What was Aztec climate like?

Answer 1

Agriculture formed the basis of the Aztec economy. Corn was the most important crop. Farmers also grew avocados, beans, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and many other crops. The lowlands provided such tropical products as cotton, papayas, rubber, and cacao beans, from which chocolate is made.

The basic agricultural tool was a pointed stick for digging. In the lowlands, which were covered with dense forest, farmers practiced slash-and-burn agriculture. They chopped down and burned a section of forest, then planted crops in the clearing. The ashes fertilized the soil. In the highlands, the Aztec cut terraces into the hillsides to increase the amount of level farmland. They also dug irrigation systems to water their crops. In addition, farmers turned areas of shallow lakes into cropland by scooping up mud from the lake bottoms to form islands. These islands were called chinampas. The farmers regularly added fresh mud, which was extremely fertile. As a result, the chinampas yielded huge crops. Lake Xochimilco in Mexico City still has many chinampas. Although they do not float, they are often called floating gardens.

Trade and transportation. The market place was a major center of Aztec life. The market at Tlatelolco was the largest in the Americas. It displayed nearly every kind of merchandise available in the Aztec world. The Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes reported that more than 60,000 persons visited it daily. There were also many smaller markets throughout the empire. Government officials supervised the trading.

Merchants called pochteca traveled throughout the empire on trading expeditions. The merchants employed many bearers, who marched in long caravans with heavy loads on their backs. People of the lowlands traded such products as cacao beans, cotton, jaguar pelts, rubber, and the feathers of tropical birds. In return, they received goods from the highlands, including obsidian, which was used for knives, and a variety of manufactured products.

The Aztec had no system of money as we know it. They usually traded goods and services for other goods and services. But the Aztec used cacao beans and other widely acceptable goods somewhat as we use money.