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Academic Levels
Here’s a key to the icons which are increasingly used at the tops of pages in order to grade articles according to their academic level. We hope that this will be useful in guiding you towards resources on the site which may be more useful to your students.
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| Suitable for all |
This article should be suitable for readers of all ages. Some examples:
‘The Legend of the Bat’ 1: the video
PLAY: sound bites - music Az Tec plays it!
Basic Aztec facts: Aztec names
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC NUMBERS
Clean Aztecs, Stinky Spanish...
Were there rich and poor in Aztec times?
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC GAMES
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC HOUSES
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC FAMILY LIFE
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC WEAPONS
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC TOOLS
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC FOODS
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC SCHOOLS
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC BURIALS
The Creation of the 5th Aztec Sun
Ideas for making a marigold paper flower
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC PUNISHMENTS
Ancient Mexican sounds archive
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC BOOKS
The traditional Nahua way to welcome a visitor to the home
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC MUSIC
Resource: How the male quetzal got his red chest
RESOURCE: Maya clothing illustrated
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC HEALTH
RESOURCE: Maya women’s hairstyles and headwear illustrated
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC SLAVES
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC MARKETS
RESOURCE on the Maya: Colourful birds to colour in
Why did the Aztecs only use wheels for toys and not for transport?
Did the Aztecs have different types of chewing gum to today’s?
Did the Aztecs ever meet the Incas?
Why did the Aztec gods destroy the four previous worlds?
Why is it better to support loads on the head and not on the shoulders
Why did [Maya] houses have no windows?
Were babies stolen from mothers in Aztec markets?
Going back in time, what one question would you ask the Aztecs?
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| Suitable for Top Juniors and above |
We think that these kinds of articles would be suitable for Top Juniors and above. Some examples:
Tenochtitlan Centre of the Aztec World
2020: Videoconferencing options
(Feathered) Snakes and Ladders
Early morning sound of making tortillas
Oldest school book on the Aztecs?
IN THE NEWS: ancient footprints
Interactive Sunstone Experience
Aztec pregnancy: Dos and Don’ts
‘The Legend of the Bat’ 2: the history
Bird feathers used in Aztec and Maya headdresses
A very modern assault on the Aztecs...
Los Nahuales - animal companion spirits
SEE a teponaztli drum in action...
Aztec Objects in Museums Collections Survey
Stone jaguar’s head in the heart of Mexico City
Mexicolore’s 2015 schools competition and campaign
Ancient Mexican musical singing stones
The highest rank in the Aztec army
Teaching the Maya resource - a Maya farmer’s house
Downloadable photos on the ancient Maya
The Maya story of the creation of humankind from corn
Scrapbook page of Mexicolore team visits to schools on the Maya
Reconstructing Moctezuma’s headdress for the BBC series Heroes a
Aztec farmer harvesting fruit?
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC TRANSPORT
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC TEMPLES
Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC JEWELLERY
Ask the Experts: Maya and Aztec feather headdresses
RESOURCE: The story of the finding of corn
2016 - Mexican Embassy drawing competition for kids
Ideas for developing rhythm activities based on the names of Aztec god
Basic Aztec facts: Aztec teaching
Traditional bark painting in Mexico
Daily curfew in the Aztec capital city Tenochtitlan
Aztec women knelt, men squatted
The noisy sound of a Mexica scribe turning pages
Our Maya Museum by Newby and Scalby Primary School
Resource for students: Malinche and Pocahontas
Resource on identifying Maya glyphs
Teaching the Maya resource - geometric design motifs
Ideas for learning from the film Coco about the Days of the Dead
A maguey sports Mexica lunar symbol
Mexica drums played as battle signals
Teaching resource on the ancient Maya death god A
Resource review: DK Findout Maya, Incas and Aztecs
Teaching resource on the ancient Maya God L
Resource review: Hunahpu and Xbalanque, Hero Twins of Popol Vuh
The Aztecs discovered new medicines from the animal world
Teaching resources on the Aztecs - clothing illustrated
Teaching resources on the Aztecs - hairstyles
Mexican codices get called lots of different names
School children vote for their favourite Aztec day sign
RESOURCE: Fun with Maya Glyphs
The last page of the Codex Boturini
The Aztec myth of the unlikeliest sun god
RESOURCE: Video ‘Breaking the Maya Code’
RESOURCE: Maya gods do human chores
The Classic Maya ball court hieroglyph
Representations of the Templo Mayor: odd one out
Important Mexica artefacts found in Mexico City
Ancient wheelie bin on steroids?
Circle of friends terracotta figure
How Aztec scribes produced the colour green
Teaching resource on the ancient Maya maize god E
Ideas for Aztecs and Maya primary science
Why did the Aztecs worship maize?
Was Snake Woman an Aztec empress?
Which was the Aztecs’ most fearsome weapon?
Why did many Aztec musical instruments have animal designs on them?
Why was the Sun God called Tonatiuh?
Did they have the same seasons as we do?
Were there rich and poor in Aztec times?
Did the Aztecs have hospitals?
How many people watched the [ball]game?
Which was the biggest group [job sector] in Aztec society?
Did the Aztecs have cenotes [sacred wells or sinkholes] or caves?
What was the Aztecs’ most prized possession? (2)
Why did Aztec shields have patterns on them?
Being held over burning chiles: differences between boys and girls?
Which museum has the most Aztec objects in it?
How did scribes get rid of mistakes when they wrote their books?
Did the Aztecs breed exotic birds like the quetzal for their feathers?
Would a son inherit the family house from his father when he grew up?
What did ordinary Aztec people turn into in the afterlife?
Did the Aztecs have a particularly BAD ruler, like we had Henry VIII?
Which was the second biggest town/city in Aztec times?
How did a warrior put on the skin of an eagle?
Were Aztec marriages arranged?
Did the Aztecs do any sacrifices taking out the liver?
How did they know the Fifth Sun would be destroyed by an earthquake?
When did the Aztecs stop using cacao beans for money?
Why is the original gold pendant in England?
Did the Aztecs began as a small, peaceful, wandering tribe?
What was the highest position a woman could reach?
Did the Aztecs bury things for future generations like us to find?
Why did the Aztecs sacrifice the men and not the women?
How did the Aztecs decide what to make musical instruments out of?
Would you like to have lived in Aztec times?
If the Aztecs died of old age how long did they expect to live for?
Which was the most sacred animal for the Aztecs?
How long were Aztec children held over smoking chillies for?
What toys did Aztec children play with?
Most interesting fact you’ve come across about the Aztecs (3)
Did they carry on playing the ballgame in pouring rain?
Who invented the 20-day calendar?
Is the chewing gum tree only found in Mexico?
Who were the first to chew gum, the ancient Greeks or Mexicans?
How rare was it to reach the age of 52?
Did the Aztecs wear masks to take on extra powers?
What was the Aztecs’ greatest fear?
How many books existed among the Maya before the Spanish Conquest?
Did the Aztecs ever fight against the Maya?
Where was the Sunstone in Aztec times?
What percentage of Aztec society were slaves?
Did the Spanish first meet the Aztecs during the day or at night?
Most interesting fact you’ve come across about the Aztecs (4)
How many pages did an Aztec book have?
Does each of the 20 day signs relate to a particular quality?
Did children learn to play the ballgame at school?
Did the Aztecs celebrate gods’ birthdays?
Did the Aztecs invent anything we still use today?
What was bronze in Aztec beliefs?
Is there a dragon in the Wind sign of the Aztec Sunstone?
What was the WORST job to have in Aztec times?
Was obsidian worn as jewellery?
Were there any lady [Maya] rulers?
Why did the Mexica believe in a four-year journey to the underworld?
How many people lived in an Aztec house (2)?
How did they choose their kings and queens?
Axolotls and their role in Mexican mythology
What happened straight after Moctezuma’s death?
Child-friendly sources on the Conquest
How big was the Aztec Calendar (Stone)?
What’s the ruler’s dress called?
The ‘crying boy’ whistling jug
How do we know Tenochtitlan had a zoo?
What was the Aztec symbol for turquoise?
Did the Aztecs paint their canoes?
Is there a name for the Aztec speech glyph?
What happened to the rest of the sacrificed person’s body?
How far north and south did the Mesoamerican civilizations trade?
Were women responsible for watching the night sky?
Did the Aztecs use a ‘Mixtec Sabre’?
How did the Aztecs colour their clothing?
What distinguished Aztec priests’ clothing from that of royals?
Did the Mexica have war chants?
Can you identify this object from the Florentine Codex?
What might Cuauhtemoc have looked like after he became emperor?
Could you get divorced in Aztec society?
What did royal Aztec women wear?
What did the Aztecs call the Spanish invaders?
What does this Nahuatl saying mean?
What did the Aztecs call religion, belief and worship
Is this tattoo design an Aztec eagle?
Other examples of Aztec temples besides the Templo Mayor
What was the hairstyle of Aztec warriors?
The towns linked by causeways to Tenochtitlan
Did the Aztecs (Mexica) hug when greeting?
How did the Aztecs light their homes?
Range of items for sale at the great Aztec market
Is ANY of the treasure given or seized by Cortes accounted for today?
Did the Aztecs practice martial arts?
What type of war paint did the Mexica use?
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| Suitable for older students |
An article tagged like this would only be suitable for older students as it might contain some tricky words and/or be quite long. Some examples:
The British Library have selected our site
Ulama The Pre-Columbian Ballgame Survives Today
Notes on the three Aztec spirits/souls/animistic forces
3rd Nahuatl London Study Day and Workshop
Turquoise Mosaics book launched
The death of British Mayanist Ian Graham
IN THE NEWS: how the cactus stone was unearthed
El sacrificio en los Códices Mixtecos prehispánicos
Balamkanché, Altar of the Jaguar Priest (2)
Reconstructing Aztec Super Glues
Mexico’s long-distance running tradition
Toci - an aspect of the Great Mother Earth Goddess
How ‘Eagle Man’ has changed Britain’s museums
“There is no such thing as ‘Human Sacrifice’”
The Aztecs have been called many things...
Educación comunitaria en México
The renaming of pre-Hispanic Mexican codices
Found! The pulque gods’ ‘golden section’...
The Virgin of Guadalupe and Tonantzin
The Sea - ‘water which reaches the heavens’
String Instruments in the Americas/Mexico
Moctezuma Montezuma Motecuhzoma
Giving birth was one big battle
God of the month: Quetzalcoatl
Privateers, Pirates and Aztec Gold
First London Náhuatl Study Day and Workshops
Obsidian jar from Texcoco in the form of a monkey
Modern Myths of the Ancient Maya
Bringing the Maya ritual ballgame to life
Maya bas-relief showing a ball player
Teaching the Maya resource - design motifs
Teaching resources on the ancient Maya
Maya connections with Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
Just how advanced were the Maya?
The Maya: a 4,000 year-old civilization in the Americas
The music of the laws of Nezahualcoyotl
The Aztec-Spanish Encounter in Empire-Building Video Games
What did the ancient Maya wear?
2nd London Nahuatl workshop on Aztec writing
The sunflower - one of Mexico’s gifts to the world
Feathers from which birds went to make Aztec & Maya headdresses?
A resource for teaching cochineal dyeing
Dancing with snakes: and the Aztecs ate them
The early history of chocolate
Reconstructing a Mesoamerican codex
The great market at Tlatelolco
The Aztecs spoke of the twenty day signs as a precious necklace
Shakespearean sonnet versus Mexica song
Mexicolore’s early years in development education in schools
Talking a Good Fight: Communication and Conquest, part 1
Talking a Good Fight: Communication and Conquest, part 2
Codex Corner: colours used in Aztec books
Codex Corner: mistaken identity of the Codex Laud
New teaching resources on the Conquest of Mexico
Fran Ilich: Aridoamérica Winter Plan
Recently rediscovered headdress of Cuauhtemoc
An Aztec drum played in a mountain village procession
Google Maya Heritage at the British Museum
Mexicolore, Google Maya Project and the British Museum
Sacrifice in the pre-Hispanic Mixtec codices
The Aztecs and the Spanish Conquest for GCSE Part One
The Aztecs and the Spanish Conquest for GCSE Part Two
The Aztecs and the Spanish Conquest for GCSE Part Three
Europeans thought Aztec artists were razor sharp
The Maya Calendar and the Burden of Time
What do the Aztec day signs represent
Community education and archaeological museum in Mexico
Expert opinions on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico (3)
Hampton Court Chocolate Kitchen
Teaching resource on Maya tattoos
Mexica (Aztec) Human Sacrifice: New Perspectives
El sacrificio humano entre los mexicas: nuevas perspectivas
Teaching resource on the ancient Maya god Itzamna
Ancient Maya artefact - jaguar tail handle
Resource: how Maya and Aztec buildings resisted earthquakes
We recommend good introductions to Mexica writing
Lighting a fire on a mountain summit was an ancient ritual act
In the news - the gender pay gap in colonial Mexico
The chimalli or shield, a classic Mesoamerican defensive weapon
Ancient musical instruments from western Mexico
Mesoamerica and the North American Southwest
Mixtec ideographic designs from the codices
Teaching resources on the Maya creation story and ballgame
4000 Years of Cacao Cultivation and Use in Mesoamerica
RESOURCE REVIEW: Back2Front The Maya
Stages of childhood in ancient Mesoamerica
‘Moctezuma’s Headdress’ - an update 2018
Human waste was put to good use by the Aztecs
What exactly was ‘obsidian medicine’ for the Aztecs?
Nearly everything taught about Aztec ‘sacrifice’ is wrong
The ancient ingredient that gives rubber balls their bounce
Comparative history of British and Mexican querns
Encounters countdown quincentennial timeline 1
The Aztecs thanked and blessed their farming tools once a year
Maya teaching resource The Boys in the Band
Aztec jaguar warriors did NOT wear real jaguar skins
The maize cycle and the Aztec farming year
How Aztec and Maya chocolate was prepared
Aztec advances in health eg intramedullar nails
Aztec advances in health eg anaesthetics
The story of Zotz, a Mesoamerican comic
Aztec advances in health eg sweat lodges
La Llorona and the Mexican Days of the Dead (1)
La Llorona and the Mexican Days of the Dead (2)
We review the Azteken exhibition in the Linden Museum Stuttgart
The fate of an Aztec person’s tonalli after death
Aztec greetings with physical contact
Aztec advances in health eg tartar removal
For the Aztecs dental hygiene was a priority
Encounters countdown quincentennial timeline 2
Aztec advances in health eg nixtamalization
A celebration of Mesoamerican achievements and advances
What first inspired you to study ancient Mexico/Mesoamerica? (1)
Class struggle: annual mock battle between Aztec students
Aztec advances in health eg medicinal use of tobacco
To secure freedom a slave had to tread on poo!
Mirrors could be used as lie deterrents
First image of Africans in the Americas
How do the Aztec and Maya solar and lunar calendars combine?
IN THE NEWS: epidemic, self-isolation, dedication and the preservation
Balamkanché, Altar of the Jaguar Priest
Aztec advances in health eg distillation
What did Mesoamerican scribes write WITH?
In which festivals or rituals did the Aztecs practise cannibalism?
One-Death: Great day to be an Aztec slave
What first inspired you to study ancient Mexico/Mesoamerica? (2)
The hand of a Maya scribe with paintbrush
A modern Nahua poem in Nahuatl Spanish and English
‘Desert Island Artefacts’ Panel of Experts survey
Aztec topilli or ‘staff of justice’
Aztec advances in health and technology: tamales
Sacred geometry - at the FOURfront of Aztec life
Marriage Alliances in Mesoamerica
Alianzas Matrimoniales en Mesoamérica
Hetzmek - turning babies into Mayas
Did the Aztecs have a god of snow?
How do you say ‘brother’ in Nahuatl?
Were there medical teams on hand [in ballgames] in case of injuries?
Did the Aztecs force you to be who you were - 2?
Why always THREE hearth stones?
Do you know the names of all the Aztec gods?
When you find something buried, how do you know it’s Aztec?
If you died from hunger or disease, which underworld would you go to?
Have any ancient rubber balls been found?
Which was the greatest [Aztec] goddess?
Did the Maya and Aztecs take feathers for headdresses from other birds
Could Aztec children go to the market on their own?
After the ballgame did they do human sacrifices straight away?
Did the Aztec gods ever make a sign or an appearance?
Why did Maya houses have no windows? (2)
Why did the Aztecs dance when they fought?
What did the Spanish do after the native population collapsed?
Why did the people not name Mexico after the Maya?
Why were Aztec parents so strict?
Is it true that the Spanish didn’t like chocolate at first?
If an Aztec tried to commit suicide would they have been punished?
In the nocturnal ballgame did the burning ball give off noxious gases?
Could you be killed for cutting down a tree?
Does the different colour of maize depend on where it’s grown?
Why did the Aztecs think gold was the poo of the sun god?
Were there any female Aztec rulers?
Could there be more undiscovered ancient books in Mexico?
Where did the Aztecs get the names of their gods from?
Why did the Aztecs believe in so many heavens?
How were Aztec orphans looked after?
How long did it take to build Chichen Itza?
Were 4 gods linked to the 4 previous ‘worlds’?
Were important people carried or did they walk?
How many people lived in an Aztec house (1)?
Nahua Women and the Spanish Conquest
What does (my) name Cuitlahuac mean?
Were the Aztecs as barbaric as described by the Spanish?
Who was Prime Minister at the Conquest?
Is it blood on the face of Tenoch in the Codex Mendoza?
We’re trying to find pictures of what the Aztecs ate
Can you tell us anything about the Aztec God of Good Health?
How did the Aztecs make molcajetes?
How should I start teaching a topic on the Aztecs?
What were Aztec shields made of?
Did war shield symbols represent cities?
Were war banners sacred or utilitarian?
How much gold did the Spanish take from the Aztecs?
Did the Aztecs use ‘Mum’ and ‘Dad’?
Where were deerskin strap masks worn?
What did the Aztecs use to paint sculptures red?
Can you suggest good books on Aztec music?
The 13 heavens and 9 underworlds
The tongue hanging out in Aztec art
Did the Spanish completely obliterate Aztec song and dance?
Who exactly were the Chichimec people?
Please identify this Mexica turquoise mosaic disc
What was the symbolism of the four directions?
Daily life of Aztec royal court musicians
Which was the feast date celebrated for Chalchiuhtlicue
What’s going on in this image from the Florentine Codex?
How did dogs act as guides for the souls of the dead to Mictlan
Did Leopoldo Batres really dig up the urn with the ashes of Ahuitzotl?
Was Xochiquetzal a female Aztec warrior?
The Aztec view of human abnormalities
How did the Aztec army keep itself supplied and how did they treat wou
What items symbolized the Xilonen festival?
Did all Aztec gods have male and female aspects?
What type of surgery did the Aztecs practice?
What led Alvarado to massacre the Aztecs?
What aspects of Aztec culture influenced their housing?
Can you identify this poster image?
Did the Aztecs use metal spears?
How did the Aztecs get their stones for building structures
Did the Aztecs have coming-of-age rituals?
Why don’t bears feature more strongly in Aztec mythology?
Good introductory resources for learning Mexica writing
How did lower caste people address the emperor and priests
What did Aztec religion share with other Mesoamerican cultures
How were Xochipilli and Xochiquetzal linked?
What’s the meaning of this ‘Mayan’ statue?
The story of the Mexica sacrifice of a Colhua princess
What do the colours in images of Tezcatlipoca’s face mean?
How did the Aztecs treat mental illness
What about the ‘quintametzin’ giants in Aztec mythology
Can you tell me more about the Aztecs’ relationship to the sea?
Were all Mexica great astronomers or just the priests?
When does a day start in the tonalpohualli?
Which Aztec ceremonies did not include human sacrifices?
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| More suitable for mature students |
We think that this kind of article would only be suitable for mature students as it might be quite long and/or academic in tone. Some examples:
‘What was the Aztecs’ most prized possession?’
Some thoughts on the design of the Aztec Sun Stone
Tezcatlipoca - a new clue is revealed...
IN THE NEWS: latest excavations...
Cannibalism and corpse medicine (1)
Cannibalism and corpse medicine (2)
Aztec Herbal Pharmacopoeia, Part 1
Aztecs and the power of lament
Aztec Concepts of the Human Body (1)
Aztec Concepts of the Human Body (2)
Plants used for reproductive health among the modern-day Nahua
Frida Kahlo’s The Wounded Table
Portrait of a Collection: National Museum of Mexico, 1865
How did Mesoamericans envision the cosmos?
The skilled use of conch shell in mosaics
Did Aztec rulers possess divine powers?
Vienna’s Mesoamerican Featherworks
The Deep Roots of Aztec Sculpture
IN THE NEWS: (ritual) decapitation
The Ancient Secret of Pre-Hispanic Jewellery
The Aztecs and Lake Navigation
The mother of all ballgames...
Especial Birds in the Americas
Games and Other Amusements of the Ancient Mesoamericans
Dr. H.B. Nicholson - ‘Grandfather’ of Aztecs Studies
Lightning in Mesoamerica: Manifestations and Transformations
Mesoamerican Copper: An Industry of Connections
Conquest and the ‘Stranger Effect’
Rites in the Underworld: Caves as Sacred Space in Mesoamerica
Introducing pre-Hispanic sounds from Mexico into modern music composit
Uso de sonoridades prehispánicas en la música de hoy
What lies underneath Aztec sculpture?
Central Mexican Writing Systems
Cacao in Ancient Maya Religion
Time, ritual and sacred landscape in Aztec Mexico
Do you know the names of all the Aztec gods?
What might have happened if the Aztecs had defeated the Conquistadors?
The Food of the Gods: Cacao use among the Prehispanic Maya
The Aztec (Central Mexican) Calendar
Death whistle - a cremated example is rediscovered
The chacmool and the ballgame (2)
The chacmool and the ballgame (1)
Gambling and patolli, the Aztecs’ favourite game
Colour and Culture Among the Aztecs (1)
Colour and Culture Among the Aztecs (2)
Witchcraft and Sorcery in Ancient Mexico
The fate of the wise Nahua ‘tlamatque’
IN THE NEWS: femicide in Mexico
IN THE NEWS: femicide in Mexico Part 2
Prehispanic Nahua Naming Patterns
Conference on Mesoamerican Manuscripts 2016
The Aztecs are back: deliberate syncretism in Mexican Catholicism toda
Hi-tech imaging of two Aztec codices in Paris
The Voladores or Pole Flying ceremony
The mysterious Aztec dual deity Ometeotl
Households and daily life in Mesoamerica
Expert opinions on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico (1)
Expert opinions on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico (2)
The Aztec approach to drinking alcohol
Poetic imagery of Tenochtitlan in Aztec songs
Some thoughts on the design of the Tizoc Stone
The Concept of the Wheel in Ancient Mesoamerica
El Concepto de la Rueda en Mesoamérica
Aztec advances in health eg arthritic pain treatments
Aztec advances in health and technology: grain and crop storage
The Bottom line in Mexican codex writing
How long did it take the Aztecs to realise that Cortes was not a god?
The Myth of Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl
Sacred birds, flowers and Day Lords
What exactly was a ‘calpulli’?
What happened to the Aztec nobility after the Conquest?
What evidence is there of Aztec human sacrifice?
Did the Aztecs make figures of gods out of corn stalk paste?
Did the Aztecs try to convert conquered peoples?
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| Seriously academic article |
A “5-boffin” article is likely to be of interest to only a limited number of people or may be so complex that we struggle to understand it ourselves! Some examples:
Birth and death as metaphors in pre-Columbian cultures. part 1
Birth and death as metaphors in pre-Columbian cultures. part 2
