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Aztecs

The Aztecs were active in Mexico from the 14th through 16th centuries. They are most famous for their practice of human sacrifice.

6,012 Questions

How did the Aztecs keep track of time?

The Aztecs had two types of calendars.

The first is the scared calendar known as the Tzolkin. It combines the numbers from 1 through 13 with a sequence of 20 day-names. It works in a similar manner to our named days of the week, and their date within each month. So you might have 5-Chikchan (like our Sunday the 5th) followed by 6-Kimi (as we would have Monday the 6th). After 260 days the same number/name combination will re-occur, and the calendar starts anew. Their use of the vigesimal (base 20) numbering system probably relates to fingers and toes, whereas the 13 nicely fits the growth phase of the moon which isn't visible when new and appears full for two days on end, thus appearing to have a 13 day growth cycle. Alternatively, the length of the Tzolkin may be related to the human gestation period of nine months (273 days). It has been suggested that 260 days is the time between a woman suspecting her pregnancy (she doesn't menstruate) and when she gives birth.

The second is the agricultural calendar known as the Haab, or vague year. It consists of 18 months, each of 20 days. An addition of a five-day month (a period of apprehension and bad luck named Uayeb) gives us 365 days, an approximation of a year. This calendar's primary purpose was to keep track of the seasons, for seasonal and solar events would occur on roughly the same day of each year. The Maya were aware of the annual quarter day discrepancy, but it is not known if they ever did anything about it.

These two independently running calendars each begin again every 260 and 360+5 days. However, every 52 years they coincide.

What were the Mayan's Inca's and Aztec's government systems?

Inca Government

The Inca empire was like a pyramid with the Sapa Inca at the top. The empire was divided into 4 regions ruled by men called opas. Below them there were more layers of government.

To help rule their vast empire the Incas created an efficient network of roads. The Incas also made rope suspension bridges. As well as the roads the Incas had messengers called chasquis. Messages were carried by relay. Groups of messengers lived in houses by main roads and at all times two of them kept lookout. If they saw another messenger approaching one of them would run to meet him. The two messengers would run together for a while and the message was passed on from one man to the other. Using this relay system messages could be sent over long distances very quickly. Inca messengers could take messages 240 kilometres in one day.

Furthermore although they never invented writing the Incas kept records with a device called a quipu. It was a cord with strings of different thickness and colours hanging from it. Knots were tied at different positions in the strings. The colour and thickness of the strings and the positions of the knots all meant something.

The Incas did not have prisons. Instead for serious crimes such as murder, stealing and blasphemy offenders were executed by being pushed off a cliff. Less serious crimes were punished by cutting off the hands or blinding.

Why did the spanish Colonize The Inca Empire?

They realized that the Inca empire was the city of gold. The Spanish became poor during this time so some Spanish people set sail and brought back stories about the city of gold. So Francisco Pizarro set sail to Peru and found the city of gold (Inca empire). He then treated them like slaves and made them change religion to Christianity.

What were three reasons that Teotihuacan was destroyed?

Although Teotihuacan is wrongly believed to be founded by the Aztecs, it was built by a more ancient, unnamed civilization between 400 and 150 BC. By the time the Aztecs founded their capital city of Tenochtitlan in 1325 AD, Teotihuacan had been already abandoned -- actually, for almost 200 years, since around 1150 AD. Teotihuacan is the name given to the city by the Aztecs, meaning "city of the gods". Current archaeological studies point to famine, war or even climate change as the main culprit of its destruction.

Now, if you are asking about the city of Tenochtitlan (capital of the Aztec Empire), the main reason is war and an epidemic of smallpox brought by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century, which decimated the city from 200,000 to just a couple of thousand by 1521.

How many days were there in the Aztec Calendar?

The Aztec calendar is 365 days without a leap day (Xiuh-Pohualli). Like the Maya, the 20-day constant of a 360-day calendar will create a cycle with their 13 days so that the days which cycle numbered 1 thru 13 will also have the 20 names meet with them every 260 days (Tonal-Pohualli, or ritual cycle).

What were all the religious beliefs of the Aztec?

hmm...I would say that the Aztecs believed in many gods. They worshiped the son, the stars, the moon, the trees..etc. (or things like that)---Polytheism.

And i would say that back in the earlier centuries of this ever-changing world, the major / principal religion for the Spanish (and the majority of the European countries) was Christianity..or to be more specific. Roman Catholic. ya mum is fat

Were the Mayan and Aztecs Native Americans?

The Maya and Aztecs were and are Native Americans. They lived on the North American continent for thousands of years. Native American refers to to being native to North and South America. The Maya are still around to this day and they still inhabit a large amount of southern Mexico and are not mixed but are of pure blood and such tribes are the Lancandon, and The Chamula, which are but a few examples of Mayan tribes still in existence. The Aztecs and Maya inhabited Central America, in modern-day Mexico. Mexico is a native term as well, and came from the term Mexica which is the Aztec name for themselves pronounced "Mesheeca." The only division between natives are the borders that have been erected. People who are native to America stretch from Alaska and Canada all the way down to the southernmost tip of Chile and Argentina. They are all Native Americans.

What did Cortes think of the Aztecs?

Cortes thought they were disgusting. the way they sacrificed people from different tribes and fed there heart to their god.

How were the Aztecs similar to the Maya?

well i only have two for now and the answer is not tuna fish like another person has said lol but the answers are they both sacrifce humans to the gods and the last one is they are polytheistic which means they believe in more than one god hope this could help. The aztecs calendar stone looks exactly like the mayan calendar that predicts the end of the world on 21/12/12

In what order did the following civilizations arise beginning with the earliest Aztec Inca Maya olmec?

I didn't really understand your question but I think you mean the order of which they came in. First came the Maya, then the Aztec, and then the Inca :)

Of course that was the order of their creation. There was a period where their empires existed simultaneously.

What materials are used to make Aztec masks?

The most sacred ones (usually burial masks) were made out of Jade. Ceremony masks were made out of wood. Some masks were adorned with colored stones and decorative metals. Poor Mayans made masks out of palm tree bark or paper mache.

When did Hernan Cortes conquer the Aztecs?

Cortes completed his conquest of the Aztecs in the year of 1521.

How were the Aztec pyramids built?

We don't know. Any answers given are speculation.

However we can compare with other massive structures built by other ancient civilisations and this can give us clues as to likely methods.

My best guess would be that the stones were each put on by hand using many people and the structure built from the ground up. The stones these pyramids are constructed from do not appear to be too big for a man to move an individual block, so this is not as hard to explain as structures built from very large stones.

Why is 1519 an important date in history?

The year of 1519 is an important date in history in that Hernando Cortes' was set foot into the Aztec Empire in today's Mexico. He began to end the empire and by this act began the full efforts of Spain to conquer a large part of the New World. Up to that point the Spanish explorers had only staked out territories in Cuba.

How did the great Aztec and Inca empires come to an end?

200 Spanish conquistadors came and ambushed the Inca ruler. in the process they killed millions of Incas without loosing one of there own. Over the years the remaining Incas tried to regain there city but all attempts failed.

What is the weather in the Aztecs?

The Aztec Empire was situated in both tropical or semi tropical weather zones.

In a Aztec civilization was everyone equal?

Not at all; the Aztec was a civilization with a highly hierarchical society, headed by the emperor or uei tlatoani, and all his relatives were the top civil, military and religious leaders. Then, there was the royal court or pilli, who had their nobility titles acquired by means of individual merit, not inheritance. The middle-high class or mayeques were artisans of gold, silver or wood crafting. The common people or macehuales were those who didn't have any outstanding achievements in any field or area of knowledge. Finally, there were the slaves, who were at the end of the social ladder, and included petty criminals and women and children captured during conquest of other tribes.

Why did complex civilizations like the Aztecs and the Incas loose to the Spanish?

The Aztec civilization was a large empire with a very centralized form of government and a very distinctive capital city (Tenochtitlan), while the Maya civilization was composed of a series of city-states with no centralized government.