The People of the

Sun
How might a societys worldview influence its ability to adapt to its
physical geography?

Social 8 Unit 2 Chapter 7 PP 17

The Aztecs

How long ago was the Aztec civilization started?

Started in about 1100 C.E.
Oxford University in England is older!

Originating in the deserts of northern Mexico, they decided to find a

place to start a city.
After travelling around for 150 years, they settled on a swampy island.
This area had other civilizations in stone cities close by.
Chose this location because an eagle was sitting on a cactus and when they came
upon the eagle it screamed and opened its wings.
City was named Tenochtitlan.

The Physical Landscape - Mountains

The region in which the Aztecs decided to build their city was a very
hard region to live in. It was a swampy area with mountains close by.
Aztec worldview caused them to choose this location (religion was
major part of Aztec worldview).
Mountain is holy site (higher you are, closer to the gods you are)
Believed their god sent them here (signified by eagle story)

Aside from that, the mountains provided protection from invaders.

The Physical Landscape - Mountains

Video: How
Aqueducts Work
Video: Aztec
Aqueducts

The mountains caused flooding.

Steep mountainsides caused water to flood the city below during big rainstorms.
Aztecs built dams to the east of the city to solve this problem.

The mountains stopped rainclouds from entering the area.

Stopped freshwater from entering area.
Aztecs built an aqueduct to solve this problem.

The Physical Landscape - Island

The city of Tenochtitlan was surrounded by lake Texcoco.

Good for defense against invasion.
City linked to mainland by 3 causeways (roads) that could be destroyed if
invaders came.

In the 200 years that Tenochtitlan was occupied, the Aztecs grew from
a few thousand people into a society of several hundred thousand.