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December 12th, 2006 by alexh

Team Members: Before you begin, you must understand the interests and focus of your team members. This means you need to be able to analyze the information by taking the role of all of these specialists. Define and describe the following:

Anthropologist – A person who studies anthropology, which is the study of origins, physical and cultural development, biological characteristics, and social customs and beliefs of humankind.
Someone who studies different cultures from different places in the world.

Archeologist- Somebody who studies the historic or prehistoric peoples and their cultures by analysis of their artifacts, inscriptions, monuments, and other such remains, esp. those that have been excavated.  A person who studies ancient artifacts for a clue to how ancient civilizations were ruled.

Economist- Someone who studies the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind. A person who looks at trade and industry from all the places of the world.

Historian- An expert in History, which is the branch of knowledge dealing with past events.

Linguist- Someone who is skilled in many different languages.

Theologian- Someone who studies divine things or religious truth; divinity

I got all of my definitions from www.dictionary.com

Questions.
Step 1:
Where did the Aztecs originally live? What prompted them to relocate? Where did they end up and why? Chose an artifact, which you feel best, represents this event. Support your choice
The Aztecs originally lived in a place called Atzlan. The legend of the reason why they left their home was that a prophet named Tenoch had a vision of Huitzilopochtli telling him to lead his people to a new land.  He would know this land by an eagle sitting on a cactus eating a snake that it had just caught. The more realistic hypothesis is that they were banished from their original home because of their unkind and merciless nature.  They ended up on an island in the middle of a lake, Lake Texcoco.

Step 2:
The Aztecs ended up in the middle of a lake and built their new capital Tenochtitlan. What were the pros and cons of settling in the middle of a lake? Describe the lay of the land and chose an image for your exhibit.
A pro was that it was easier to travel and easier to trade with other cites which would soon be established. A con would be that it was a marshy, snake, infested island. The land was filled with Chinampas, which were small islands, made by pilled up mud.

Step 3:
Which gods were worshiped? The pyramids were built for what purpose? Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Tlaloc, Chalchiuhtlicue, and Huitzilopochtli. There was also Xipe-Totec.  The pyramids were actually sacrificial temples that were used as a location for human sacrifices.

Step 4:
Who are the different members of Aztec society? What are their roles? Choose an artifact that represents the social order of Aztec society.
There were three classes of society slaves, commoners, and nobility.  The slaves were had pretty much the same jobs as the other slaves around the world. The commoners were in charge of farming and daily trade. The nobility were the higher generals, government, and priests.

Step 5:
The Aztecs have a spoken language. What was it called? Did they use any other forms of communication? Include an example of either written or visual language of the Aztecs.
Nahuatl was the name of their spoken language. They also used a written language and a visual language, which was composed of glyphs.

Step 6:
How did the Aztecs grow food and what was their main crop? Did they trade and with whom? Did they have a currency (money)? Find an image for your exhibit about making a living Aztec style.
They grew food by making terraces to control the flow of water, so that the crops did not flood. They grew corn, beans, chili peppers, squash, and tomatoes.  For the most part they just traded with the surrounding countires for the things they needed, but sometimes they used cacao beans as currency.

Step 7:
Discuss the Impact of Spanish Contact 1519 from both the Aztec point of view and the Spanish point of view. Find an image depicting this event.
From the Aztec point of view the Spanish deceived them and destroyed all that they believed in. The Aztec culture was almost wiped away, their beliefs banned, and their artifacts destroyed. From the Spanish point of view, the Aztec killed many of their men before they were finally conquered. The Aztec people caused Cortes great losses.

Step 8:
Discuss La Malinche or Dona Marina. Debate her positive/negative impact on Mexico past and present. What does the term Mestizo refer to? What influences remain today from Aztec culture of the past?
Dona Marina was as they say loyal and determined women. She was said to be a traitor to the Aztecs but the other side of the story was that she helped bypass bloodshed when the Spanish conquered the Aztecs. Some people say she was just Cortes’s mistress but others say that she cared for him and that his feelings were mutual. The term Mestizo is used for people who have a mixed heritage. Some influence from the past might be the religion because the Aztecs used to have their own religion and now that people of Mexico are mostly Roman Catholic.

Posted in Social Studies Block H | | |


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  1.   Ms. Seang said,

    on December 12th, 2006 at 10:45 am

    Things to think about:
    Step 1: What are other possibilities for the move other than the legend.
    Step 7: Think about the Spanish and Aztec conflicts more deeply. How did they perceive the other initially and how did the perception change?
    Also explain the pros and cons of the location of Tenochtitlan with more details. Remember, you are the expert.

  2.   Derek said,

    on January 19th, 2007 at 1:38 am

    Hey. My name is Derek and I am from Canada. I’m working on the teen life project with you guys. Your project sounds very cool. I hope you do well on it!

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