The Double Headed SerpentTurquoise and Thorny oyster shell, Wood base - Dated 1400 - 1600
Possibly given to Spanish conquistador, Hernando Cortez as a gift from Aztec emperor Montezuma while he was leading the Spanish expedition. Shortly before the Spanish betrayed, and imprisoned him. This potentially may have symbolized rebirth for the snakes ability to shed its skin and appear as a reborn snake. |
The Stone of TizocBasalt - Created 1480 - 1490
This piece shows the Aztec's central deity, Texcatlipoca, Holding the patron gods of several other places by their hair. It was used for human sacrifices and the Aztecs mock battles, where the victim would be tied to the stone and forced to fight multiple warriors with a feather covered club while the warriors had clubs and/or sharp swords. |
Metal ArmourMetal, Leather.
Another major reason that the Spanish were able to defeat the mighty Aztecs is that they had access to strong metals, and therefore strong armour. The Aztec had weaponry based on maiming and making shallow but sharp cuts on an enemy, so that they could still be captured and sacrificed. This style of weaponry worked fine and even often great against local enemies who only had access to leather and organic armour and protection like the Aztec did, but did very little to help against the Spanish. Spanish armour was made harder, and often shattered sharp edges of Aztec weapons, and almost always blocked the main damage of the weapons. |
Sacrificial KnifeFlint blade, Carved wood handle , Turquoise, White conch shell, Thorny oyster shell and Mother-of-pearl - Created 1400 - 1520
Sculpted to show an eagle warrior crouching as the handle. Used by priests to remove the hearts of sacrifice victims. The knife is a fine example of the Aztecs ability to turn a horribly gruesome sacrifice tool into beautiful art. The engraved Eagle warrior carving most likely represented dedication to the gods, because an Eagle warrior had to have captured many enemies for sacrificial death by knives just like this one. The purpose of this knife and other sacrificial tools were one of the main causes of the Spanish attacking, as the Spanish thought that the Aztec sacrifice was blasphemous and inhuman and that they had to stop it. |
Spanish ArquebusMetal, Wood, Gunpowder, Bullets(Metal), Match
In the early 16th century, around the time that Cortez began to attack the Aztec, the Spanish had developed a firearm that now seems to us like a rudimentary Musket. It was called an Arquebus, and it was one of the extremely powerful weapons Cortez had at his disposal. The Arquebus operated on matchlock trigger, which meant that it fired by having a match set off a series of small explosions to propel the bullet. The only thing that could really stop these bullets at mid to long range were heavy steel pieces of plate armour, and at close range the bullet could even pierce this armour, although shooting with the Arquebus at close range would be very difficult. The Arquebus had it's faults, one of which being that it was rather heavy and needed a surface to rest on while firing to have any form of accuracy. To achieve this, a shooter would carry around a long metal rod that was forked at one end to drive into the ground and rest the Arquebus on. The Arquebus also set off its gunpowder by using a lit match, making it practically unusable in heavy rain and very humid weather, such as the weather often found in central Mexico. |
The Florentine CodexWritten 1577 CE, by Bernardino de Sahagún
The Florentine codex is a 3 volume documentation of Bernardino de Sahagún's studies of Aztec religion, culture, history and lifestyle. These documents, also known as Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España, are unrivaled in their contributions to the understanding of the Spanish contact with the Aztecs. Though, as always history is written by the victors and may have anywhere from no bias to completely false information which makes it difficult to judge its credibility. |
The AqueductMade of Terracotta material.
The Aztec aqueducts were a large part of the Aztecs society and it's still there to this date. The Aztecs created a set of Aqueducts around 2.5 - 3 miles long to gather water for the city to drink and use. These Aqueducts each had two separated ducts for the water to travel in so that the water was always running, even when it needed cleaning. The Aqueducts that provided water for washing and cleaning was gathered from springs in a place called Chapultepec, and fresh water for drinking was gathered from springs in the Sierra Nevada mountains. |
The MacuahuitlWood handle, Obsidian blades
The Macuahuitl was an Aztec equivalent of the common mace and sword style weapons. It had a blunt blade of wood that was edged with jagged pieces of sharp obsidian glass. As with all Aztec weapons, the Macuahuitl was designed to maim and injure rather than kill so that more enemies could be captured and sacrificed. This is in stark contrast to the way the Spanish fought battles; The Spanish would focus on killing as many enemies as possible per casualty so that wars could be won. This was one of the main divides between Aztec and Spanish views of their enemies. However, the Macuahuitl had much difficulty in serving its purpose when the Aztecs fought against the Spanish, mostly because of the fact that the Spanish had thick steel and iron armour that could deflect the jagged edges of the blade. |
Tlahuitolli(And Yaomime)Wood, string, obsidian/flint/bone, feathers
The Aztec would use bows called Tlahuitolli to launch arrows called Yaomime at their enemies when a battle was just beginning and the enemy was to far for close combat weapons. These Tlahuitolli bows were basically what we would called Longbows, with most having a length of 5 feet or so. The Yaomime arrows would be tipped with obsidian or flint or bone most of the time. |
ChinampasSmall islands constructed from fertile soil dug up from the bottom of Lake Texcoco and reed mats. These islands were an ingenious method of growing crops in the infertile conditions of Tenochtitlan, so much so, that this method is still used to date. The chinampas also served as protection from invaders who were forced to navigate around the islands which greatly slowed their approach and allowed the Aztecs to prepare themselves for what was coming.
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