Arc-Aztec-Ture Trivia Quiz

Answer: Valley of Mexico, 14th - 16th centuries CE

The Aztec era lasted from around 1300 to 1521. The Aztecs were a culturally heterogeneous people united by the common language called Nahuatl. Aztec culture was organized into city-states which formed a confederation of three city-states to establish Tenochtitlan: city-state of the Mexica or Tenochca; Texcoco; and Tlacopan. Aztec culture shared elements with other central American cultures such as: Social divisions between nobility and common people, the cultivation of maize, a polytheism (featuring Tezcatlipoca, Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl), and a calendar system of a year ofof 365 days alternating with a tonalpohualli (a count of 20 periods of 13 days each ruled by a different deity) of 260 days. Unique to the Tenochtitlan people was the patron God Huitzilopochtli, twin pyramid structures, and a distinctive ceramic ware used amongst its people.

Answer: Sophisticated tools

In 1325, when the Aztecs founded the city of Tenochtitlan (which became the capital and dominant power base), it was a tiny swampy island in Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico. The Aztecs reasoned that building upon an island would make the settlement easy to defend. However there were engineering restrictions when building on unstable land. When completed, the city contained between 130 000 and 350 000 people, the biggest in the Americas at the time and one of the biggest in the world. The city expanded to 5.2 square miles, many times over the size of the original settlement. They achieved this by reclaiming land by driving wooden poles into the lake bed then filling the enclosed space with rock from the mainland. When the new land protruded above the waterline, the Aztecs knew about the importance of strong foundations and used a local stone called Tezontle, a reddish brown type of volcanic rock that is easily cut. They used limestone-based mortar. The fact that the buildings did not sink into the soft underpinnings is a testament to their engineering prowess. They achieved this with unsophisticated tools such as stones, chisels and blades made from flint and obsidian.

The city was connected to the mainland by three causeways to the north, south and west. These were built with the same principles of land reclamation, by by driving two lines of wooden poles hard into the lake bed and filing the space with earth and stones to water level. The causeways were straight and were as wide as 15 metres. Along the way there were small bridges that lifted from one end to permit boats to pass through. These bridges had a secondary role, to defend the city in case of invasion.

Answer: Temples

While the pyramids were the biggest structures in the city, only the priests, the highest stratum of the nobility were allowed to enter them. One of the pyramids did have a role as a burial chamber but this was an exception. The nobles' residences and public buildings surrounded them and were walled off from the rest of the city.

The entire city was divided into four zones called camps which, in turn, were divided into 20 districts. Each district had a market place with a larger central one. There were three main streets that crossed the city, each leading to one of the three causeways to the mainland.

The smaller city city streets were laid out in a grid-like street formation. The commoners lived in this section of the city, where the food growing areas were located, close to the water surrounding the island.

Answer: Both of these reasons

The Aztecs had a profound spiritual life with polytheistic beliefs which were juxtaposed with astrological influences. The step pyramids, as they have become to be known, were massive structures (generally 60-65m tall) with temples on their flat tops. They were tall because they believed they were closer to their gods, but also the Aztecs continually built over previous versions to make bigger temples. The Aztecs also believed in human sacrifice and the temples were where these sacrifices were made.

The Templo Mayor ("Greater Temple") was the central temple of Tenochtitlan, (now Mexico City). The temple was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, god of war, and Tlaloc, god of rain and agriculture. Each god had a separate shrine (replete with sacrificial altars) at the top of the pyramid, with separate staircases which were aligned with the angle and position of the sun. There was a spire near the base of the twin pyramid devoted to to Quetzalcoatl (wind god).
The Great Temple devoted to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, measured 100 by 80 m at its base. Construction of the first temple began approximately 1325, and it was rebuilt (at least) six times. The pyramid was composed of four sloped terraces. Each had a passage between each level. There were two stairways to access the two shrines on the top platform. The stairways could only be used by the priests and sacrifice victims. The whole stone structure was covered with stucco and different colours of paint. The stone, which was easy to cut, was highly decorated with symbols such as eagles, snakes, frogs and conch shells.

Answer: Multi-storied buildings rivalled the height of the major temples.

Within the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, this enormous palace that probably exceeded 50 000 square meters in area, had hanging gardens, ten aviaries, both fresh and salt-water pools, and zoological gardens with eagles (revered in the Aztec culture), jaguars, pumas, and snakes amongst hundreds of other exotic animals. The Aztec king was cared for by 3,000 attendants.

The house component itself was raised on a platform and had two levels. It was built of stuccoed adobe and attractive stones. It was luxuriously painted. While there were many, many rooms, there were four main ones: a reception area where the King entertained his many and frequent guests; the emperor's room which was the largest and most extravagantly appointed room; a meeting room where the throne was located prominently, usually on a dais; and a storage room which housed all the gifts received by the emperor.

Answer: The ball court

An Aztec ball game had a distinctive "I" shaped, 30-60 metre court known as the tlachtli. Around the court was a vertical slope, and walls about 3-4 metres high. At centre court against the walls were two stone-carved rings, roughly one metre in diameter placed high on the wall and highly decorated. The object was to keep a 4kg rubber ball from touching the ground, and to propel it to the other team's 'end zone' or to shoot the ball through the ring. Hands and feet could not touch the ball - hips, elbows and head were used.

The game had deep religious significance and was played on key seasonal dates such as the equinox. This was one game you did not want to lose, as sometimes the losing team of 5-8 players was sacrificed.

The game is still played today in some parts of Mexico, where it is called the Ulama.

Answer: The steam room

Aztec houses were built of adobe which was a special clay made into sun-dried bricks. Roofs were thatched or terraced. The house consisted of a single room divided into four areas: sleeping, cooking, eating and a shrine section.

Nobles had similar homes with a single room, although they were allowed to add a second story (where this was an executable offence if a commoner followed suit). Nobles' houses would be made of better quality materials, such as lime and/or stone. Mortar from limestone was also used. Whilst having the same rudimentary floor plan, nobles' houses were bigger and certainly more elaborate, as nobles were allowed to decorate their homes with gusto whereas commoners were very limited. (It was not a question of affordability but one's station in life.) Gardens were very important to the Aztecs, with nobles have grand luxuriant gardens whilst commoners' gardens were more functional.

Every Aztec home in Tenochtitlan had a separate building for a steam bath as decreed by the city physicians; they were not as common outside the capital. The small circular building had a low doorway (to retain heat). A fire was lit against one wall, and then water was poured on the hot wall creating steam. Steam baths were called "temazcalli", meaning "house to sweat".

Answer: Built aqueducts from distant springs to the city

The water beneath the city was brackish and was unsuitable to drink. Two aqueducts were conducted parallel to each other from mainland springs. They were constructed from mounds of earth pounded into shape and held in place with a wooden stake. On top, compacted clay was fashioned into a trough and then hollowed tree trunks were used to connect the mounds to form a continuous channel. Two were constructed side by side, so one would remain operational while the other was being maintained. Once the water reached the city, it was diverted to reservoirs and nobles' households through a canal network that was constructed along the four cardinal directions, with spurs to individual streets.

Answer: No

A chinampa was a small, rectangular area of fertile arable land for crops growth
which was essentially an artificial island constructed by weaving together reeds with tethering stakes beneath the lake's surface, creating underwater fences. Soil and aquatic vegetation would be deposited within these "fences" until the soil was visible on the water's surface. These agricultural lands received the nickname "floating islands" because of the illusion they caused. In Tenochtitlan, the chinampas were typically from 90 m × 5 m (300 ft × 20 ft) in area to 90 m × 10 m (300 ft × 30 ft).

Answer: The Spaniards destroyed the city.

Hernan Cortes was a Spanish conquistador who arrived at the Aztec capital in 1519. Initially he and his troops were greeted cordially by the emperor and he was treated as an honoured guest. However, over the next two years relations became increasingly acrimonious, and Cortes and his men destroyed the city in 1521. Today the capital of Mexico, Mexico City, is built upon the broken architecture of the Aztec capital.

Additionally, the Spaniards introduced smallpox (perhaps inadvertently) into the Aztecs' society and, as they had no natural immunity, they suffered enormous deaths. The plague was so bad that whole households were afflicted; in these cases their houses were destroyed with the family inside.

This was a tragic end to a proud culture with an amazing architectural legacy.