THE TOLTEC CIVILIZATION: AZTEC ANCESTORS
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Height of empire @ 950-1150 AD.
Toltec civilization influenced much of post-classic civilizations like the Aztecs.
GEOGRAPHY:
Near North/Central Mexico, warlike people
*created metal weapons!!!
AGRICULTURE:
Grew beans, maize, & peppers-water irrigated farms.
BELIEF SYSTEMS:
Human rulers were seen as gods or in connection with divine power.
GOVERNMENT:
Created a state largely based on military power
ORIGINS OF THE AZTEC
The Aztec people pushed into central Mexico upon collapse of Toltecs.
GOVERNMENT:
Organized as an altepetl: an ethnic state led by a ruler
Calpolli: a group of up to a hundred families served as the social building block of the altepetl.
Controlled land distribution, tax collection, and local/religious life.
Around 1325 CE they began to construct their twin capital cities of Tenochtitlan and Tlateloclo.
They transformed their political organization by introducing a monarchial system.
GOVERNMENT:
Organized as an altepetl: an ethnic state led by a ruler
Calpolli: a group of up to a hundred families served as the social building block of the altepetl.
Controlled land distribution, tax collection, and local/religious life.
Around 1325 CE they began to construct their twin capital cities of Tenochtitlan and Tlateloclo.
They transformed their political organization by introducing a monarchial system.
AZTEC SOCIETY
Collection of semi-independent territories governed by local lords=headed by one chief Aztec ruler (monarchy).
A council of powerful aristocrats selected new rulers from among male members of the ruling lineage. Warfare increased power and privilege to males. Women dominated the household and the markets, served as teachers and priestesses, and seen as the founders of lineages. •Tribute system: a system in which defeated peoples were forced to pay a tax in the form of goods and labor. This forced transfer of food, cloth, and other goods. |