aztec

Everyday

1. The Aztecs were a people who built a great empire in what is now central Mexico, with their capital Tenochtitlan built on a lake, until the Spanish conquest. tree →
2. Aztec describes things from their culture: Aztec gods, Aztec pyramids, the Aztec calendar. tree →
3. Aztec is also used for patterns inspired by their art, though this name is sometimes thought to be inaccurate. tree →

In the lessons

In UK and US history lessons the Aztecs are a common topic: their city on the lake with floating gardens (chinampas), their temples and human sacrifice, their markets, chocolate drink, writing with pictures, and the arrival of Hernán Cortés and the Spanish, which ended the empire. Their descendants and language, Nahuatl, are still alive in Mexico today. Phrases: the Aztec Empire, Aztec gods, Aztec warriors, Aztec calendar.

Examples

• The Aztecs built their capital on an island in a lake. tree →
• Aztec farmers grew maize on floating gardens. tree →
• The Aztecs drank chocolate with chilli in it. tree →
• Spanish soldiers led by Cortés conquered the Aztec Empire. tree →
• Our class made masks of Aztec gods. tree →
• The Aztec calendar stone is carved with a face in the middle. tree →
• Words like «chocolate» and «tomato» come from the Aztec language, Nahuatl. tree →
• Diseases brought by Europeans killed many Aztec people. tree →

Note

A name, so it takes a capital A: Aztec, the Aztecs (the input is lower case only by format). Pronounced «AZ-tek». Do not mix up the Aztecs (central Mexico), the Maya (southern Mexico and Central America, older) and the Incas (Peru in South America). Many people today say «Mexica» for the people the Aztec capital belonged to.