Aztec society

calendar

thumb|300px|right|Modern chinampas thumb|right|300px|The lake system within the Valley of Mexico at the time of the [[Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire, showing distribution of the chinampas.]]

Aztec manuscript

thumb|250px|Glyphs representing , , and , the three primary of the Aztec Empire.

thumb|right|300px|Part of the Huexotzinco Codex, written on amate. Amate ( from ) is a type of bark paper that has been manufactured in Mexico since precontact times. It was used primarily to create codices.

culinary traditions in the Aztec Empire

thumb|right|200px|A , illustrated in the 16th-century Aztec manuscript, the [[Durán Codex]]

aztec rite

thumb|260px|Temazcal at the Joya de Cerén archaeological site, El Salvador A temazcal is a type of sweat lodge, which originated with indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica. The term temazcal comes from the Nahuatl language, either from the words (to bathe) and (house), or from the word (house of heat).

Aztec herbal manuscript

Mesoamerican religion of the Aztecs

school of philosophy that developed out of Aztec culture

thumb|Mature edible nopal pad

350px|right|thumb|A drawing from the 16th century Florentine Codex showing a One Flower ceremony with a teponaztli (foreground) and a [[huehuetl (background).]] thumb|This is a type of teponaztli made out of a turtle shell or ayotapalcatl A teponaztli is a type of slit drum used in central Mexico by the Aztecs and related cultures.

230px|thumb|Pochteca as they appear in the Florentine Codex 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

In pre-Columbian Aztec society, calpulli (from Classical Nahuatl calpōlli, , meaning "large houses", singular calpul) were units of commoner housing that had been split into kin-based or other land holding groups within Nahua city-states or altepetls. In Spanish sources, calpulli are termed parcialidades or barrios. The inhabitants of a calpul were collectively responsible for different organizational and religious tasks in relation to the larger altepetl. A calpul could be created based on an extended family, being part of a similar ethnic or national background, or having similar skills and

manuscript on Aztec history from the late XVIth century

society in central Mexico prior to the Spanish conquest

250px|thumb|right|Aztec Tlālpanhuēhuētl with Symbols of War, National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico)|National Museum of Anthropology, [[Mexico City]] The huēhuētl is a percussion instrument from Mexico, used by the Aztecs and other cultures. It is an upright tubular drum made from a wooden body opened at the bottom that stands on three legs cut from its base, with skin stretched over the top. It can be beaten by hand or wood mallet.

Aztec religious ceremony of renewal held every 52 years

The mācēhualtin (IPA: , singular mācēhualli ) were the commoner social class in Aztec society.

leader or minister in Aztec government

postconquest cartographic Aztec codex

The Pipiltin (sg. pilli) were the noble social class in the Mexica Empire. They are the lowest 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. Pipiltin often headed their own noble houses, called tecalli, with their own lands and dependent labourers. The subclasses within the Pipiltin were: tlahtohcapilli (a tlahtoani's son), tecpilli or teucpilli (a teuctli's s

left|thumb| A tlacochcalcatl pictured in the Codex Mendoza folio 67r. He is brandishing a shield (chimalli) and a lance ([[tepoztopilli), he wears a skull helmet, dyed cotton armour and has a banner (pamitl) on his back]] Tlacochcalcatl ( "The man from the house of darts") was an Aztec military title or rank; roughly equivalent to the modern title of field marshal. In Aztec warfare the tlacochcalcatl was second in command only to the tlatoani and he usually led the Aztec army into battle when the ruler was otherwise occupied. Together with the tlacateccatl (general), he was in charge of the Az

Clothing worn by Aztecs

thumb|Nahuatl [[glyph of a calmecac (codex Mendoza, recto of the folio 61).]]

A tlapitzalli is an aerophone known from pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, particularly the Aztec. It is a form of flute, made of ceramic, wood, clay, or bone. They are most often decorated with abstract designs or images of Aztec deities. The tlapitzalli could be multi-chambered, examples using up to four chambers are known. Tlapitzalli was also a term that was used to refer to the conch shell trumpets used to coordinate attacks during Aztec war ceremonies.

thumb|A tlacateccatl pictured in the Codex Mendoza (folio 67 recto). He is brandishing a shield (chimalli) and a lance ([[tepoztopilli), wears dyed cotton armour, and has a banner (pamitl) on his back]]

postconquest cartographic Aztec codex

slavery as practiced within the pre-conquest central Mexican society