Term Paper on "Aztecs the Great Aztec Civilization"

Term Paper 6 pages (1924 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Aztecs

The great Aztec civilization was so foreign and so utterly isolated from the other world civilizations that when the Spanish conquistadores first beheld it their emotions were a mixture of awe and horror. They were awed by the artistic, technological, and social advances they witnessed; but they were horrified by their pagan ways, the human sacrifices, and the cannibalism they saw. In short, the Europeans beheld the Aztecs as mere barbarians who had somehow managed to advance beyond them in a number of fields. Most importantly, the Aztecs were not Christian, and this fact alone warranted the massive destruction the Europeans were to unleash on them in the name of God. "The Europeans believed that they had 'discovered' a 'New World,' but their religious bigotry, cultural bias, and materialistic world view kept them from appreciating and understanding the people who lived in it." (Berdan 1989:7). Consequently, grasping the value of these people and their accomplishments requires that see them from an objective viewpoint; free of the bias that history and culture have instilled in us.

Mesoamerican civilization was quite remarkable, not only for its obvious architectural, scientific, and artistic achievements, but for its level of isolation. Certainly, the Aztecs were not isolated from other peoples -- they were surrounded by both friendly and hostile peoples -- but they were isolated from the other large civilizations of the world. As a result, many of the societal focuses, values, and rituals were almost entirely alien to the Spaniards, and unique to history. Accordingly, this makes their value for study far more expansive; it reveals a competing direction that the world may have taken had circumstances been somewhat different. Aztec society was equal or greater to Western society in a number of ways, but was undeniably inferior in the practice of inter-societal competition.

The origins of the Aztecs are so steeped in mythology and religion that scholars have continually struggled to uncover the historical realities that ultimately resulted in the sights the Spanish beheld. "We do know, however, that the flames of the Mexican civilization were kindled over three thousand years before the conquistadores gazed on Tenochtitlan." (Fagan 1984:27). The beliefs, customs, philosophies, and economies of the Aztecs were founded upon those which had existed when they were a tribal people living in the Basin of Mexico, and inherited from previous civilizations. The trade routes that were to foster Aztec commerce were already well established by 1500 B.C. while the Olmec peoples dominated Veracruz and the lowlands, and the Mayans established their cities in the Yucatan. The bridge between these ancient times, dominated by Mayan and Olmec influences, is said to be the pre-Aztec city of Teotihuacan, which was located approximately thirty miles east of modern-day Mexico City. It was founded around 200 B.C. And lasted to about 750 a.D. However, the cultural, linguistic, and social organizations of the people who lived there are little known. The city became the symbol of power and wealth in the north, as the Mayan civilization waxed in the Yucatan. The Toltec peoples founded the city of Tula in about 900 a.D. North of modern Mexico City, and are believed to have been the descendents of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan. By the twelfth century, however, this too crumbled under the pressures of warfare and famine. Many of the customs and philosophies that the Aztecs exhibited by the 1500's had been inherited from the Olmec, Mayan, and Toltec peoples that preceded their rise to prominence. "All of the pre-Aztec peoples seem to have had similar religious ideas and worshipped some of the same gods. They all used a calendar of 260 days and had similar beliefs about how their world was made." (Hull 1998:11).

According to Aztec legend, their original home was Aztlan or "The Place of Reeds." The exact location of Aztlan is unknown but, "Eventually, they entered the Valley of Mexico," and prophesy told the Aztec priests that they must eventually settle where they saw an eagle with a snake in its talons perching on a cactus (Hull 1998: 14). The prophesy was fulfilled as the sign was seen in the center of the shallow and marshy Lake Texcoco. It is estimated the Tenochtitlan was founded between 1325 and 1345, and aside from the religions and mythological origins, was an ideal location to ward off attack from neighboring tribes, as well as to foster trade. Tenochtitlan was, quite literally, a city on water. The center of the lake was dredged and soil was brought in to fill and solidify the marshland. Construction of the city was an enormous engineering undertaking even by modern standards, and assuredly, dwarfed anything the conquistadores had ever laid eyes upon.

Early in Aztec history, the tribe was largely regarded with suspicion by neighboring tribes and cities. Accordingly, they were often afforded only the worst lands upon which to settle; and even then, their earliest cities were conquered by warring tribes. In this respect, Tenochtitlan both made the best of the lands they were pushed onto and made them almost impervious to outside threats. Eventually the city grew, absorbing many smaller islands on the lake; the inhabitants began to increase their power with respect to the other cities and surrounding tribes. "Tenochtitlan -- meaning 'place of the Tenochas' or the place of the prickly pear cactus -- became the base of a great empire that would last 200 years. It was an empire of great invention and beauty, but also of customs and beliefs that we might think cruel." (Hicks 1993: 5).

Aztec civilization was based upon agriculture. Because of the huge expense and effort that went into creating land on the lake, agricultural land was extremely precious. "To overcome this problem the Aztecs built what have been called the floating gardens, or chinampas. These were woven reed baskets large enough to hold trees, filled with earth and fastened in shallow water." (Hicks 1993: 6). The central crop of the Aztecs was maize, which was used to make their most common form of sustenance, the tortilla. The social structure of the Aztecs demanded that lands be owned by large, extended families -- or clans -- rather than individuals. These clans played key roles in warfare, politics, and social policy.

As limited as the land devoted to producing maize was, animal sources of nutrition were even harder to come by. "Dogs, turkeys, and the Muscovy duck were the only domesticated animals in ancient Mesoamerica. All were used for food, but they made only a minor contribution to the Aztec diet." (Smith 2003:63). This situation is most closely analogous to the rice crop of eastern Asia, and contrasts sharply with the ancient West, were numerous animals were domesticated on a large scale for the purposes of nutrition. By virtue of their dependence upon Maize, the Aztecs developed some of the most advanced farming techniques in the world. In addition to the chinampas, they constructed complicated irrigation patterns involving hill slope contour terraces built out of stone; these varied in height depending upon the nature of the inclines. These, and other irrigation methods, enabled the Aztecs to utilize lands for farming that in other parts of the world would have been deemed unworkable, and to depend upon a single crop to supply a large city with a reliable source of food.

Even though Maize was the centerpiece of the Aztec economy, the Aztecs also exhibited a division of work and specialization that rivaled even sixteenth century Europe in the nature and quality of goods produced. "Work was heavily specialized, and a relatively small group of people was relied upon to manufacture most of the goods that people used for their homes, temples and workplaces. There were two types of craft industries in Aztec central Mexico -- utilitarian and luxury -- and the nature and organization of work in each of these sectors had very different for the lives of both producers and consumers." (Smith 2003: 78). Utilitarian items -- those that were fundamental to the functioning of society -- were crafted by part-time artisans who primarily worked out of their homes. Luxury items, on the other hand, were constructed in shops, financed by the wealthy patrons and worked upon full-time. Among the utilitarian items were obsidian tools, pottery, cotton textiles, wines and fibers derived from the maguey plant, as well as tools molded out of copper and bronze. The luxuries were, for the most part, feather and gold workings intended to reflect the wealth and power of those who could afford them. In all of these respects, Aztec society was very similar to medieval Europe.

It was also similar in its social distribution of power and wealth. "Nobles or lords ran the government, owned the land, commanded the army, and lived a more luxurious lifestyle than the commoners." (Smith 2003:125). Generally, Aztec society possessed a stark contrast to the ruling class and the serfdom. However, the traditional view of the bleak and oppressed lower class fails to accurately apply to the Aztecs; the Aztecs… READ MORE

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