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Aztec Society
Aztec society was a highly complex and stratified society that developed among the Aztecs of central Mexico in the centuries prior to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, and which was built on the cultural foundations of the larger region of Mesoamerica. Politically, the society was organized into independent city-states, called altepetls, composed of smaller divisions ( calpulli), which were again usually composed of one or more extended kinship groups. Socially, the society depended on a rather strict division between nobles and free commoners, both of which were themselves divided into elaborate hierarchies of social status, responsibilities, and power. Economically the society was dependent on agriculture, and also to a large extent on warfare. Other economically important factors were commerce, long-distance and local, and a high degree of trade specialization. Overview Aztec society can trace its roots to Mesoamerican Origins. Their language, lifestyle, and technolog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Complex Society
A complex society is a concept that is shared by a range of disciplines including anthropology, archaeology, history and sociology to describe a stage of social formation. The concept was formulated by scholars attempting to understand how modern states emerged, specifically the transition from small kin-based societies to large hierarchically structured societies. A complex society is characterized by features such as: * State with a large population wherein its economy is structured according to specialization and a division of labor. These economic features spawn a bureaucratic class and institutionalize inequality. * Archaeologically, features such as big architectural projects and prescribed burial rites. * Large scale agricultural development, which allows members of society time for specialized skill sets. *Organized political structure. The term is mostly used as shorthand to indicate a society with intricate political organization and using technology to expand economi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huastec Civilization
The Huastec civilization (sometimes spelled Huaxtec or Wastek) was a pre-Columbian civilization of Mesoamerica, occupying a territory on the Gulf coast of Mexico that included the northern portion of Veracruz state, and neighbouring regions of the states of Hidalgo, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, and Tamaulipas.Diehl 2000, pp. 184–185. The Huastec people were an early offshoot of the Maya peoples that migrated northwards. Surviving remains from the Huastec civilization include several large archaeological sites, a well-preserved temple, and a large amount of stone sculpture. By the Late Postclassic (c. AD 1200–1521), the Huastecs had developed metallurgy and were producing copper alloys. The Aztec Empire conquered the Huastec region around the 15th century, and probably demanded tribute payments. Culture The Huastec civilization is poorly studied, although there is a large body of stone sculpture, and a well-preserved Late Postclassic temple at Castillo de Teayo. In the Lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Texcoco (altepetl)
Tetzcoco (Classical Nahuatl: ''Tetzco(h)co'' ) was a major Acolhua altepetl (city-state) in the central Mexican plateau region of Mesoamerica during the Late Postclassic period of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology. It was situated on the eastern bank of Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico, to the northeast of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. The site of pre-Columbian Tetzcoco is now subsumed by the modern Mexican ''municipio'' of Texcoco and its major settlement, the city formally known as Texcoco de Mora. It also lies within the greater metropolitan area of Mexico City. Pre-Columbian Tetzcoco is most noted for its membership in the Aztec Triple Alliance. At the time of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, it was one of the largest and most prestigious cities in central Mexico, second only to the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. A survey of Mesoamerican cities estimated that pre-conquest Tetzcoco had a population of 24,000+ and occupied an area of 450 hectares. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otompan
Otompan (Nahuatl for "place of Otomis") or Otumba (the Spanish version of the name) was a pre-Columbian ''altepetl'' or city-state in the upper Teotihuacan Valley (now in Mexico). According to histories written in the colonial period (16th and 17th centuries), Otompan was created around 1395 when Techotlalatzin, ruler of Texcoco, settled Otomi refugees there who were fleeing the conquest of Xaltocan by the Tepanecs under Tezozomoc. References * * See also *Mapa de Otumba Mapa or MAPA may refer to: People * Alec Mapa (born 1965), American actor, comedian and writer * Dennis Mapa (born 1969), Filipino economist and statistician * Jao Mapa (born 1976), Filipino actor * Placido Mapa Jr. (born 1932), Filipino business ... Lost ancient cities and towns Altepetl Aztec sites Former populated places in Mexico Otomi sites 1390s establishments in North America {{mesoamerica-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trade Guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes depended on grants of letters patent from a monarch or other ruler to enforce the flow of trade to their self-employed members, and to retain ownership of tools and the supply of materials, but were mostly regulated by the city government. A lasting legacy of traditional guilds are the guildhalls constructed and used as guild meeting-places. Guild members found guilty of cheating the public would be fined or banned from the guild. Typically the key "privilege" was that only guild members were allowed to sell their goods or practice their skill within the city. There might be controls on minimum or maximum prices, hours of trading, numbers of apprentices, and many other things. These rules reduced free competition, but sometimes maintained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pochteca
''Pochteca'' (singular ''pochtecatl'') were professional, long-distance traveling merchants in the Aztec Empire. The trade or commerce was referred to as ''pochtecayotl''. Within the empire, the ''pochteca'' performed three primary duties: market management, international trade, and acting as market intermediaries domestically. They were a small but important class as they not only facilitated commerce, but also communicated vital information across the empire and beyond its borders, and were often employed as spies due to their extensive travel and knowledge of the empire. The ''pochteca'' are the subject of Book 9 of the ''Florentine Codex'' (1576), compiled by Bernardino de Sahagún. Status in Aztec society ''Pochteca'' occupied a high status in Aztec society, below the noble class. They were responsible for providing the materials that the Aztec nobility used to display their wealth, which were often obtained from foreign sources. The ''pochteca'' also acted as agents for the n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macehualtin
The mācēhualtin (IPA: , singular ''mācēhualli'' ) were the commoner social class in Aztec society. The Aztec social class of the ''mācēhualtin'' were rural farmers, forming the majority of the commoners in the Aztec Empire. The ''mācēhualtin'' worked lands that belonged to the social unit of the calpolli called chinampas, with each family maintaining rights to the land so long as it did not lie fallow for more than two years. Within these lands, the rural ''mācēhualtin'' constructed small dams and terraces to increase their agricultural yield. Crops common to Mexican agriculture were grown on these plots, including maize, beans and squash. These projects were probably organized by the local communities and were not state led. From their produce and productivity, the ''mācēhualtin'' were required to pay tribute to the Aztec nobility. During the reign of Moctezuma II (1502–1520), they were banned from serving in the royal palaces, as this monarch widened the divide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pipiltin
The Pipiltin (sg. ''pilli'') were the noble social class in the Mexica Empire. They are below the ruling nobles in the civilization's social structure and above the commoners who achieved noble status due to an outstanding deed in war. These people were members of the hereditary nobility and occupied positions in the government as ambassadors and ministers, the army and the priesthood. The subclasses within the ''Pipiltin'' were: tlahtohcapilli (a tlahtoani's son), tecpilli or teucpilli (a teuctli's son), tlazohpilli (son of legitimate wife), and calpanpilli (son of a concubine). Children of the ''Pipiltin'' were given extensive education in preparation for the role they will play in their adult life. They were sent to the ''calmecac'', which was the center for higher learning, to study the ancient wisdom as well as "elegant forms of speech, ancient hymns, poems and historical accounts, religious doctrines, the calendar, astronomy, astrology, legal precepts and the art of the gov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tlaxcala (Nahua State)
Tlaxcala ( 'place of maize tortillas') was a pre-Columbian city and state in central Mexico. During the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Tlaxcala allied with the Spanish Empire against the Aztecs, supplying a large contingent for and sometimes most of the Spanish-led army that eventually destroyed the Aztec Empire. History The Tlaxcalans arrived in Central Mexico during the Late Postclassic. They first settled near Texcoco in the valley of Mexico, between the settlement of Cohuatlinchan and the shore of Lake Texcoco. After some years the Tlaxcallans were driven out of the valley of Mexico and moved to the east, splitting into three groups along the way. While one group continued north towards the modern state of Hidalgo and another remained in the vicinity of Texcoco, a third group arrived in the modern valley of Tlaxcala, where they established the city of Tepetícpac Texcallan under the leadership of Culhuatecuhtli Quanex. Over the subsequent years, the Tlaxcallan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tlaxcaltec
The Tlaxcalans, or Tlaxcaltecs, are a Nahua people who live in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala. Pre-Columbian history The Tlaxcaltecs were originally a conglomeration of three distinct ethnic groups who spoke Nahuatl, Otomi, and Pinome that comprised the four city-states of the Tlaxcala Confederation. Eventually, the Nahuatl speakers became the dominant ethnic group. Despite early attempts by the Mexica, the Tlaxcaltecs were never conquered by the Aztec Triple Alliance. Some of the wars between the Tlaxcalans and the Aztecs are called the xochiyaoyatl (flower wars), as their objective was not to conquer but rather to capture enemy warriors for sacrifice.Hassig, Ross (1988). ''Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 130. . Spanish colonial history Eager to overthrow the Aztecs, which were their hated enemies, the Tlaxcaltecs allied with Hernán Cortés and his fellow Spanish conquistadors and were instrumental in the inv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mexica
The Mexica (Nahuatl: , ;''Nahuatl Dictionary.'' (1990). Wired Humanities Project. University of Oregon. Retrieved August 29, 2012, frolink/ref> singular ) were a Nahuatl-speaking indigenous people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island in Lake Texcoco, in 1325. A dissident group in Tenochtitlan separated and founded the settlement of Tlatelolco with its own dynastic lineage. In 1521, they were conquered by an alliance of Spanish conquistadors and indigenous people including the Tlaxcaltecs led by Hernán Cortés. Names The ''Mexica'' are eponymous of the place name Mexico (''Mēxihco'' ), originally referring to the interconnected settlements in the valley that is now Mexico City. The group was also known as the Culhua-Mexica in recognition of its kinship alliance with the neighboring Culhua, descendants of the revered Toltecs, who occupied the Toltec capital of Tula from the 10th to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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