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Images of Everyday Aztec Life
The codices give us an opportunity to see how the Mexica/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...
How to capture a monkey?
Just invite it to warm itself by the fire...
Much of Aztec warfare was directed to pomp
and display rather than military efficiency...
Aztec man and woman -
‘Lord and Lady of the necessities of life’
Though Mexica society was hierarchical,
social mobility wasn’t just possible but encouraged...
Mexica green came from Maya blue
(with a spot of yellow)...
‘Certain ritual precautions had to be taken
[by the Aztecs] when consuming food...’
Death bundle masks protected the individual
on their journey to the underworld...
We give you the low-down on the 3
Aztec souls or ‘animistic entities’...
Identical twins shared just one tonalli (life force)
- so they had to work twice as hard...
Animation: ‘A Day in the Life
of an Aztec midwife...’
The Mexica spent less time later saying thanks for
a good harvest and more praying earlier for abundance
Did the Mexica hug
when greeting each other?
A good Aztec farmer studied the moon
and was a good ‘reader of the day signs’
Seen a ghost? Safest way to see it off
was to scare it with its own reflection...
Don’t drink before your older sibling
or you’ll stop growing...!
In Aztec times, men didn’t sit
on chairs - they squatted
Everyone in Tenochtitlan
had to head home at 6 pm!
If you sneezed, it meant someone
was talking about you far away!
Some differences between
Mexica nobles and commoners...
The climate had a real impact
on household Aztec furniture...
For the Aztecs, a woman giving birth
was likened to a warrior in a battle
Watch a delightful animation
on the Aztec life cycle...
Don your masks for ‘Trick or Treat?’
- the Mexica version...
Famine drove the Mexica
to sell themselves to feed their families...
A Mexica had to be brave...
... to go to the loo at night!
WANTED - ALIVE: a captive warrior
REWARD: a beautiful cape!
Flowers played an important role
in individual Mexica lives...
The Natural Look: Beauty Tips
For the Aztec Girl...
Mexica man, Mexica woman -
physical strength, moral force
Off to work at 6...
... years old
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
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!
When the Aztecs danced...
...they ‘sang with their feet’
The wisdom of Aztec parents
- even the Spanish were deeply impressed...
Educating a young person was literally
‘giving wisdom to their face’!
For Aztec water-folk
the pelican mirrored their fate...
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
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.