The significance of

the Aztec Empire

in terms of economic, cultural, technological and
astrological development

By: Derick Coetzee

Table of Contents
Heading
1.
(1)
2.

Introduction
Sources

a. Summary of Evidence
b. Evaluation of Sources
3.

Page

(2)
(5)

The significance of the Aztec Empire

(8)

a. Analysis
b. Conclusion

(12)

4.

Reflection

(13)

5.

Bibliography

(14)

Introduction
What role did the annihilation of the Aztec Empire play
in the destabilization of the Yucatan? Was the Aztec
Empire as backwards as many people today think it was?
Would it have become a regional power if the Spanish had
not destroyed it or would it have collapsed into nothing
with the introduction of western ideas? Moreover, how

has the destruction of the Aztec Empire affected the

cultural heritage and sense of cultural belonging of the
natives

of

North

Yucatan

and

South

Mexico?

In

this

investigation, I will give proof that the Aztec Empire

was in fact equal to or even greater in stature than the
empires
cultural

of

Europe

in

development.

Conquistadores

changed

terms
I

of

will

the

economic,

show

cultural

how

social

that

heritage

and

Spanish
of

the

entire area by annihilating the Aztec Empire. And I will

show how the current destabilised state of the region
was caused by the taking away of the regions backbone
by the Spanish.

Sources
Here we will summarize and evaluate the
sources that was used in this investigation.

Summary of Evidence
Source A:

The Oxford Interactive Encyclopaedia

Article: The Aztecs

Content: Consists of a picture of the Aztec

calendar, with a caption explaining it, and
describing the intricate city of Tenochtitln.
Usefulness to the investigation: It showed me
the level of artistry and science achieved by the
Aztecs before the Spanish arrived, thus it can be
used to prove how advanced the Aztecs were.

Source B:

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia 2004,

Article: Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire

& the Corts Expedition
Content:
A
detailed
explanation
of
the
battles between the Spanish conquistadores of
Corts and the Aztecs, especially the Battle of
Tenochtitln and consequent siege. It also tells
of
how
the
Aztec
commanders
strategically
outsmarted the Spanish, clearly showing their
advanced military tactics. It also contains a
picture showing the splendour of Tenochtitln.
Usefulness to the investigation: This source
actually prompted me to do this investigation,
especially since I saw how the Aztecs almost
prevailed over the Spanish.

Source C:

World Book Millennium 2000

Article: The Aztecs

Content: Short explanation of what happened
to the Aztecs, and why they did not see Corts as
an enemy at first. It also tells us how the Aztec
heritage was lost during the Spanish occupation
and how it is being revived today.
Usefulness to the investigation: Can be used
to answer the last question in the introduction:
How has the destruction of the Aztec Empire
affected the cultural heritage of the natives of
North Yucatan and South Mexico?

Source D:

Britannica Deluxe Edition (Multimedia

Edition)

Article: Aztec culture to the time of the

Spanish Conquest
Content:
A
discussion
on
the
sources
available
to
historians
and
their
various
problems. It also contains some detail on the
background of the Conquest
Usefulness to the investigation: Can be used
to correctly identify biased sources, as well as
giving background information on the Spanish
conquest of the Aztecs.

Source E:

The Universal Standard Encyclopaedia

Article: Aztecs
Content: A discussion of the high level of
technological,
architectural,
astrological,
social
and
agricultural
development
of
the
Aztecs.
Usefulness to the investigation:
It
illustrates
the
point
of
this
investigation perfectly.

Source F:

Colliers Encyclopaedia

Article: Aztecs
Content: A description of the great market in
Tenochtitln by a Spanish soldier and chronicler
that accompanied Corts.
Usefulness to the investigation: This account
gives us a picture of the type, extent and
magnitude of Aztec trade, proving that the Aztecs
had a large and well-structured trade network and
markets.

Source G:

The National Geographic Magazine

August 1939

Article: Discovering the New Worlds oldest

dated work of man
Content:
It
is
an
article
about
an
archaeological expedition in the Yucatan. It
contains a paragraph about the relay runners that
the Aztecs used to transport fresh products
across their empire.
Usefulness to the investigation: This small
paragraph gives us a bigger picture of how the
Aztecs transported goods around their empire.

Evaluation of the Sources

Source A:

The Oxford Interactive Encyclopaedia

Origin: Computer-based encyclopaedia, picture

sketched by a Spanish artist, compiled by the
Learning Company
Purpose: This picture was probably sketched
to show the Europeans what the Aztec culture was
like.

Value: It shows the level of artistry that

the Aztecs were capable of.
Limitation: It might not be accurate, as the
artist may not have had the Aztec cultural
background to correctly draw the calendar.

Source B:

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia 2004

Origin: Computer-based encyclopaedia, two

articles by William R. Fowler and Carl Waldman.
Picture taken of an unnamed museum model.
Purpose: The purpose of these articles is to
give unbiased information on the Spanish conquest
of Meso-America.
Value: It provides a balanced view of what
happened in the conquest
Limitation: There is a possibility of bias
and misinformation, since, as Source D says,
there are many contradicting sources and the
Spanish destroyed many of the original Aztec
accounts of the period. This fact may distort
some of the articles written on this period.

Source C:

World Book Millennium 2000

Origin: Computer-based encyclopaedia, unknown

author
Purpose: Its purpose is to tell us what
happened to the Aztec culture and its effect on
today.
Value: Helps to complete the picture of what
happened to the Aztecs
Limitation: Might be biased, since it is very
critical and sarcastic about the Spaniards

religious duty to wipe out the Aztec culture

and religion. It is not very detailed, bare facts
only, very little elaboration.

Source D:

Britannica Deluxe Edition (Multimedia

Edition)
Origin:
Computer-based
encyclopaedia,
two
articles: Aztec culture to the time of the
Spanish Conquest- William T. Sanders and Jacques
Soustelle and Conquest of Meso-America-David
Bushnell
Purpose: Aztec culture to the time of the
Spanish Conquest: This is a discussion on the
biasness of different sources from that period to
make us aware of the existing biasness. Conquest
of Meso-America: Information on the conquest of
the Aztecs.
Value: Helps identify potentially biased
sources and provides more information for a
fuller total picture.
Limitation: No evident limitations, it is a
very good, unbiased source

Source E:

The Universal Standard Encyclopaedia

Origin: Book-based encyclopaedia edited by

Joseph Laffan Morse, Sc.B.,LL.B.,LL.D., from the
Aztec article on page 575-577.
Purpose: General information on the Aztecs.
Value: Gives a lot of extra information.
Thus, it compliments the other sources with extra
information

Limitation:
It
was
taken
from
an
old
encyclopaedia (1958), so the information might be
outdated to some extent.

Source F:

Colliers Encyclopaedia

Origin: Book-based encyclopaedia edited by

William D. Halsey and Emanuel Friedman, from the
Aztec article on page 412-416 written by J. Eric
and S. Thomson.
Purpose: Information on the Aztec way of
life.
Value: First hand account
Limitation: The account of a Spanish soldier
might be biased, for obvious reasons. However, it
may
also
contain
over-exaggeration,
as
the
Spanish were over-awed by the immense city of
Tenochtitln.

Source G:

The National Geographic Magazine

August 1939
Origin: An article in the National Geographic
Purpose:
Informative
article
about
the
Yucatan
Value: Extra information
Limitation: The article only mentions this
small piece of information about the Aztecs, as
it is actually about Maya ruins.

The significance of the Aztec

Empire
Many people today believe that the Aztec Empire was just a loose
conglomeration of backwards, barbaric tribes, bent on killing each
other and making human sacrifices. Based on this belief they also
think that the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, while being

cruel, was a good thing, as it brought civilisation to the

region and destroyed the heathen practises.
In a way, they are right. The Aztecs practiced a religion that was
barbaric and cruel in the extreme. They daily sacrificed people to
the sun, ripping their hearts out while they were still alive or
flaying them alive.
However, despite having such a cruel religion, by the time that
Montezuma II came to power, the Aztec Empire had conquered most of
the region, ruling it with an organized system of provinces, taxes
and trade that was equal to that of the Roman Empire and Europe.
According

to

the

Universal

Standard

Encyclopaedia:

Aztec

cities, pyramids and aqueducts indicate a vigorous and highly

developed people. In their social organization, also, the Aztecs
showed a comparatively advanced state of civilization 1 This
source clearly illustrates the point of this argument: the Aztecs
were a lot more than backwards tribes living in stone huts and
drinking cacao.
Many archaeologists regard Aztec astrology as equal to and even
superior to that of other civilizations. They divided the solar
year into 18 months of 20 days each, with 5 intercalaries. They
named each day by consecutive hieroglyphics and calculated annual
periods of 4, 13, 52, and perhaps as many as 104 cycles.

The

picture below is a sketch by a Spanish soldier of the Aztec

calendar.3 Note the intricate artwork etched into the stone.

Universal Standard Encyclopaedia -p.576

Universal Standard Encyclopaedia -p.576

Picture: The Oxford Interactive Encyclopaedia

This brings us to Aztec art, the place where the culture of a

civilization is measured. As you can see in the above picture, the
Aztecs were skilled artisans. This can also be gauged from the
beauty

of

the

well-known

headdress

of

Montezuma

II

and

other

paintings and codices (Aztec and Maya records, similar to European

tapestries,

of

particular

story/event/recipe/spell),

all

of

which are intricate in design and show a superior artistic skill.

The Aztecs had complete records of all the events in there Empire
that rivalled those of Rome. According to William T. Sanders and
Jacques Soustelle:[Aztec] Sacred books were written (or rather,
painted) on deerskin or agave-fibre paper by scribes, who used a
combination of pictography, ideograms, and phonetic symbols and
dealt

with

speculations

the
on

ritual
the

calendar,
gods

and

divination,
the

ceremonies,

universe.

Other

and

native

books..such as the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, the Azcatitlan,

and the Codex of 1576, which describe the history of the Aztec
tribe and state the Codex Badianus with magnificent drawings of

medicinal plants;

and the

Codex Mendoza

and the

Matrcula de

tributos, both tax documents of the Aztec empire.4

The heart of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitln, was built on a small
island

on

picture5

Lake

The

shows

the

district

of

alongside

sacred

temple

Tenochtitln.
too

Texcoco.

large,

When the city grew

the

Aztecs

anchored

wicker baskets filled with ground

to

the

bottom

create

more

of

the

land.

lake
The

to
city

itself was kept clean by a myriad

of canals, which were also used as
transport,

much

like

Venice.

Indeed, that is what many of the

awed

Spanish

soldiers

Tenochtitln: Venice

called

of

the

New

World.6 As the empire grew, so did

the

city,

so

that,

by

the

time

that Cortes got there, it was home to about 200 to 300 thousand
residents, making it one of the biggest cities in the world at
that time, London only having about 100 thousand and Paris about
the same.
Tenochtitln was also a regional centre of trade, with markets the
size

of

following

which
is

the
an

Spanish

excerpt

Conquistadores

from

the

diary

Castillo, a Spanish soldier and chronicler:

had

never

seen.

The

of

Bernal

Daz

del

Let us begin with

the dealers in gold, silver and precious stone, feathers, mantles,

and embroidered goods. Then there were Indian slaves, both men and
women.

Next there were other traders who sold great pieces of

cloth and cotton and articles of twisted thread and those who sold
4

William T. Sanders and Jacques Soustelle in Britannica Deluxe Edition

Picture: Encarta Encyclopaedia Standard 2004
66
Encarta Encyclopaedia Standard 2004
5

cacao. In another part there were skins of jaguar and mountain

lions, deer, and other animals. Then every sort of pottery made
in a thousand different forms from great water jars to little
jugs. Paper, and reeds scented with liquid amber and full of
tobacco, and yellow ointments and things of that sort are sold by
themselves, and much cochineal is sold under the arcades. Those
who sell salt and those who make stone knives, the fisherwoman and
others who sell small cakes of a sort of ooze which they get out
of the great lake. There are for sale axes of brass and copper and
tin (bronze), and gourds, and gaily painted wood.7 From this
excerpt

we

can

see

that

the

Aztecs

were

not

just

lot

of

uncivilised rabble bartering, they had a complex trade network,

now proven to have reached as far north as modern USA and as far
South as the Inca Empire in Peru and Chile.
So, what happened to this once-great and flourishing empire and
its culture? European greed and an inborn superiority complex in
Europe caused the Spanish monarchy, backed by the Roman Catholic
Church and especially the Pope and leaders of the Inquisition, to
totally wipe out the heathen nation of the Aztecs. As the World
Book encyclopaedia puts it: The Spaniards considered it their
duty as Christians to wipe out the temples and all other traces of
the

Aztec

religion

architectural

wonders

They
of

destroyed

most

Tenochtitln,

and

records,
anything

the

great

else

they

fancied to destroy. They stole the Aztec gold and shipped it off
to Europe, giving rise to Piracy. They force their own culture on
the

people

of

the

Yucatan,

giving

rise

to

the

modern

Latin

American culture. Only now, the people of Mexico, with Aztec

ancestors, are returning to their heritage as it is being dug up
in Archaeological expeditions and returned to the Mexican public.
Mexican painters such as Jose Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David
Siqueiros have used Aztec themes in their work. Many modern junk
foods like tacos have an Aztec origin, as do English words like
chocolate, avocado and tomato.
7

COLLIERS ENCYCLOPAEDIAp.414

Conclusion
So, what can we conclude from all this? The Aztecs were cultured,
civilized and organized enough to have become a regional leader
and contributor to regional stability, and to an extent it did
bring stability to the region. The Spanish, greedy for gold and
power,

destroyed

the

Aztec

civilisation,

destroying

the

infrastructure and authority structure in the region with it. They

tried to bring their own forms of authority into the region,
causing revolts that have contributed to the current instability
in the region that grew from the gap left by the Aztecs, and
filled

by

warlords.

In

addition

to

creating

this

political

instability, the Spaniards also forced their own customs on the

Aztec people, creating
the

culture-crisis

experienced

by

many

Central

Americans

today.

Reflection
I conducted this investigation by first checking all the
encyclopaedias on my computer for anything that could
prove that the Aztecs were an advanced culture. After
that I asked some friends of our family if they could
lend me some book-based encyclopaedias and I looked in
there. As the library was closed for the holiday I could
not

use

it,

so

the

only

sources

used

were

those

available

to

Unfortunately

me,
the

which
real

turned

codices

out
are

to
not

be

enough.

available

to

children, so I could only use what the encyclopaedias

and other informative books gave me.
I enjoyed doing this investigation and I realised again
how

the

Europeans,

especially

Spain

and

the

Roman

Catholic Church destroyed whole cultures for personal

gain. Unfortunately the world has not learnt from its
mistakes yet and we still destroy other peoples lives
to secure our own wealth and power.

Bibliography
1. The Oxford Interactive Encyclopaedia
Developed by The Learning Company, Inc.
Copyright 1997 TLC Properties Inc.
All rights reserved.
2. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia 2004
1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.
Product ID: 73514-442-5000196-66422
Version: 13.0.0.0531
3. World Book Millennium 2000
(International)Multimedia Edition

 1999 World Book, Inc.

4. Encyclopdia Britannica 2007 Deluxe Edition
Copyright 2007 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Version: 2007.01.00.000000000
5. The Universal Standard Encyclopaedia
VOLUME 2
1956, 1957 and 1958 By WILFRED FUNK, INC.
1954 and 1955 by WILFRED FUNK, INC.
6. Colliers Encyclopaedia
COPYRIGHT 1981 BY MACMILLAN EDUCATIONAL COMPANY, A
DIVISION OF MACMILLAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.
7. The National Geographic Magazine August 1939

All Sources in addendum. Only the information

used is given, not the whole article.

Total Word Count: 2314