ALL ABOUT AZTECS

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ALL ABOUT AZTECS

• Fourth Grade
• University School of Nashville
• Ms. Noels Wonderful Students

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Who Were the Aztecs?

• The Aztecs were a group of nomads who conquered
  numerous tribes while searching for a place to
  settle. When they grew too large to easily move
  from place to place, they settled in what is now
  known as Mexico. There they built their capital
  city, Tenochtitlan.
• The Aztecs were a sophisticated culture. Their
  society was patriarchal and governed by a
  Tlatoni. They had strict laws, worshiped numerous
  gods, and fought fierce battles. They had a
  bustling marketplace, family responsibilities,
  and an interesting way of farming.

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Aztec LawBy Jamie

• Every city had its own laws. Courts and Judges
  had to be completely fair and never take bribes.
  Lying to the court was like lying to the gods.
  The penalty was death. Anyone could go to court
  but nobles got much harsher punishments because
  they should know better. It was death if a tax
  collector took too much money or if someone
  disobeyed in battle. The laws covered every
  aspect of Aztec life including the work people
  were allowed to do, the clothes they wore, and
  even what they ate. There was a pattern the 1st
  time they did something bad their house was
  knocked down, the 2nd time they did something
  bad, it was death. Sometimes, instead of death,
  if they were lucky, they might get sent into
  slavery. You could also get sent into slavery if
  you could not pay your debts.

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Governmentby Jenny LaChance

• The Aztec government was strong and well-
  organized. Europeans in the sixteenth-century
  commented about the Aztecs, Its astonishing to
  see order and government that is maintained
  everywhere! In every Aztec government, there was
  always a Great Speaker. In the 1500s, Montezuma
  was the most influential Great Speaker. All the
  other people paid tribute to him.

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Health and Medicine

• By Metta Devine- Qin
• Aztecs used all kind of healing plants like
  Tobacco, Psilocybin mushrooms, Peyote, and
  Morning glories for medical reasons. Aztecs used
  the mind drugs and thought they could see if
  their patient made contact with the spirit world
  and learned what their illness was. Aztecs had
  very few medicines. They used faith healing.
  When you were an Aztec you would believe that the
  gods could cure you. Holy water was always stored
  in a temple ready to sprinkle on sick people and
  children. They also believed that their gods
  sometimes gave them diseases. They believed
  Amimitl caused cough and Tlaloc gave you ulcers.
  You might get them to cure you by giving them
  gifts and food. The gods might hear your prayers.
  They might speak to and your doctor in your
  dreams, or they might think it's time for you to
  die.

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AZTEC HOUSINGBy Maria Allen
Some Aztecs were wealthier then others. They
had better homes. Those homes were bigger,
sturdier, and better. In every home a statue of
Xuihtectuhtle was placed on the hearth. The
Aztecs had little furniture, they slept on little
mats in the corners. It was very hard for the
Aztecs !!
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FOOD By Gracie Hoffman

• In Aztec times they didnt have very appetizing
  meats. Regular Aztecs often couldnt afford meat,
  so they ate corn ground into flour and cooked as
  porridge, tortillas, or tamales (stuffed as
  dumplings). Basic foods were served hot, such as
  spicy bean and veggie stews. They prepared gruel
  (thick soup) made out of a seed from wild sage
  plants called Chia. Meat and fish were only
  served on special occasions there were not any
  cows. This meant that there was no cheese or
  milk! Aztecs didnt know that sheep and horses
  existed. Aztecs got their meat from wild animals
  like rabbits and deer and domesticated animals
  like dogs.

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What Is Hot and What Is NotBy Madeline
Soldiers, this is for you! You need to wear
cotton as your uniform! These uniforms are
tunics made of quilted cotton. When youve
captured an enemy, youre promoted to be a
Jaguar knight, and you wear a Jaguar skin
uniform. It looks cool even if it feels hot! If
youre an officer you wear a festive
umbreila-like cover made of a thick material.
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AZTEC JEWLRY

• By Caroline Zhao
• Ever wonder what jewelry you would wear if you
  were an Aztec noble? Well this might help. Noble
  women wore jade, shell, turquoise, and gold
  necklaces. Now Aztec necklaces made of gold,
  spirally or plain designed, are rare because the
  Spaniards either took them or burned them. Green
  stones were valued more than any other material
  in Mesoamerica. Some noble women wore coral
  necklaces. Both farmers and nobles wore shell
  necklaces. Warriors wore gold ornaments in their
  noses like nose rings.

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SCHOOLBy Elena Escalas

• Have you ever wondered what Aztec children did
  everyday? Well, nowadays, a child would go to
  school. So why couldnt Aztec children do the
  same? Well, they could. So what exactly did the
  Aztec children learn? The Aztecs thought that
  writing was very important to learn. But instead
  of using letters and words, they used symbols. It
  was also very important that they learned how to
  behave. To make the children behave, the teachers
  punished them using harsh manners. One of the
  punishments was holding the child over a fire
  with burning chili peppers. The teachers were
  priests, who were also warriors. It is very
  interesting that the Aztec children did some of
  the same activities that we do today.

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Aztec games

• By Kennedy Turner
• Even gods play some cool games The game that
  they play is called Tlachtli. Now all the games
  that we are going to talk about were played by
  the AZTECS!!! You have probably never hard of
  that. But if you think that is a crazy name, you
  my think of this as a crazy game. Imagine if you
  had to do what the Aztecs did. That would be a
  very crazy thing.

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The Gods

• By Robert Raulston.
• The Aztecs worshiped many different kinds of
  Gods.
• These are some of the most well known
  Quetzalcoatl, the god
• of wisdom and of wind, and Xochipilli, the God of
  love, dance
• dawn. Another God was Huehueteotl, the God of
  fire. And there was Tloque Nahuaque, lord of
  everywhere. Many times a day people were
  sacrificed to keep the Gods filled and
• satisfied. First, the priest of the God would cut
  out the victims
• heart and then they ate the victims arms and
  legs. After that,
• they put the victims skull on a skull rack and
  sometimes
• they used the victims skin as capes.

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AztecTemplesby sam shaw

• Aztec temples were like pyramids in shape.
  Unlike pyramids, they were built one on top of
  the other. Each generation had their own. They
  were also decorated with carvings of snakes and
  other fierce animals. Temples also hosted sermons
  or sacrifice. Only the children of nobles could
  become the priests who worked in the temples.

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AZTEC PRIESTS

• By Francesca Eluhu

These were the people who did not wash their
hair or take baths. These were the people who
sacrificed others. These, oh so-special people
were The Priests!!! It was hard to be a priest.
You had to kill the right type of people. What
was the right type of people? The right type
was the tough, healthy, good-looking ones. The
worse part was that you had to sacrifice people
you knew and loved. What if, at this very moment,
you had to sacrifice one of your siblings? You
would think more people would have been sorry for
them. Priests had been the most powerful people
for a while and probably would have stayed that
way.
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SACRIFICEBy George Plummer

• Sacrifice was very gruesome, there was blood and
  gore everywhere! To be an Aztec sacrifice you had
  to have good hair, teeth, skin, and health you
  had to be perfect. Sacrifices fasted for four
  days now thats harsh! Luckily we dont make
  sacrifices nowadays!

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AZTEC ARMY

• By Nicholas Grizzell

The Aztecs aimed to conquer other cities and
capture prisoners. The army assembled in units of
800 men. Adult men were expected to leave their
homes. It was more honorable to be killed
fighting, or to be sacrificed, than to survive.
They felt it was shameful and wrong to try to
escape their fate.


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AZTEC WARRIORS

• By Joshua Huang
• Jaguar and eagle knights fought more fears than
  any warrior. The main items that they used were
  a camana, which is a paddle spiked with obsidian,
  a spear spiked with obsidian, an ax, a bow and a
  shield. Obsidian was mainly used for putting on
  weapons to make them sharp! Eagle knights and
  jaguar knights were called this because they wore
  armor made of jaguar skin and eagle feathers.
  Their armor was made of animal skin because the
  Aztecs thought it would give the warrior the
  power of the animal. Each Aztec warrior fought
  very bravely in battle, but the jaguar knights
  and eagle knights were braver.

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THE SPANISH INVASION

• BY TOM KOCHTITZKY
• The Spanish arrived in huge
  boats, bigger than any the Aztecs had ever seen.
  When they arrived on shore they were treated to
  gold and Quetzal feathers and they obviously went
  straight to the gold. The Aztecs were very
  surprised by this, because feathers were prized
  by Aztecs. Later, they found out that the Spanish
  were actually trying to conquer them!!

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INVASION OF THE SPANISH By Jack Aylor

• Even with the mighty powers of the warriors of
  Tenochtilan, the Spaniards were a problem for
  them. By the time the Aztecs surrendered, there
  were only 30,000 people left in Tenochtilan. In
  1600, the population of Mexico was one quarter
  what it had under the reign of Montezuma.
  Spaniards built Christian churches on top of the
  land. Children were baptized and given Spanish
  names and sent to Spanish schools. Aztecs worked
  as farmers or miners for their new bosses. The
  Spaniards had blown up all they could of the
  Great Temple with several hundred barrels of
  gunpowder. The great land that used to be
  Tenochtilan is now Mexico City.

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