tenochtitlan.
Fun Fact: The Aztec language, N'ahuatl, is still spoken today.
Sports: The most famous sport the Aztecs played was 'Tlatchtli'. It's kind of like basket-ball except you hit the ball with your hips elbows or legs. And the losing team gets sacrificed to the gods. And also, the winning team can take belongings from the crowd.
Language: The language of the Aztecs was 'N'ahuatl'. It was a complicated language. They used pictures that were similar to letters. But nouns were easy, they just drew what the noun was.
Art: Very few languages had the word 'art' in it. In the Aztec civilization, this was called 'toltecat'. Toltecat came from a group of people known as the Toltecs. Their city was destroyed in 1168.
Hierarchy: There are 5 levels in the Aztec hierarchy; the king, the nobles/lords, the merchants, the commoners and the slaves. The king is called 'Huey Tlatoali', the lords were called 'Tecuhtli', the nobles were called 'Pilli', the merchants were called 'Pochtecatl', the commoners were called 'Macehualli' and the slaves were called 'Mayeques'.
Entertainment: Aztecs feasted, sang or played instruments like different types of drums or rattles. Aztecs also entertained themselves with games like Tlatchtli. Tlatchtli was already explained in sports.
Family: A new family begins when someone gets married. The relatives prepared their marriages. The roles of the family members were very important. In Ancient Aztec, men farmed and did craft work like pottery, weaving or metal work. Most Aztecs lived with their family for all their lives and many generations of family members lived in the same house or area.
Education: Aztec boys would either attend a calmecac or a cuicacalli. The cuicacalli was more like a military school, while in a clamecac children learned to live advisedly and to govern, and to understand and learn the way of their elders. They would learn about the history and religion of the Aztecs, the art of war and fighting and civic duties of every day citizenship. All the boys in the schools were trained for wars and all the schools had a competition, which sometimes led to fights. Aztec girls mostly stayed at home where they learned to become good wives.
Map of Mexico
Full transcript