The ultimate exploration of early 16th century Aztec culture features over 500 archaeological objects and works from Mexico and the United States, including jewelry, works of precious metals, and household and ceremonial artifactsQmany of which have never been exhibited before in the U.S. 0-89207-316-0$85.00 / DAP / Distributed Arts Publishers

Parallels the historical backgrounds and human motivations of the Spaniards and Aztecs, as they grapple in the life-and-death battle for the Aztec Empire.

Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec empire before the Spanish conquest, rivaled any other great city of its time. In Europe, only Paris, Venice, and Constantinople were larger. Cradled in the Valley of Mexico, the city is unique among New World capitals in that it was well-described and chronicled by the conquistadors who subsequently demolished it. This means that, though centuries of redevelopment have frustrated efforts to access the ancient city’s remains, much can be told about its urban landscape, politics, economy, and religion. While Tenochtitlan commands a great deal of attention from archaeologists and Mesoamerican scholars, very little has been written about the city for a non-technical audience in English. In this fascinating book, eminent expert José Luis de Rojas presents an accessible yet authoritative exploration of this famous city--interweaving glimpses into its inhabitants’ daily lives with the broader stories of urbanization, culture, and the rise and fall of the Aztec empire.

Provides information about the Aztec empire, discussing Tenochtitlán, daily life, ruins, and other related topics.

Students are taught that the Aztecs were destroyed by Hernán Cortéz, the conqueror of Mexico. However, there is much to learn about who the Aztec people were before they were conquered. The native Mexicans were part of a rich and vibrant culture that spanned hundreds of years. To understand this complicated society, readers are provided with an engaging main text and colorful photographs and historical images. Informative sidebars throughout detail the long history, and sudden defeat, of the Aztec Empire.

The Aztecs were the Native American people who dominated northern Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century. A nomadic culture, the Aztecs eventually settled on several small islands in Lake Texcoco where, in 1325, they founded the town of Tenochtitlan, modern-day Mexico City. Fearless warriors and pragmatic builders, the Aztecs created an empire during the 15th century that was surpassed in size in the Americas only by that of the Incas in Peru. The Aztecs are the most extensively documented of all Amerindian civilizations at the time of European contact in the 16th century. Various sources, including those of religious, military, and social historians left invaluable records of all aspects of life and together with modern archaeological inquiries portray the formation and flourishing of a complex imperial state. The Aztec Empire, organized by Felipe Sol's Olgu'n, the distinguished curator and director of the Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Mexico City, provides not only a thorough representation of Aztec society at the zenith of the empire in the 15th century, but also the context for its development, expansion, and influence. The exhibition features more than 500 archaeological objects and works from Mexico and the United States, including jewelry, works of precious metals, and household as well as ceremonial artifacts. Many of the objects have never been seen outside Mexico, and many will be exhibited with works from the U.S. collections for the first time. This accompanying catalogue includes scholarly essays by foremost Mexican and U.S. authorities from diverse fields and promises to become a major reference on the subject. The essays provide in-depth discussions of various aspects of the culture, such as the Aztec view of the cosmos; their religion and rituals; daily life of common citizens, as well as the nobility; and ecological and anthropological evaluations. It also provides expanded, detailed catalogue information for each work in the exhibition.

Fifth Sun offers a comprehensive history of the Aztecs, spanning the period before conquest to a century after the conquest, based on rarely-used Nahuatl-language sources written by the indigenous people.