Exercises about the Aztecs

(UFRJ) The Aztec civilization had as its center the region that corresponds today:

a) to Mexico;

b) to the Caribbean;

c) to the Pacific coast of the USA;

d) to Peru;

d) to Venezuela.

(UFES-adapted) “The Aztecs (Azteca) or Mexicans (Mexica) dominated most of Mexico with splendor when the Spanish conquerors arrived there in 1519. Their language and religion had imposed on immense tracts of land from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the northern arid regions to Guatemala. The name of their sovereign Motecuhzoma was revered or feared throughout that vast territory. Its merchants with their caravans of porters roamed the country in all directions. […] In Tenochtitlán (Mexico), its capital, architecture and sculpture had reached an extraordinary impulse, while luxury grew in clothing, at the table, in the gardens and in the jewelery”. SOUSTELLE, J. The Aztec civilization. Rio de Janeiro:Jorge Zahar, 1987:7.) These are characteristics of the Aztec civilization, except:

a) The basic social unit was the calpulli, a residential community with common land rights and an internal organization of an administrative, judicial, military and fiscal type.

b) Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital, according to tradition, founded in 1325, was the center of long-distance trade and a center of attraction for artisans and sellers, having become one of the largest cities of the world with the expansion of the Aztec power.

c) The economy was based on agriculture and based on the cultivation of corn and beans, being cultivated by chinampas (small artificial islands built by accumulating mud and aquatic plants on the marshy shores of lakes) , the most innovative technique used in irrigated agriculture.

d) Aztec society was dominated by a double hierarchy:that of dignitaries (individuals invested with high military or civil functions) and that of priests. At the apex, there was the king (Huey Tlatoani), whose office was elective.

e) The Aztec civilization did not have the practice of performing human sacrifices in their religious rituals.

The Aztec capital impressed the Spaniards with the number of inhabitants (estimated between 200,000 and 300,000 inhabitants) and the grandeur of the buildings. The Spaniards conquered it in 1521 under the leadership of Hernán Cortés. We're talking about:

a) Teotihuacan

b) Calpulli

c) Tenochtitlan

d) Yucatan

e) Montezuma

The calpulli was part of the Aztec administrative structure and was responsible:

a) exclusively for the maintenance of sacred temples

b) exclusively for the accomplishment of human sacrifices

c) for the organization of all rituals and religious festivals and for the maintenance of the temples

d) for collecting taxes and imposing punishment on those who did not pay properly

e) for the organization of agricultural work, taxation, religious activities, education and recruitment of warriors.

Letter A

The Aztecs inhabited the region in what is now Mexico. Part of the Aztec domains extended through Guatemala, but, in general, the Aztec territories were located in present-day Mexico. The Mexican capital, Mexico City, was built over the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán.

Letter E

Alternative E is false because the practice of human sacrifice was important within the Aztec religion, as it was seen as a way of thanking one of the main gods of the Aztec pantheon:Huitzlopochtli . Sacrifices could also be performed in honor of other gods, such as Quetzacoatl and Tezcatlipoca . They often occurred with the use of slaves and prisoners of war in a ritual that usually resulted in the removal of the sacrificed person's heart.