Taube, Karl A. (1993). Aztec and Maya Myths (4th University of Texased.). Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-78130-6. OCLC 29124568. Haskett, R.S. (1991). Indigenous rulers: An ethnohistory of town government in colonial Cuernavaca. University of New Mexico Press.

The main unit of Aztec political organization was the city state, in Nahuatl called the altepetl, meaning "water-mountain". Each altepetl was led by a ruler, a tlatoani, with authority over a group of nobles and a population of commoners. The altepetl included a capital which served as a religious center, the hub of distribution and organization of a local population which often lived spread out in minor settlements surrounding the capital. Altepetl were also the main source of ethnic identity for the inhabitants, even though Altepetl were frequently composed of groups speaking different languages. Each altepetl would see itself as standing in a political contrast to other altepetl polities, and war was waged between altepetl states. In this way, Nahuatl speaking Aztecs of one Altepetl would be solidary with speakers of other languages belonging to the same altepetl, but enemies of Nahuatl speakers belonging to other competing altepetl states. In the basin of Mexico, altepetl was composed of subdivisions called calpolli, which served as the main organizational unit for commoners. In Tlaxcala and the Puebla valley, the altepetl was organized into teccalli units headed by a lord (Nahuatl languages: tecutli), who would hold sway over a territory and distribute rights to land among the commoners. A calpolli was at once a territorial unit where commoners organized labor and land use, since land was not in private property, and also often a kinship unit as a network of families that were related through intermarriage. Calpolli leaders might be or become members of the nobility, in which case they could represent their calpollis interests in the altepetl government. [61] [62]Although the form of government is often referred to as an empire, in fact most areas within the empire were organized as city-states, known as altepetl in Nahuatl. These were small polities ruled by a hereditary leader ( tlatoani) from a legitimate noble dynasty. The Early Aztec period was a time of growth and competition among altepetl. Even after the confederation of the Triple Alliance was formed in 1427 and began its expansion through conquest, the altepetl remained the dominant form of organization at the local level. The efficient role of the altepetl as a regional political unit was largely responsible for the success of the empire's hegemonic form of control. [67] Economy [ edit ] Agriculture and subsistence [ edit ] Cultivation of maize, the main foodstuff, using simple tools. Florentine Codex Main articles: Human sacrifice in Aztec culture and Cannibalism in pre-Columbian America Ritual human sacrifice as shown in the Codex Magliabechiano

Maffie n.d., sec 2b,2c, citing Hunt 1977 and I. Nicholson 1959; Leon-Portilla 1966, p. 387 cited by Barnett 2007, "M. Leon-Portilla argues that Ometeotl was neither strictly pantheistic nor strictly monistic." Minc, Leah D. (2017). "Pottery and the Potter's Craft in the Aztec Heartland". In Deborah L. Nichols; Enrique Rodríguez-Alegría (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the Aztecs. Vol.1. Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199341962.013.13. Nowotny, Karl Anton (2005). Tlacuilolli: Style and Contents of the Mexican Pictorial Manuscripts with a Catalog of the Borgia Group. Translated by George A. Evertt and Edward B. Sisson. University of Oklahoma Press. Mexican cuisine continues to be based on staple elements of Mesoamerican cooking and, particularly, of Aztec cuisine: corn, chili, beans, squash, tomato, avocado. Many of these staple products continue to be known by their Nahuatl names, carrying in this way ties to the Aztec people who introduced these foods to the Spaniards and to the world. Through spread of ancient Mesoamerican food elements, particularly plants, Nahuatl loan words ( chocolate, tomato, chili, avocado, tamale, taco, pupusa, chipotle, pozole, atole) have been borrowed through Spanish into other languages around the world. [175] Through the spread and popularity of Mexican cuisine, the culinary legacy of the Aztecs can be said to have a global reach. Today, Aztec images and Nahuatl words are often used to lend an air of authenticity or exoticism in the marketing of Mexican cuisine. [177] In popular culture [ edit ]Sahagún, Bernardino de (1950–82) [c. 1540–85]. Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain, 13 vols. in 12. vols. I–XII. Charles E. Dibble and Arthur J.O. Anderson (eds., trans., notes and illus.) (translation of Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva Españaed.). Santa Fe, NM and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah Press. ISBN 978-0-87480-082-1. OCLC 276351.

The centerpiece of Tenochtitlan was the Templo Mayor, the Great Temple, a large stepped pyramid with a double staircase leading up to two twin shrines– one dedicated to Tlaloc, the other to Huitzilopochtli. This was where most of the human sacrifices were carried out during the ritual festivals and the bodies of sacrificial victims were thrown down the stairs. The temple was enlarged in several stages, and most of the Aztec rulers made a point of adding a further stage, each with a new dedication and inauguration. The temple has been excavated in the center of Mexico City and the rich dedicatory offerings are displayed in the Museum of the Templo Mayor. [81]Smith, Michael E. (2005). "Life in the Provinces of the Aztec Empire" (PDF). Scientific American. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 January 2021 . Retrieved 20 April 2006. Films on the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico. Part One: Historical Films". Native American Films. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018 . Retrieved 12 April 2018.

Himmerich y Valencia, Robert (1991). The Encomenderos of New Spain, 1521–1555. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-73108-0. Smith, Michael E. (1984). "The Aztlan Migrations of Nahuatl Chronicles: Myth or History?" (PDF). Ethnohistory. 31 (3): 153–186. doi: 10.2307/482619. JSTOR 482619. OCLC 145142543. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 October 2018 . Retrieved 4 July 2006. Nicholson, H.B. (1971). "Major Sculpture in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico". In Gordon F. Ekholm; Ignacio Bernal (eds.). Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volume 10 & 11 "Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica". University of Texas Press. pp.92–134.VanEssendelft, W. (2018). "What's in a name? A typological analysis of Aztec placenames". Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 19: 958–967. Bibcode: 2018JArSR..19..958V. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.01.019. S2CID 189685291. López Luján, Leonardo (2005). The Offerings of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. Translated by Bernard R. Ortiz de Montellano and Thelma Ortiz de Montellano (Reviseded.). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 978-0-8263-2958-5.