Aztecs
Middle America and the Caribbeanintensive agriculturalistsMap
expand_more Description
The Uto-Aztecan speaking Aztecs were the dominant partners of an alliance of city-states based in the Valley of Mexico that ruled an expansive empire. Otherwise independent city-states (themselves organized into wards providing a number of services, including education) were bound together by an emperor ruling through a council of similarly-ranked elites, on down through a military, priesthood, and bureaucracy dominated by an hereditary nobility. Social promotion of commoners was possible through achievement in warfare, trade, and education. Subsistence depended on both extensive and intensive agriculture, supplemented by small animal husbandry, and by hunting and gathering. There were highly developed market, trade, and imperial tribute systems; artisans specializing in a number of crafts resided in particular urban wards.
Identifier
Region
- Middle America and the Caribbean
Subregion
- Central Mexico
Subsistence Type
- intensive agriculturalists
Samples
Countries
- Mexico