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“The Aztecs (Part 1)”
Directions: Watch the film, “The Aztecs (Part I) and answer the following questions as thoroughly as possible. Answer in complete sentences. Your responses will be handed in and graded. The worksheet is worth 20 points.
1) Where was the Aztec Empire? What was the capitol city? How big was the Empire at its height?
Aztec empire was in northern Mexico. The capitol of the empire was Tenochtitlan.
2) What was the first advanced civilization in Mexico?
The Olmec was the first advanced civilization in Mexico.
3) What were the advancements of the Mayans?
Mayan astronomers perfected the calendar system, they predicted solar and lunar eclipse, figured out the path of Venus, and carved the Marshall exploits of their kings in stone.
4) Who were the Toltecs?
5) Why were the cities and monuments of the Pre-Columbian civilizations built by hand using only human labor?
6) What are the origins of the Aztecs? What year did the Aztecs find their homeland? What was the sign from the gods?
Aztecs found their homeland in 1299. Their god predicted an end to their wanderings.
7) How did the Aztecs fight? How did the Aztecs gain such a vast empire?
Aztecs were fierce warriors. Aztecs started harvesting from snakes, frogs, and lizards, so the empire flourished.
8) How did the Aztecs treat the people they conquered?
Conquered people were used as human sacrifice.
9) What was life like in the Aztec capitol?
10) How was Aztec society stratified?
11) What do we know about the Aztec religion? Why did the Aztecs practice human sacrifice?
Identifications
Directions: Explain each of the following terms. Include the date and historical significance of the term. You can look terms up online to add additional information.
Tenochtitlan: Tenochtitlan was a large Mexica altepetl, but now it’s the historic center of Mexico City. It was founded on June 20, 1325. It was built on lake Texcoco. Tenochtitlan was a capital of Aztec empire until it was captured by the Spanish in 1521. Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities in the world with 200,000 inhabitants.
Olmecs: Olmecs was a pre-Columbian civilization of Mesoamerica from 1200-400 BCE. Olmecs are especially identified with 17 huge stone heads ranging from 4.82 to 11.15ft. they lived in hot, humid lowlands along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Their art style appeared in 1200 BCE in San Lorenzo.
Teotihuacan: Teotihuacan was the largest urban center of Mesoamerica before Aztecs. Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population of 125,000 or more. 80 to 90 percent of the population of the valley resided in Teotihuacan. The city lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries. It collapsed due to extreme weather events of 535-536.
Nahua: Nahua is middle American Indian population of central Mexico. They migrated into the central Mexico around 500 CE. They rely on agriculture. Their main crops are corn, beans, peppers, tomatoes, and squash. They used slash-and-burn method to clear the land.
Toltecs: Toltec culture was a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that rules a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico in the early period of Mesoamerican chronology in 900-1521 AD.
Quetzalcoatl: Quetzalcoatl is the Nahuatl name for the feathered serpent deity of ancient Mesoamerican culture. The worship of Quetzalcoatl sometimes included animal sacrifices, and in other traditions Quetzalcoatl was said to oppose human sacrifice.
Chichimec: Chichimec are several groups of Indians who invaded central Mexico from the north in the 12th and 13th centuries AD and ended the Toltec hegemony in the region. their advent has been compared to that of the barbarian penetration of western Europe in the 5th century AD, which marked the end of the declining western Roman Empire.
Chinampas: Chinampas is a technique used in Mesoamerican agriculture which relies on small, rectangular areas of fertile arable land to grow on shallow lake beds in the valley of Mexico. The earliest fields that have been securely dated are from the middle postclassic period, 1500-1350 CE.
Moctezuma I: Moctezuma I is also known as Moteuczomatzin Ilhuicamina. Moctezuma I was born in Tenochtitlan in 1398. He contributed to Aztec empire from 1440-1453 until Spanish arrived. He died at the age of 70-71 in 1469.
Tlaloc: Tlaloc is a member of the pantheon of gods in Aztec religion. Tlaloc was a god of the rain, earthly fertility, and water.
Huitzilopochtli: Huitzilopochtli is the Aztec god of the sun and war. Huitzilopochtli is considered as one of the most powerful god.
Moctezuma II
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