Part one of term paper
? The Aztec Indians originated from a place called Aztlan, somewhere in north or northwest Mexico. At that time the Aztecs were a small, nomadic tribe living in the border territory on the margins of civilized Mesoamerica. (see map I) In the 13th century they settled in the valley of central Mexico. The Aztecs finally found refuge on a smal ...

Part two of term paper
... sophisticated and civilized, learning from established peoples who had been town dwellers for more than 1,000 years. (Ekholm, Gordon F.) The Aztec empire consisted of numerous, loosely connected urban communities. Land ownership was communal. Each local group was composed of a few families that jointly owned a piece of land. Part of the yield of cultivated land was given to the state as a kind of tax. Technology depended more on human skills than on mechanical devices. Iron and steel were unk ...