Mr. Dowling
The Aztecs

What were the major acccomplishments of the Aztec empire?

Early Aztecs were nomads.

Nomads-people who move from place to place in search of food

1300s-settled in Central Mexico, building a powerful empire


Empire-large group or government that controls other goups or governments

Tenochtitlan-capital-located on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco

Constructed a system of causeways-raised roads of packed earth to link the capital to the mainland

Trade-"There are daily more than 60,000 people bartering and selling."-Spanish visitor in the 1500s

Religion

Aztec priests studied the sky and developed complex calendars.

Calendars are important for telling the Aztecs when to plant or harvest.

Performed rituals to please Aztec gods, especially the Sun God

Believed that each day the sun battled its way across the heavens-compared it to their own battles-Aztecs called themselves "warriors of the sun"

Believed the sun required human sacrifices in order to rise each day (sacrifice of captives

BELIEVED THEY COULD NOT BE CONQUERED

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