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Artefacts of the Aztecs/ancient Mexicans
Here are some carefully researched and richly illustrated story features on individual artefacts that were central to Aztec life - more on their way...!
PLUS: mini-features on intriguing artefacts (mostly in museums) we think you may find interesting... AND: check out our artefact study pages, each linked to a downloadable activity sheet (see menu, right).
NEW 2014! View our entire ‘Artefacts in the Spotlight’ and ‘Artefact of the Week’ archives at a glance! Scroll down r/h menu or click links below...
‘Artefacts in the Spotlight’ Archive
‘Artefact of the Week’ Archive
Learn about Aztec furniture...
Our entry on the ‘double-headed serpent’
Coatlicue - the epitome
of Mexica/Aztec art...
Could this be the eighth known piece
of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican featherwork?
Guess how many feathers went
into making this famous Aztec shield?
Europe has many Mesoamerican objects
that were victims of ‘mistaken identity’...
‘The primary association of a chair
is with power....’
The Templo Mayor Museum has a rare example
of a Mexica priest’s waistcoat...
The Dumbarton Oaks ‘Aztec’ Birthing Figure
is striking, powerful, and entirely unparalleled
A stone Aztec jaguar head still lurks
just 7 blocks from the Zócalo...
You will never guess what some children
think a molinillo is for...!
Aztec pine torches gave plenty of
rich aroma as well as light!
See and Be Seen - the meaning of
‘smoking’ obsidian mirrors
An Aztec thief just had to ‘lift the lid’
of the family treasure chest
The ‘personified knives’ from Ofrenda 125
of the sacred precinct of Tenochtitlan
The V&A Museum has, stored away, a mysterious
‘monster’ metate which we’ve been allowed to see
In ancient Mexico the oldest clay stamps
were hand modelled...
The famous atlatl dart-thrower
was a truly ancient hunting weapon
Every Mexica family owned something ceramic
- what a lotta pottery!
Rulers were said to carry
a heavy LOAD of responsibility...
The best stone sauce bowls
take generations to ‘season’
The reed mat ‘petate’ -
- you could bet your life on it...
Symbol of a good Aztec citizen?
The upright digging stick
Getting to the hearth of the matter
- at the very centre of Aztec life
Did the ancient Mexicans invent
high-chairs for meal times?
We share in schools the Aztecs’ joy of carrying
the most precious artefact of all - a young baby...
Maquahuitl
- the Aztecs’ Broadsword
The Aztec Uictli
was in some contexts a sacred instrument
Strictly ‘tzictli’ - sticky chicle!
Nip up a gum tree and discover the original Aztec recipe...
¡Viva el Chicozapote!
Up the Chewing Gum Tree!
As well as chewing chicle latex
ancient peoples used it to seal and stick
Chimalli
Aztec shields - status symbols par excellence
Teponaztli
The ‘Queen’ of Aztec sacred drums ...
Metate
One of the most ancient of Aztec artefacts
Sun moon
Venus -
U-tube - a great source of music...
...for over 800 years!
An obsidian ‘microphone’
- basic kit for Aztec DJs!
Did these figures represent
multi-ethnic ancient Mexico?
Did the ancient Mexicans
play marbles, or jacks?
Artefact in the Spotlight
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Shell pendant (Huaxtec, 900-1450 CE), 16 cms high, British Museum.
The scene inscribed into the surface of this pendant depicts an individual who is being sacrificed by decapitation. A stream of blood pours down into the upturned open jaws of the squatting earth deity. Blood sacrifice was offered to nourish the earth and to assist the growth of crops necessary to sustain human life. The pregnant was fashioned from a section of conch shell and worn suspended from the neck.
From Ancient Mexico in the British Museum by Colin McEwan, British Museum Press, 1994, p. 35.
Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore.