Aztec Civivization

The Aztecs, known more correctly as the Mexicas, flourished in the highlands of central Mexico between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, AD. As the last in a series of civilizations in Mesoamerica, the Aztecs adopted many traits and institutions from their predecessors such as the Maya and Teotihuacan. The Aztecs also devised many innovations, particularly in economics and politics. Aztec civilization was destroyed at its height by the invasion of Spanish conquerors under Hernando Cortés in 1519. The Aztec peoples, who spoke the Nahuatl language, survived and intermarried with the Spaniards; today there are still over one million speakers of Nahuatl in rural areas of central Mexico.

The basic principle of Aztec social organization was the division of society into two social classes, the nobility and the commoners. The nobility was a hereditary group whose members occupied most of the important political positions and controlled most of the economic resources in Aztec society. The king (tlatoani) occupied the highest level of the nobility. Lords with the title tecuhtli were high-ranking chiefs with important political and military roles. Other nobles were called pilli. This social hierarchy within the nobility was marked by tribute payments (lower-ranking nobles paid tribute to kings) and by the sizes of the houses or palaces of the nobles. Nobles formed social and political alliances with nobles in other city-states through arranged marriages and other ties, and the entire Aztec nobility of central Mexico became enmeshed in a network of kinship and cooperation that transcended political boundaries. The Aztec political unit was the city-state, or altepetl, ruled by a king, or tlatoani. These kings were selected by a high council of nobles who chose from the male members of the city-state's royal family. Only proven military leaders were considered for kingship, and newly-selected kings had to undertake a successful campaign of conquest before they were fully invested in the office. As previously noted, most of the Aztec city-states had their origin in the Early Aztec period, and these continued to be important through the time of the Spanish conquest. Even when conquered by stronger polities or by the Mexica empire, city-states remained important local political units. Kings were generally left in power and local government continued without much interruption. Even after the Spanish conquest, city-states retained many of their functions of local administration and the Spaniards modeled their system of territorial organization after the pre-existing Aztec city-states.

The majority of the Aztec peoples (over 90%) were commoners, and as in the case of nobles there was wide variation in wealth and status within the commoner class. Most commoners belonged to a calpolli, a territorially-based social group whose members cooperated economically and socially. Although nobles owned the land, rural calpolli were responsible for allocating plots to individual farmers. In contrast to calpolli members, other commoners were subjected more directly to nobles and had less control over their own lives; these individuals were similar in many ways to European feudal serfs. At the bottom of the social scale were slaves (tlacotin), a non-hereditary group of persons typically engaged in personal service to their owners. Although commoners could never cross the hereditary line to become nobles, several lines of social mobility allowed commoners to raise their position in society. Success on the battlefield brought status and privileges, and merchants and priests could advance to higher levels of wealth or status.

The Aztec economy was based on agriculture. Staple crops included maize, beans, amaranth, and squash. The population explosion of the Late Aztec period brought about widespread intensification of agriculture throughout central Mexico. Stone terraces were built in hilly locations, rivers were dammed for canal irrigation, and the shallow swampy lakes of the southern Valley of Mexico were converted into highly fertile fields through the construction of raised fields (chinampas). In spite of the increasing yields of Aztec agriculture, famines and food shortages became regular events in the Late Aztec period, resulting in periods of social unrest and a general pattern of malnutrition for commoners. A variety of alternative food sources were exploited, including fish, algae, and insect larvae from the lakes. Aztec artisans produced a variety of utilitarian and luxury goods. Cotton textiles, produced by women of all social classes, were the most important craft product, both numerically and socially. In addition to their use as clothing, textiles were the primary item of tribute payment and also served as a form of money in the marketplaces. Ceramic cookware and ritual objects were produced throughout the Aztec realm. The volcanic glass obsidian was one of the most remarkable crafts in ancient Mesoamerica. Prismatic blades of obsidian, manufactured by specialists using a difficult and sophisticated method, had the sharpest edge known to science. These tools were used for a variety of domestic and production tasks, and they were one of the most important trade goods in the Aztec economy.