Ancient Aztec Timeline

Table of Contents

Activities marked with an * can be used with one of the transparencies at the back of the book.

Transparency Guide ...... iv–vii Introduction ...... 1 Timeline of Ancient Mexico ...... 2 Ancient Aztec Timeline ...... 3

Activities

*The First “Americans” ...... 4 *Map of the Aztec Empire ...... 5 * Mesoamerica ...... 6 * Olmecs: Mother Culture ...... 7 Chocolate Money ...... 8 * Aztec Origins ...... 9 * Aztec Writing ...... 10 * Fig-Bark Books ...... 11 Speaking Nahuatl ...... 12 Words of the Elders ...... 13 Counting the Days ...... 14 * City in the Lake ...... 15 * City in the Lake, II ...... 16 * Aztec Pyramids ...... 17 * Build a Pyramid ...... 18 * Aztec Art ...... 19 Aztec Medicine ...... 20 Aztec Conquests ...... 21 * Aztec Rulers ...... 22 *The Sun Stone ...... 23 * Chinampas: Floating Gardens ...... 24 Human Sacrifice ...... 25 Venn Diagram Free-For-All ...... 26 * Ancient Aztec Ball Game ...... 27 Montezuma Meets Cortes ...... 28 Daily Life ...... 29 * Aztec Math ...... 30 Who’s Who ...... 31 Aztecs Today/Review ...... 32 Then and Now ...... 33 Aztec Projects ...... 34 Learn More About Ancient Aztecs ...... 35 Answer Key ...... 36

EARLY HUNTERS (18,000 B.C.–7,000 B.C) The timeline on the previous page places about AD 1200 Aztecs arrive in Central Mexico, Mesoamericans lead a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle the Aztecs in the larger cultural and annoying everyone. historical context of Mesoamerica. The Archaeologists disagree about when early humans arrived in Central Mexico. One group believes the Aztecs appeared suddenly in the Valley Believed to be nomadic barbarians from the far northwest of Mexico, the Americas were populated between 20,000 and 30,000 years ago toward the end of the last Ice Age. of Mexico in the early 1200s Aztecs (called “the people whose face nobody knows”) arrive in the and from the early 1300s on were the With oceanic waters taken up by ice (rendering sea levels 200 feet lower than they are now), the first Central Valley. They are squatters, occupying land that does not belong to dominant culture for 200 years before immigrants are believed to have walked from Siberia to the western coast of Alaska over a wide swath them. For the next century or so, they wander the area, eating snakes and of land (now under water) connecting the two continents. Probably 10,000 or so years later, these the arrival of the Spanish. They were the last of the great pre-Conquest civilizations small rodents, sometimes working as serfs. They had the distressing immigrants —trickling south—entered the region of Central Mexico and the northern parts of Central of Mexico—to include the Olmecs, practice of taking other people’s wives. America—an area called by archaeologists, Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan, and Toltecs before them.

A competing theory argues the Americas were populated much earlier—perhaps as early as 50,000 AD 1344 or 1345 Capital city Tenochtitlan founded. years ago. Without the aid of a land bridge from Asia, early humans had migrated to Australia by that After many years of being kicked out of one territory after another and eking out an existence near the marshes time—quite obviously by boat. While there are no artifacts to support this theory, the Americas, too, of the “Lake of the Moon,” the Aztecs fulfill a tribal prophecy by founding a home in the place where they see could have been reached by water and may have been populated much earlier than archaeological an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. A tribal split occurs: one group forming under the evidence suggests. leadership of Chief Tenoch, founding Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City); the other settling in Tlatelolco to the north.

ARCHAIC PERIOD (7,000 B.C–1800 B.C.) AD 1367 Aztecs serve as “soldiers for hire” for the aggressive Tepanec kingdom.

Mesoamericans continue a life of hunting, fishing, and gathering. The Aztecs use their fighting prowess to help Chief Tezozomoc of the Tepanecs conquer the city-states of the Valley The hallmark of this period is the beginning of plant domestication. of Mexico. In return, the Aztecs gain important Tepanec military protection. AD 1375 First Aztec Ruler Acamapichtli (“Bundle of Reeds”) appointed by Tepanecs. PRECLASSIC PERIOD (1800 B.C.–A.D. 150) Formerly an egalitarian tribe with no social classes, the appointment of a formal ruler marks a shift in the structure of Mesoamericans begin living a settled agricultural life—growing maize, beans, and squash—in villages Aztec society from a tribal democracy to a modified monarchy. Over time the king is thought of as a divinity. throughout Mexico. Pottery and female figurines are widely evident. The Olmec peoples of Mexico’s south Gulf Coast—the “Mother Culture” of Mesoamerica—flourish during this period. AD 1426 A battle with the Tepanecs leads to Aztec victory making them the dominant power of Mexico. CLASSIC PERIOD (A.D. 150–A.D. 650) AD 1440 Reign of Montecuhzoma I (known to us as Montezuma) begins. During Montezuma’s During this Golden Age of Ancient Mexico, the great city of Teotihuacan was built. Teotihuacan reign, the Aztecs form an alliance (called The Triple Alliance) with two neighboring powers for the purpose of civilization rivals great centers of culture in other parts of the world. The city of Teotihuacan, after expanding their empire and gaining captives to sacrifice to the sun god, Huitzilopochtli. centuries-long dominance of Mesoamerica, is destroyed and burned in the 7th century by unknown invaders. It is still not understood who the Teotihuacanos were. While they left a lasting imprint on AD 1469 Montecuhzoma I dies after having greatly expanded the Aztec empire and established the culture of Mesoamerica, DNA testing of skeletal remains refutes a genetic link with the Toltec or Aztec a tribute system. His conquests are required to give maize, beans, amaranth, feather headdresses, peoples who came after them. and other items to support the Aztecs.

POSTCLASSIC PERIOD (A.D. 900–A.D. 1521) AD 1502 Reign of Montecuhzoma II begins. He continues to expand the empire and enlarge the tribute domain until the Spanish arrive in 1519. The great civilizations of the Postclassic period are the Toltecs and the Aztecs. The Toltecs dominated central Mexico from the 10th through the 12th centuries A.D. Their capital was at Tula. Like the AD 1519 Hernan Cortes’s 11 ships land on the Gulf side of Mexico’s Central Valley. Aztecs who emerged after their decline, they spoke a language called Nahuatl. The Aztecs were the AD 1520 Montecuhzoma II is captured and dies in his palace while in Spanish custody. The cause ascendant culture of Ancient Mexico from roughly 1344 (with the founding of their capital at of death has never been determined. Tenochtitlan) until the Spanish captured the last Aztec king in 1521. AD 1521 Aztec civilization ends. The last Aztec emperor, Cuauhtemoc, is captured by the Spanish. Upon his capture, Cuauhtemoc surrenders bringing an end to the last independent civilization of Mesoamerica. 2 3 Copyright © 2006 Milliken Publishing Co. MP4830 Copyright © 2006 Milliken Publishing Co. MP4830 Timeline of ancient mexico Ancient Aztec timeline

ARCHAIC PERIOD (7,000 B.C–1800 B.C.) AD 1367 Aztecs serve as “soldiers for hire” for the aggressive Tepanec kingdom.

For thousands of years before the arrival of Spanish explorers in the 16th century, the Americas were inhabited by innovative peoples who migrated from Asia via Berengia—a stretch of land 1,000 miles wide and 60 miles long—that once stood above sea

level connecting Siberia with Alaska. These first immigrants NICARAGUA were nomadic hunters who drifted east and south from Berengia BELIZE PANAMA HONDURAS in search of edible plants and large prey such as wooly HONDURAS BELIZE mammoths, yaks, and antelope. These first Americans came in N

waves over millennia—between 30,000 and 12,000 years T A COSTA RICA

ago—some in small carved wooden boats and vessels made of C

U animal skin, and some on foot—spreading throughout the Y COSTA RICA

Americas from Canada in the north all the way to the southern NICARAGUA EL SALVADOR tip of what is now South America. Those who settled in the MEXICO GUATEMALA middle, inhabiting the southern two-thirds of Mexico and GUATEMALA northern Central America are called Mesoamericans. Among EL SALVADOR them, the people known to us as the Aztecs are believed to have migrated from northern areas of the Americas and settled in the region of present-day Central Mexico around A.D. 1200. 1. Using an atlas and as much paper as you need, trace the outline of the present-day countries involved in the early migration of the first Americans. With arrows, show how they might have S

C traveled from Siberia to Berengia to the Americas. As “Berengia” is now under water, what E M name is in its place? How else might early peoples have come to the Americas? L O

2. Using the map on page 5, do the following: Teotihuacan Lake a. Outline Mesoamerica in red. Texcoco

b. Shade the Ancient Aztec Empire in green. Put an “X” on the spot where the Aztecs saw an Veracruz eagle sitting on a prickly pear cactus holding a serpent in its mouth. Tlatelolco Tenochtitlan Teotihuacan c. Using an atlas as a resource, label all bodies of water that touch the land occupied by the Lake Texcoco Ancient Aztecs. Tula 2. What were ancestors of the Aztecs seeking when they left Asia for the Americas? ______Tenochtitlan 500 Miles 3. Define Mesoamerica. (Mexico City) N ______MEXICO 500 KM ______

4. Aztecs may share the same ancestors as the Native Americans who enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast with the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. Using another sheet of paper, explain. Mesoamerica Aztec Empire 0 0 5. Using the Internet or other resource, find out what ”pre-Columbian” means. Write the definition below: