The Aztecs

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The Aztecs
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• Mesoamerica
• Olmec 1200 BCE
• Mayan
• Toltec
• Aztec
• South America
• Incan 200 BCE

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Population Food Technology ? States

• People food increased complexity
• up to Chieftainship!
• States
• Aqueducts, fortresses, temples
• bad deal (for majority)

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Theories of State Development

• Environmental Circumscription Theory
• Social Circumscription Theory
• Irrigation Theory
• Trade Theory

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Mesoamerican Civilizations

• Valley of Mexico
• Olmec 1200 BCE

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Olmecs
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Olmec Stone Carving
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Mesoamerican Civilizations

• Olmec (1200 400 BCE)
• Teotihuacan (100 800 CE)
• Toltecs (950 1180 CE)
• instability of states
• Aztecs (1168 1521 CE)

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Teotihuacan/Toltecs/Aztecs
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Aztec Origins

• Mexica immigration (Atzlan)
• Culhua Lake Texcoco
• Huitzilopotchtli
• Tenochtitlan
• Chinampas
• Tepanecs

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Development of the Aztec State

• Calpulli
• Tlatoani
• Acamapichtli
• Itzcoatl
• Triple Alliance (Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, Tacuba)
• Territorial expansion
• Subsistence base
• Status symbols
• Tributary system

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Aztec Social Organization

• calpulli (clans)
• tlatoani (king)
• tetecuhtin (nobles prof. soldiers)
• macehualtin (free commoners)
• pochteca (merchants)
• mayeques (serfs)
• Slaves