88 UNIT 1 PREHISPANIC MESOAMERICA
The Rise of the Aztecs
We use the term “Aztec” to refer to the Nahuatl-speaking peoples of highland Cen-
tral Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest. There were several distinct Aztec eth-
nic groups, of which the Mexicas are the best known. These groups originated in
northern Mexico, migrating south into the central Mexican highlands in the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries. Scholars are divided as to whether these migrants’ reported
home, Aztlan, was a real or mythical place. When the Nahuatl-speakers arrived in
Central Mexico after the fall of Tula, they founded towns and set up dynasties, lead-
ing to the development of a series of city-states that continued as the dominant po-
litical form through the time of the Spanish invasion. These new city-states were
economically and politically successful, and this period witnessed a great surge of
population growth caused by both immigration and natural increase. Calixtlahuaca
was one such city-state, located in the Toluca Valley (Figure 2.11).
Like other Mesoamerican city-state systems, such as the Mixtecs and the Classic
Mayas, the Aztec polities interacted with each other through a combination of peace-
ful and aggressive practices. By the early fifteenth century, several Aztec polities had
succeeded in establishing small-scale empires consisting of networks of conquered
city-states. These included Texcoco, capital of the Acolhua ethnic group in the east-
ern Valley of Mexico; Azcapotzalco, capital of the Tepanecs in the western Valley;
and Cuauhnahuac, head city of the Tlahuicas in Morelos.Figure 2.11 Aztec round temple from the site of Calixtlahuaca. Such round temples were
dedicated to Ehecatl, the wind god manifestation of Quetzalcoatl (the feathered serpent).
Photo by Michael E. Smith.