The Importance of Time

Image taken from:http://wikis.lib.ncsu.edu/images/6/61/Aztec_calendar_stone.jpg

Day 5:

On the 5th day of excavation, we discovered a large Aztec sun stone hidden deep into the ground.  We figure that this is one of the most important artifacts of the Aztecs because of the importance of time to them.

Every aspect of Aztec life was coordinated by two calendars.  The first was a solar calendar called xiuhtlapohualli.  This calendar was made of 18 months, with 20 days in each month and 5 useless days at the end of the year called nemontemi.  Each month was named for a god and incorporated a religious festival dedicated to that god.  This calendar was connected to the seasons, and told the Aztec when the right time to plant and harvest their crops, when the market days would be held.  Each year began with a festival dedicated to Tlaloc, the rain god.

The tonalpohulli was the second important calendar and was a ritual calendar based on a 160 day cycle.  This calendar was composed of 13 numbers and 20 signs that represent an animal, a natural element such as water or grass, or an abstract idea like movement.  They combined to create 260 individually named days.  People were named for the day on this calendar on which they were born.  This calendar determined when many of their religious rituals and sacrifices should be performed.

These two calendars combined to form a 3rd calendar called the xiuhnolpilli.  This cycle had a cycle of 52 years, the time needed for the two calendars to finish their cycles and restart on the same days.  The Aztec believed that at the end of each 52 year period  that there was a possibility for the world's destruction, if sacrifice and specific rituals were not carried out.  All fires were doused, statues made of wood or stone were thrown into the lakes, and houses were throughly cleaned.  In the evening, people climbed onto their rooftops and prayed that the world was not going to end.  Priests tried to kindle a flame on a freshly sacrificed human heart, and if they succeeded, the sun and the world would not be destroyed.  The flames were then used to light the fires of everyone's homes.

Image taken from http://www.deliberate.com/aztec/graphics/pegcrwn1.gif

Day 4:

This beautiful feather headdress was found on Day 4.  It was concealed into a heavily locked chest, and it took us hours to open, probably because the Aztec people prized feathers over even gold.

Feathers were held in the very highest esteem for their colours and how rare and delicate they were.  The most prized feathers were not clothing, but rather the ceremonial costumes, headdresses, and warrior shields crafted from these luxury items.  During official state ceremonies, officials, rulers, warriors, and all statues of the gods were covered with feather garments.

Aztec Sacrificial Knife

Day 3:

Ah, after many hours of sweating and backbreaking work, we have finally uncovered an Aztec sacrificial knife!  Most knives were made of a flint blade and wooden handle, and this one is only a representation, as the original is being closely examined by our team of archaeologists.

This is probably the ritual/tradition that caused a conflict in the world views of the Aztec and Spanish.  The Aztec believed that the world was created through sacrifice.  It was their role to maintain the balance of the universe through this ritual.  According to Aztec origin stories, their world was created when a god sacrificed himself to change into the sun and maintain human life.  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to move across the sky, and other gods had to sacrifice themselves to assist him.  The Aztec view on life was that humans' actions could influence the stability of the universe and that it was through their rituals that the universe would continue to exist.

Offereings often consisted of different foods, paper, feathers, grasses, textiles, and the blood of animals, but human blood was by far the most important element.  Apparently, Aztec gods prized human blood above all the rest.  Without human sacrifices, the Earth would dry up and the sun, moon, stars, and planets would not be able to travel across the sky.  They believed that the world would be destroyed.

Human sacrifices were performed on altars at the top of their temples.  These were public events with many spectators.  The most important ceremonies were the ones at the central temple of Tenochtitlan, the heart of their city.  Aztec priests believed that the best nourishments for the gods were the still beating hearts of sacrified warriors.

Olmec Head

Image taken from:http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv15/olmec.jpg

Day 2:

It is way too hot today, but no matter: we had to go to work anyways.  And I'm glad we did! Our excavation team discovered fragments of an Olmec head.  The team of archaeologists managed to put together this head in only a few short hours, so I can blog about it here!

Now you may be wondering: what exactly do the Olmec have to do with the Aztec civilization?

The answer is that there were more Meso-American societies than the Aztec.  These societies had many similarities because they all had incorporated the ideas and beliefs of the societies that had existed before them.  In Meso-America, past cultures shaped the new civilizations that were beginning to develop.

First of all, the Olmec are said to be the founding society of all Meso-American civilizations.  They are considered to be the greatest sculptors of the early Meso-American societies, with their most striking sculptures being their colossal heads.  The Olmec had several gods, including a fire god, a rain god, a corn god, and the Feathered Spirit.

So over the next few days, we hope to maybe find some more artifacts around this site, and tell you about the two other major civilizations that affected the life of the Aztec.

Aztec Codex: The Long Migration

Image taken from: http://www.unexplainable.net/brainbox/uploads/1/aztec5_aztlandeparture.jpg

Day 1:

Digging out the foundation of the soon to be built sky-scraper, we have uncovered an ancient Aztec codex!  An Aztec codex is a book, mainly consisting of pictures, that were drawn by the pre-Columbian Aztec people to document their history. This codex seems to be telling the story of the Aztec Long Migration, which I will cover in detail below.

The Aztec originally referred to themselves as the Mexica, and were one of several Nahuatl speaking groups that included the Culhua-Mexica and the Tenocha who left the desert-like region of Northern Mexico and migrated southward. Aztec origin stories tell of the Aztec migration from their native land of Aztlan, an island city in the middle of a lake, northwest of modern-day Mexico City. For 200 years, they led a semi-nomadic life, looking for sign that would tell them where to settle. They eventually ended up in the Valley of Mexico.

Throughout their migration, they followed the orders of their patron god, Huitzilopochtli, who spoke to their priests and told them where to go. The priests would force their followers to keep moving, and the Aztec would continue their difficult journey southward into the desert. Their devotion to Huitzilopochtli often created many hardships. When he told them to move, they did, even if there was no time to harvest their crops.

Sometime during the 12th or 13th century, the Aztec arrived in the Valley of Mexico, led by their chieftain, Tenoch.  The region was already occupied by a large number of city-states.  When the Aztec arrived, the best lands were already taken, and the people already living there considered the Aztec barbarous and uncultured people, and did not welcome them.  As a result, they were driven around and not allowed to settle in any one place.

However, by the 14th century, many of these city-states established alliances and formed into confederations. Among the confederations were the independent societies of the Tepanecs, Cholulas, and Tlaxcalans, who would later have conflicts with them.  They finally managed to settle, in the middle of Lake Texcoco.  There, they built the city of Tenochtitlan, honoring their god Huitzilopochtli.