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Have you met Tec yet?
Images of Everyday Aztec Life
The Codices give us an opportunity to see how the Aztecs lived their lives from day to day. Click through these examples.
The composite image on the right shows a drawing of a simple peasant farmer’s house (from a codex) alongside a reconstructed Aztec house interior in a major Mexican museum. Learn more by clicking on ‘One-room bed-sit’ below...
The Redcoats obtained their ‘red’ coats from Mexican
cactus beetles called cochineal - in huge quantities...
Aztec pillow-fight games: the trick was
to hide the soft bag under your cape...
Aztec pipes were called ‘tubes of aromas’
and held like darts thrown in battle!
Knots and matchmakers -
clues to ancient Mexican weddings
For rapid transport around the city
the canoe was king
For Aztec water-folk
the pelican mirrored their fate...
Would your cry of pain have been
ear-piercing, tongue-piercing or nose-piercing?
Some Aztec hairstyles were definitely
‘a cut above the rest...’
Some dyed their hair with indigo
- ‘so that their hair shone...’
One-room bed-sit...
... Home smoky home!
The wisdom of Aztec parents
- even the Spanish were deeply impressed...
Compare Aztec advice for pregnant women
with today’s Dos and Don’ts
Wonderful... marvellous... superb...
Mmmmmm... vanilla!
Pre-Hispanic nicknames...
... were often linked to clothing
The original ‘runaway’ slave
- the Aztecs gave you a sporting chance...
Beetlemania...
... seriously bad news!
Plagued by ants, mice, frogs?
To the Aztecs they were omens as well as pests...
Better than an alarm clock
The timeless sound of tortilla-making
When the Aztecs danced...
...they ‘sang with their feet’
Pioneers of Chocolate
Aztecs thought it was blood of the gods.
The Aztecs cried their hearts out...
... they made a strong case ‘for crying out loud’
Dust to dust...
... for the Aztecs it was water to water
Awaiting you in the sauna -
- goddess of the ‘steamy’ side of life...
In wheel life...
... feet handle rough terrain far better
3 score and 10...
...Yippee!!!
Getting drunk on Pulque
One of the benefits of the agave!
Do not pass Go
Patolli was an Aztec board game.