User:SunPearl/Aztec architecture

Architecture and Culture (Gavin)

The Aztecs designed their buildings to be functional for everyday life as well as having a major importance on buildings for religious practices, and the gods that they worshiped. The architectural style of the Aztecs reflected relationships with a higher power. In Tenochtitlan, the layout of the city represented the birth of Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of the sun and war.

The teocalli, or pyramid-temples, were significant to Aztec religious practices. They were the sites of religious celebrations and rituals. The temples represented ascension. There were multiple torn levels, which each correlated with different classes. The Aztecs believed that ascension was the process of preparing oneself to please the gods. At the top was the main temple where sacrifices took place, since that was considered to be closest to the gods.^{[citation needed]}

In Cholula, Puebla a Central Aztec temple was discovered in 1978. This temple was used to worship their sun and war deity Huitzilopochtli, and the deity of fertility, water, and rain,Tlaloc. The temple contain alters where they would leave offerings, which were mainly animals and hand made sculptures. The temple also contained an alter where they would make sacrifices to the gods. They used red and blue paint to decorate the temple

Aztec households were simple and uniform to the rest of the civilization. Houses could be one to two stories tall.

There is a large circular building resembling a lecture hall that was believed to be a place were the Aztecs would hold governmental affairs.

Separation of classes

Aztec culture had class stratification. The highest social rank was that of the priesthood, which permitted access to the temples and more exclusive quarters. Members of the priesthood lived near the temples in the central areas of the city, while people of lower classes lived increasingly further away according to their status. The sizes of domestic structures reflected differences in wealth, power, and status. Those who were considered in the lower social ranks had homes made up of adobe brick, and varied in size. Those who considered to be higher class had homes made of cut stone, they had more rooms and were larger homes compared to those of a lower class, they also found things of status like jewelry in these homes.

Modern Architecture (Keylee)

Disappearance

There are many theories as to why there are so few ruins left of the Aztec empire. One of these theories is that there is just not enough information on how the Aztec empire ran. It could have been more agricultural based and less building based. Another theory is that there is evidence that is was more lossy connected rather than a tightly connected empire. There is also the possibility that we have not conducted enough experiments. We just do not have as much information as we would like to have.

Much of the Aztec infrastructure was also destroyed by the Spanish. Much of Tenochtitlan was destroyed, the Spanish would build Mexico city over it.

References

Smith, Michael E., and Frances F. Berdan. "Archaeology and the Aztec Empire." World Archaeology 23, no. 3 (1992): 353-67/ http://ww.jstor.org/stable/124768

Coe, Michael D. (2019). Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. Ancient Peoples and Places Series. Javier Urcid Serrano (8th edition.). London: Thames & Hudson, Limited. ISBN 978-0-500-29373-7.

Hodge, Mary G. “Archaeological Views of Aztec Culture.” Journal of Archaeological Research 6, no. 3 (1998): 195–238. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41053158.