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= ﻿ christian will be: pink = = Kegan will be: turquoise = = Noah will be: Red ﻿ = = Hey, this is Kegan, Noah, and Christian's wiki, and our topic is Aztecs. = = ﻿ = = ﻿Kegan will be covering Agriculture, food/drinks, and clothing. Christian will be covering dance/music, and crime/punishment. Noah will be covering beleifs and religion. We chose this topic because its easy to learn and find information about, and Aztecs are cool to learn about =

== **The Aztecs have ate the same main meal for over a million years, this meal contains maze (Corn, the main food source), Atole ( A type of porridge), Tamales, a different version is white tamales with beans, squash, tomato’s, cactus fruits, and rice. For that beginning, the vegetables and fruits of the meal now comes the meat. The meat in the meal is deer, dog, rabbit, turkey, Locus, rubs, fish eggs, lizzed grubs and honey. For dessert they ate chocolate. In their culture they took coco, the bean of chocolate to support warriors. The Aztecs have used ground maze and coco to provide stamina and it was also used in sacred rituals. Chocolate was the elite drink. The Aztecs ate twice a day, the main meal came at the hottest part of the day. The drink part of the meal would just be the fruits and vegetables squeezed out for the liquids. An alcoholic beverage was provided to warriors, nobles and royalty. The drink is mad by sap, the put it in a large tank to rot, finished product was called Octli. Aztec women wore a skirt wrapped around their hips and waist. Men wore loincloths often wearing a sleeveless poncho or a cloak over it. All men carried a small pouch under their cloak or poncho that was slung over the shoulder. They used it to carry coca leaves to chew which were like tobacco leaves. They also carried amulets for good luck. The bright colors and the natural shine of tropical bird feathers made them very desired when it came to trading them. The birds were hunted and kept in captivity for their feathers. The feathers were plucked and then woven into beautiful designs or they were used for head dresses. ** == == **Tenochtitlan was built on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. The Aztecs didn't have any farmland, so they devised a way to create their own farmland, called chinampas.The Aztecs wove giant reed mats and placed them on top of the water. They made a fence around the mat and placed mud, silt, and rotten vegetables on it. Then willow trees were planted on all sides of the chinampa. The willow trees grew very quickly and their roots bound the soil to keep it from washing away. The Aztecs planted corn, tomatoes, potatoes, chili peppers, and squash. The plants' roots would grow to the bottom of the lake so they would have an endless supply of water. The chinampas were manmade islands created by piling up mud and vegetation from the bottom of the lake. The size of the chinampas didn't matter; what mattered was if two canoes could pass between the chinampas. The mud that the Aztecs used to build the chinampas was rich in minerals and ideal for growing crops. Tomatoes, avocados, and chilli peppers were unheard of in Europe until Spanish explorers brought some back from Aztec lands. The Aztecs didn't use any plows or any wheel driven vehicles at all; they only needed and used a simple wooden digging stick and a wooden hoe for growing and harvesting crops. ** == == **Fishermen made fishing nets from the fibers of the maguey cactus and used them to catch fish, turtles, ducks, and frogs. ** ==

== Dance/music- Boys and girls between the ages 12-15 attended a house of song in the evenings, located in the temples. they learned how to sing, dance, and play musical instruments. Music and dance were a significant part of life. == == The most common instruments were rattles, whistles, trumpets, flutes, copper bells, and shells. Religious ceremonies used music and dance. Everyone, even peasants, participated in dances and chanting for the gods. Hundreds of people danced in these events. Their dances were plays that would describe an event from the past or recreate scenes about their gods. Some musical instruments were said to be holy and mistakes were thought to be an offense to the gods. Musical instruments were usually rattles, whistles, trumpets, flutes, copper bells, and shells. An Aztec 'orchestra' was generally made of several types of rattles and different styles of drums. Aztec instruments were used for specific things. The trumpet sounds were long and deep while the drums created hypnotic rhythms. The big temple drums could be heard for several miles. The wind instruments included pan pipes, whistles, and flutes. Dance and music played a very important role in Aztec culture. Music and dance were thought of a sarcifice to the god's. When a child was sent to school, music and dance was very important to learn. Drums played a big role in aztec music. Drums would normaly be used to lead worriors off into war. == == crime/punishment- Some crimes considered serious would include stealing from another's crops, public drunkenness (except at a festival, or if you're over 70 years old), and murder. As the empire grew and became strong, many peoples became a part of the Aztec system. In the world of the Aztecs, the gods had power over people, through the leadership of the emperor and nobles, and of course through the priests. Interestingly, though, when it came to law, religion was less of a factor than in most of Aztec daily life. Practicality played a larger role. Remember that the people at the heart of the empire had recently been fairly nomadic. A system of prisons was impossible, so Aztec crime and punishment had to develop along totally different lines. There were no prisons, and no torture. Instead, the death penalty was a common punishment for crime. The criminal could be taken to an alter and put to death, strangled, or even stoned on the spot. The nobles, who were supposed to set an example, often got harsher punishments. Sometimes there would be a lighter punishment, if it was a first offence. A lighter punishment may be having your home demolished, or having your head shaved. ==

= Religion & Beliefs = = The Aztecs believed in many different things in the religion world. they Mostly belived that there was one visual God = = the sun. They believed in the Sun the most because it was a God you can see and have a visinairy all day. They also believed that if they fed the Sun blood it would rise. Also they believed that their were 13 heavens and 9 hells. They thought in order to impress theyr Gods they had to creat and build very beautiful and strong structured Temples to worship theyr Gods in. Another Vital part of the Aztecs religion was sacrifice, Animal and Human sacrifices were performed to please the Sun God. The people who were most sacrificed were prisoners of War. The priests who performed the acts of Sacrifice were very important in the Aztecs religion, they were also teachers of art and science. They Also decided people fate if crimes were created. Religion played an important part in Aztecs' lives, and human sacrifice was used to pay homage to their gods. The aztecs also deeply believed in the after life and how they died on earth. They believed that in order to get to heaven you had to go through 9 lives of the underworld before entering the Kingdom of Mictlan. But the person who died of war or a mother who passed giving birth would go straight to Heaven ,God and the Sun. Also Aztecs worshipped the God of rain, for rain was a vital part of living and economy of the Aztecs. =