Agriculture
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Aztec agriculture was a lot more complex that growing a few stalks of maize. The remarkable farming practices of the peoples in central Mexico has been studied and admired ever since. Aztec farming has become most famous because of the brilliant chinampas system that Aztec farmers used. Certainly there were a number of techniques used in the Aztec empire. But with the great city of Tenochtitlan built on swampy but rich ground, the chinampas became key to the food production of the people. Chinampas were not just used for the capitol city, but throughout the Valley of Mexico around the lake bed. As the empire grew, more sources of food were required.
One challenge all farmers face is retaining nutrients in the soil where crops are planted. Different crops deplete the soil of certain nutrients, so if a specific crop is planted in the same field year after year, it won't grow as well. This is a particular challenge in areas of Mexico where there are large populations and small areas where farming can take place easily.
One challenge all farmers face is retaining nutrients in the soil where crops are planted. Different crops deplete the soil of certain nutrients, so if a specific crop is planted in the same field year after year, it won't grow as well. This is a particular challenge in areas of Mexico where there are large populations and small areas where farming can take place easily.
Aztec Religion
been widely believed that this means that they believed them to be Gods, but a better understanding of "teotl" might suggest that they were merely seen as "mysterious" and "inexplicable". '
The Aztec world consisted of three main parts: the earth world on which humans lived, an underworld which belonged to the dead and the upper plane in the sky. The earth and the nether world were both open for humans to enter, whereas the upper plane in the sky was impenetrable to humans. The Aztec underworld was called Mictlan ("place of death"). Existence was envisioned as straddling the two worlds in a cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth. Thus as the sun was believed to dwell in the underworld at night to rise reborn in the morning, and the maize kernels were entered later to sprout anew, so the human and divine existence was envisioned as being cyclical. The upper and nether worlds were both thought to be layered. Mictlan had nine layers which were inhabited by different deities and mythical beings. The sky had 13 layers, the highest of which was called Omeyocan "place of duality" and which held the progenitor dual god Ometeotl. Other places were Tlalocan, "The place of Tlaloc", a verdant spring-like place with abundant water where people who drowned had their afterlife and Tamoanchan, a mythical place of the origin of the gods.they were well known After death the soul of the Aztec went to one of three places: Tlalocan, Mictlan, and the sun. The Aztec idea of the afterlife for fallen warriors and women who died in childbirth was that their souls would be transformed into hummingbirds that would follow the sun on its journey through the sky. Souls of people who died from less glorious causes would go to Mictlan - place of the dead. Those who drowned would go to Tlalocan. In Aztec cosmology, as in Mesoamerica in general, geographical features such as caves and mountains held symbolic value as places of crossing between the upper and nether worlds. Also the cardinal directions were symbolically connected to the religious layout of the world, each direction was associated with specific colors and Gods. |