13 December, 2006
Aztec WebQuest Notes
Define
Anthropologist– A social scientist; someone who studies the cultural development of humans.
Archeologist- Someone who studies prehistoric people and their culture.
Economist- An expert in economics; someone how studies money.
Historian- An expert in history; someone who studies history.
Linguist- Someone who studies language.
Theologian- Someone who studies or is an expert in theology.
Answer
Step 1:
Where did the Aztecs originally live? What prompted them to relocate? Where did they end up and why? Choose an artifact, which you feel best, represents this event. Support your choice
The Aztecs originally lived in a place called Atzlan, located in North West Mexico. They were kicked out of many a village but one night Tenoch has a vision from the god Huizilopochtli who told him to lead his people to a island in the middle of Take Texcoco. There were told to build their city were there was an eagle with a serpent in its beak atop of a cactus named tenochtli, growing from a rock or cave, surrounded by water.
Step 2:
The Aztecs ended up in the middle of a lake and built their new capital
Tenochtitlan. What were the pros and cons of settling in the middle of a lake? Describe the lay of the land and choose an image for your exhibit.
The lay of the land was usually a lake with a small island in the middle. On this lake would be chinampas. On the island would be their temples and palaces.
Pros: the Aztecs could grow crops all year round, easy to get around (canoes), canals provided good defense.
Cons: snake infested maintenance of crops on chinampas.
Step 3:
Which gods were worshiped? The pyramids were built for what purpose?
The Aztecs had many gods who they worshiped. The three main gods were Huitzilopochtli, Tezcatlipoca, and Quetzalcoatl.
To keep the good god’s happy human hearts were sacrificed. The Great Temple Tenochtitlan was one temple built for the purpose of sacrifice. These temples were built of this purpose and had a flat top on which the sacrifices were preformed. When they wanted to improve upon their temples, instead of demolishing it they built over it so each temple had numerous layers.
Step 4:
Who are the different members of Aztec society? What are their roles? Choose an artifact that represents the social order of Aztec society.
There were three main members of Aztec society, slaves, commoners, and nobility.
Slaves could be bought and sold. Slaves could buy their freedom or if they made it to the royal palace undetected, they were granted freedom.
Commoners, or macehualtin, were the largest of the three ranks. These people were usually involved in agriculture and trade. Farmers could keep their crops but the land was owned by everyone in the neighborhood.
Nobles were nobles by birth, priests, and people who earned a high rank.
Step 5:
The Aztecs have a spoken language. What was it called? Did they use any other forms of communication? Include an example of either written or visual language of the Aztecs.
The Aztec language was Nahuatl. Like us, Aztecs did not only use speech to communicate, they also used writing. There were two types of writing they used, pictures and as letters they used glyphs. Pictures were used to tell stories and glyphs were used to indicate sound. Most Aztecs however, did not read or write.
Step 6:
How did the Aztecs grow food and what was their main crop? Did they trade and with whom? Did they have a currency (money)? Find an image for your exhibit about making a living Aztec style.
The Aztecs, like the Maya, also used the slash and burn method. They also made terraces to control the flow of water and grew some of their crops on chinampas. Slash and burn was used to enrich the soil where they would cut down an area of forest and burn it. Terraces were used to avoid flooding. On Chnampas, they would use reed mats and cover it with soil. The main crop of the Aztecs was corn but they also had many chili peppers, squash, tomatoes, and beans. The Aztecs main form of currency was cacao. The Aztecs did trade their goods with fellow Aztec cities.
Step 7:
Discuss the Impact of Spanish Contact 1519 from both the Aztec point of view and the Spanish point of view. Find an image depicting this event.
Firstly, when the Spanish arrived at
Tenochtitlan they were shocked by the beauty of their city. When they met the Aztecs they were given many gifts. This is because, in the Aztec religion, it was prophesized that on the same day the Spanish arrived, their god Quetzalcoatl was supposed to return to them. While Cortez was there, the Aztec emperor noticed his greed for gold and jewelry. He began to question if he was really their returning god. To get rid of Cortez, Moctezuma gave him much gold and jewelry. Now Cortez’s greed grew more and he took Moctezuma hostage and held him for ransom. Meanwhile, some of Cortez’s men killed Aztec’s during a religious ceremony. The Aztecs now decided to fight back. Cortez then showed them their emperor who died three days later after being hit on the head with a stone. Cortez then retreated and decided to find the Aztec enemies hoping they would join him. They blocked off the city to stop their supply of food and water. At this point the Aztecs had fallen sick with the newly introduced disease, small pox. Now the Aztecs were weak so Cortez broke in, destroyed all their buildings, and built churches to spread Christianity.
Step 8:
Discuss La Malinche or Dona Marina. Debate her positive/negative impact on
Mexico past and present. What does the term Mestizo refer to? What influences remain today from Aztec culture of the past?
La Marlinche, A.K.A. Dona Marina, was a translator for Cortez and translated the Aztec language of Nahuatl to Mayan, and then another translator translated this from Mayan to Spanish. Mestizos are people of Latin American and European ancestries.
Pros: She convinced Cortez to negotiate instead of kill straight away; she helped introduce Christianity to
Mexico; she tried to cease human sacrifices.
Cons: She communicated with the Aztec enemies and helped to create an alliance.
