1.
Teotihuacan
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Additionally, Teotihuacan exported fine obsidian tools that garnered high prestige and widespread usage throughout Mesoamerica. The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC, the city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD, but its major monuments were sacked and systematically burned around 550 AD. Teotihuacan began as a new center in the Mexican Highlands around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the pre-Columbian Americas, Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population. The term Teotihuacan is also used for the civilization and cultural complex associated with the site. The later Aztecs saw these magnificent ruins and claimed a common ancestry with the Teotihuacanos, the ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan is also a subject of debate. Possible candidates are the Nahua, Otomi, or Totonac ethnic groups, scholars have also suggested that Teotihuacan was a multi-ethnic state. The city and the site are located in what is now the San Juan Teotihuacán municipality in the State of México. The site covers a surface area of 83 square kilometres and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. It is the most visited site in Mexico. The name Teōtīhuacān was given by the Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs centuries after the fall of the city around 550 A. D, the term has been glossed as birthplace of the gods, or place where gods were born, reflecting Nahua creation myths that were said to occur in Teotihuacan. Nahuatl scholar Thelma D. Sullivan interprets the name as place of those who have the road of the gods and this is because the Aztecs believed that the gods created the universe at that site. The name is pronounced in Nahuatl, with the accent on the syllable wa, by normal Nahuatl orthographic conventions, a written accent would not appear in that position. Both this pronunciation and Spanish pronunciation, are used, and both appear in this article. The original name of the city is unknown, but it appears in texts from the Maya region as puh. This naming convention led to confusion in the early 20th century. It now seems clear that Tollan may be understood as a generic Nahua term applied to any large settlement, the early history of Teotihuacan is quite mysterious, and the origin of its founders is uncertain. Around 300 BC, people of the central and southeastern area of Mesoamerica began to gather into larger settlements, Teotihuacan was the largest urban center of Mesoamerica before the Aztecs, almost 1000 years prior to their epoch
2.
National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico)
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The National Museum of Anthropology is a national museum of Mexico. It is the largest and most visited museum in Mexico, the museum is managed by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, or INAH. Assessments of the museum vary, with one considering it a national treasure, the museum is the synthesis of an ideological, scientific, and political feat. Octavio Paz criticized the museums making the Mexica hall central, saying the exaltation and glorification of Mexico-Tenochtitlan transforms the Museum of Anthropology into a temple, the halls are ringed by gardens, many of which contain outdoor exhibits. The museum has 23 rooms for exhibits and covers an area of 79,700 square meters or 857,890 square feet, on August 25,1790, the Museum of Natural History was established by botanist José Longinos Martínez. During the 19th century, the museum was visited by internationally renowned scholars such as Alexander von Humboldt, in 1825, the first Mexican president, Guadalupe Victoria, advised by the historian Lucas Alamán, established the National Mexican Museum as an autonomous institution. In 1865, the Emperor Maximilian moved the museum to Calle de Moneda 13, in 1906, due to the growth of the museums collections, Justo Sierra divided the stock of the National Museum. The natural history collections were moved to the Chopo building, which was constructed specifically to shelter permanent expositions, the museum was renamed the National Museum of Archaeology, History and Ethnography, and was re-opened September 9,1910, in the presence of President Porfirio Díaz. By 1924 the stock of the museum had increased to 52,000 objects and had received more than 250,000 visitors, the remaining collection was renamed the National Museum of Anthropology, focusing on pre-Columbian Mexico and modern day Mexican ethnography. The construction of the museum building began in February 1963 in the Chapultepec park. The project was coordinated by architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, with assistance by Rafael Mijares Alcérreca, in front of the testimonies of those cultures, the Mexico of today pays tribute to the indigenous people of Mexico, in whose example we recognize characteristics of our national originality. It also has a model of the location and layout of the former Aztec capital Tenochtitlan and they are classified as North, West, Mayan, Gulf of Mexico, Oaxaca, Mexico, Toltec, and Teotihuacan. The permanent expositions at the first floor show the culture of Native American population of Mexico since the Spanish colonization, the museum also hosts visiting exhibits, generally focusing on other of the worlds great cultures. Past exhibits have focused on ancient Iran, Greece, China, Egypt, Russia, doris Heyden Felipe R. Solís Olguín, director 2000–2009 Aveleyra, Luis. Plantación y metas del nuevo Museo Nacional de Antropología, artes de México, época 1, año 12, no. El Museo Nacional de Antropología de México, el Museo Nacional de Arquelogía, Historia, y Etnografía. Mexico, Imprenta del Museo Nacional de Arquelogía, Historia, y Etnografía 1924, Historia de los Museos de México. Mexico, Fomento Cultural del Banco Nacional de México 1987, the Creation of the Museo Nacional de Antropología of Mexico and its scientific, educational, and political purposes
3.
Nahuatl
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Nahuatl, known historically as Aztec, is a language or group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by an estimated 1.5 million Nahua peoples, all Nahuan languages are indigenous to Mesoamerica. Nahuatl has been spoken in central Mexico since at least the seventh century CE and it was the language of the Aztecs who dominated what is now central Mexico during the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerican history. This early literary language based on the Tenochtitlan variety has been labeled Classical Nahuatl, today, Nahuan languages are spoken in scattered communities, mostly in rural areas throughout central Mexico and along the coastline. There are considerable differences among varieties, and some are mutually unintelligible, Huasteca Nahuatl, with over one million speakers, is the most-spoken variety. They have all been subject to varying degrees of influence from Spanish, No modern Nahuan languages are identical to Classical Nahuatl, but those spoken in and around the Valley of Mexico are generally more closely related to it than those on the periphery. Nahuan languages exhibit a complex morphology characterized by polysynthesis and agglutination, through a very long period of coexistence with the other indigenous Mesoamerican languages, they have absorbed many influences, coming to form part of the Mesoamerican language area. Many words from Nahuatl have been borrowed into Spanish, and since diffused into hundreds of other languages, most of these loanwords denote things indigenous to central Mexico which the Spanish heard mentioned for the first time by their Nahuatl names. English words of Nahuatl origin include avocado, chayote, chili, chocolate, atlatl, coyote, peyote, axolotl, as a language label, the term Nahuatl encompasses a group of closely related languages or divergent dialects within the Nahuan branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. The Mexican Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas recognize 30 different individual varieties within the language group labeled Nahuatl, the Ethnologue recognizes 28 varieties with separate ISO codes. Sometimes the label also is used to include the Pipil language of El Salvador, within Mexico the question of whether to consider individual varieties to be languages or dialects of a single language is highly political. This article focuses on describing the history of the group. For details on individual varieties or subgroups, see the individual articles, in the past, the branch of Uto-Aztecan to which Nahuatl belongs has been called Aztecan. From the 1990s onward, the alternative designation Nahuan has been used as a replacement especially in Spanish-language publications. The Nahuan branch of Uto-Aztecan is widely accepted as having two divisions, General Aztec and Pochutec, General Aztec encompasses the Nahuatl and Pipil languages. Pochutec is a scantily attested language, which became extinct in the 20th century, other researchers have argued that Pochutec should be considered a divergent variant of the western periphery. Nahuatl denotes at least Classical Nahuatl together with related languages spoken in Mexico. The inclusion of Pipil into the group is debated, current subclassification of Nahuatl rests on research by Canger, Canger and Lastra de Suárez
4.
Aztec religion
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The Aztec religion is the Mesoamerican religion of the Aztecs. Like other Mesoamerican religions, it had elements of human sacrifice in connection with a number of religious festivals which were held according to patterns of the Aztec calendar. Aztec cosmology divides the world into thirteen heavens and nine earthly layers or netherworlds each level associated with a set of deities. The concept of Teotl is central to the Aztecs, the term is often translated as god, but may have held more abstract aspects of divinity or supernatural energy akin to the Polynesian concept of Mana. The many gods of the Aztecs can be grouped into complexes related to different themes, other deities, for example Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, had roots in earlier civilizations of Mesoamerica and were worshiped by many cultures and by many names. Some gods embodied aspects of nature, a large group of gods were related to pulque, drunkenness, excess, fun and games. Other gods were associated with specific trades, many gods had multiple aspects with different names, where each name highlighted a specific function or trait of the god. Occasionally, two gods were conflated into one, and quite often deities transformed into one another within a single story. Aztec images sometimes combined attributes of several divinities, nicholson classed the gods into three groups according to their conceptual meaning in general Mesoamerican religion. The first group he calls the Celestial creativity – Divine Paternalism group, the second, the earth-mother gods, the third group, the War-Sacrifice-Sanguinary Nourishment group contained such gods as Ome Tochtli, Huitzilopochtli, Mictlantecutli and Mixcoatl. Instead of Nicholsons subtle classification in the following a more impressionist classification is presented, on the state level, religion was controlled by the Tlatoani and the high priests governing the main temples in the ceremonial precinct of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. For example, on the feast of Huey Tozoztli, the ruler himself ascended Mt. Tlaloc, throughout society, each level had their own rituals and deities and played their part in the larger rituals of the community. On the feast of Ochpaniztli, all participated in sweeping the streets. Huixachtlan, lit on the chest of a person by the high priests. The Tlatoani of Tenochtitlan was the head of the cult of Huitzilopochtli and he had special priestly duties in different rituals on the state level. However, the Aztec religious organization was not entirely under his authority, under these religious heads were many tiers of priests, priestesses, novices, nuns and monks who ran the cults of the various gods and goddesses. Sahagun reports that the priests had a strict training, and had to live very austere and ethical lives involving prolonged vigils, fasts. For instance, they often had to bleed themselves and undertake prescribed self-mortifications in the buildup to sacrificial rites, additionally, Sahagun refers to classes of religious specialists not affiliated with the established priesthood
5.
Monarchy
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The actual power of the monarch may vary from purely symbolic, to partial and restricted, to completely autocratic. Traditionally and in most cases, the monarchs post is inherited and lasts until death or abdication, occasionally this might create a situation of rival claimants whose legitimacy is subject to effective election. Finally, there have been cases where the term of a reign is either fixed in years or continues until certain goals are achieved. Thus there are widely divergent structures and traditions defining monarchy, Monarchy was the most common form of government until the 19th century, but it is no longer prevalent. Currently,47 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state,19 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. The monarchs of Cambodia, Japan, and Malaysia reign, the word monarch comes from the Greek language word μονάρχης, monárkhēs which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. In current usage the word usually refers to a traditional system of hereditary rule. Depending on the held by the monarch, a monarchy may be known as a kingdom, principality, duchy, grand duchy, empire, tsardom, emirate, sultanate, khaganate. The form of societal hierarchy known as chiefdom or tribal kingship is prehistoric, the Greek term monarchia is classical, used by Herodotus. The monarch in classical antiquity is often identified as king, the Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese monarchs continued to be considered living Gods into the modern period. Since antiquity, monarchy has contrasted with forms of democracy, where power is wielded by assemblies of free citizens. In antiquity, monarchies were abolished in favour of such assemblies in Rome, much of 19th century politics was characterised by the division between anti-monarchist Radicalism and monarchist Conservativism. Many countries abolished the monarchy in the 20th century and became republics, advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism. In the modern era, monarchies are more prevalent in small states than in large ones, most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the centre of the royal household and court. Growing up in a family, future monarchs are often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule. Different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority. While most monarchs have been male, many female monarchs also have reigned in history, rule may be hereditary in practice without being considered a monarchy, such as that of family dictatorships or political families in many democracies. The principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the continuity of leadership
6.
Pre-Columbian era
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For this reason the alternative terms of Precontact Americas, Pre-Colonial Americas or Prehistoric Americas are also in use. In areas of Latin America the term used is Pre-Hispanic. Other civilizations were contemporary with the period and were described in European historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Maya civilization, had their own written records, because many Christian Europeans of the time viewed such texts as heretical, men like Diego de Landa destroyed many texts in pyres, even while seeking to preserve native histories. Only a few documents have survived in their original languages, while others were transcribed or dictated into Spanish, giving modern historians glimpses of ancient culture. Indigenous American cultures continue to evolve after the pre-Columbian era, many of these peoples and their descendants continue traditional practices, while evolving and adapting new cultural practices and technologies into their lives. Now, the study of pre-Columbian cultures is most often based on scientific. Asian nomads are thought to have entered the Americas via the Bering Land Bridge, now the Bering Strait, genetic evidence found in Amerindians maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA supports the theory of multiple genetic populations migrating from Asia. Over the course of millennia, Paleo-Indians spread throughout North and South America, exactly when the first group of people migrated into the Americas is the subject of much debate. One of the earliest identifiable cultures was the Clovis culture, with sites dating from some 13,000 years ago, however, older sites dating back to 20,000 years ago have been claimed. Some genetic studies estimate the colonization of the Americas dates from between 40,000 and 13,000 years ago, the chronology of migration models is currently divided into two general approaches. The first is the short chronology theory with the first movement beyond Alaska into the New World occurring no earlier than 14, 000–17,000 years ago, followed by successive waves of immigrants. The second belief is the long chronology theory, which proposes that the first group of people entered the hemisphere at an earlier date, possibly 50. In that case, the Eskimo peoples would have arrived separately and at a later date, probably no more than 2,000 years ago. The North American climate was unstable as the ice age receded and it finally stabilized by about 10,000 years ago, climatic conditions were then very similar to todays. Within this timeframe, roughly pertaining to the Archaic Period, numerous archaeological cultures have been identified, the unstable climate led to widespread migration, with early Paleo-Indians soon spreading throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct tribes. The paleo-indians were hunter-gatherers, likely characterized by small, mobile bands consisting of approximately 20 to 50 members of an extended family and these groups moved from place to place as preferred resources were depleted and new supplies were sought. During much of the Paleo-Indian period, bands are thought to have subsisted primarily through hunting now-extinct giant land animals such as mastodon, Paleo-Indian groups carried a variety of tools
7.
Aztec Empire
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The Aztec Empire, or the Triple Alliance, began as an alliance of three Nahua altepetl city-states, Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. The Triple Alliance was formed from the faction in a civil war fought between the city of Azcapotzalco and its former tributary provinces. Despite the initial conception of the empire as an alliance of three self-governed city-states, Tenochtitlan quickly became dominant militarily. By the time the Spanish arrived in 1519, the lands of the Alliance were effectively ruled from Tenochtitlan, the alliance waged wars of conquest and expanded rapidly after its formation. Aztec rule has been described by scholars as hegemonic or indirect, the Aztecs left rulers of conquered cities in power so long as they agreed to pay semi-annual tribute to the Alliance, as well as supply military forces when needed for the Aztec war efforts. In return, the imperial authority offered protection and political stability, the state religion of the empire was polytheistic, worshiping a diverse pantheon that included dozens of deities. Many had officially recognized cults large enough so that the deity was represented in the temple precinct of the capital Tenochtitlan. The imperial cult, specifically, was that of Huitzilopochtli, the distinctive warlike patron god of the Mexica, peoples in conquered provinces were allowed to retain and freely continue their own religious traditions, so long as they added the imperial god Huitzilopochtli to their local pantheons. The word Aztec in modern usage would not have used by the people themselves. The name comes from a Nahuatl word meaning people from Aztlan, for the purpose of this article, Aztec refers only to those cities that constituted or were subject to the Triple Alliance. For the broader use of the term, see the article on Aztec civilization, Nahua peoples descended from Chichimec peoples who migrated to central Mexico from the north in the early 13th century. According to the pictographic codices in which the Aztecs recorded their history, Early migrants settled the Basin of Mexico and surrounding lands by establishing a series of independent city-states. These early Nahua cities were ruled by petty kings called tlahtohqueh, most of the existing settlements, which had been established by other indigenous peoples before the Nahua migration, were assimilated into Nahua culture. These early city-states fought various small-scale wars with other, but due to shifting alliances. The Mexica were the last of Aztlan migrants to arrive in Central Mexico and they entered the Basin of Mexico around the year 1250 AD, and by then most of the good agricultural land had already been claimed. The Mexica persuaded the king of Culhuacan to allow them to settle in a relatively infertile patch of land called Chapultepec, the Mexica served as hired mercenaries for Culhuacan. After they served Culhuacan in battle, the appointed one of his daughters to rule over the Mexica. According to mythological native accounts, the Mexica instead sacrificed her by flaying her skin, when the king of Culhuacan learned of this, he attacked and used his army to drive the Mexica from Tizaapan by force
8.
Spanish language
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Spanish —also called Castilian —is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain, with hundreds of millions of native speakers around the world. It is usually considered the worlds second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese and it is one of the few languages to use inverted question and exclamation marks. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Beginning in the early 16th century, Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania, around 75% of modern Spanish is derived from Latin. Greek has also contributed substantially to Spanish vocabulary, especially through Latin, Spanish vocabulary has been in contact from an early date with Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula. With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin, this language is the second most important influence after Latin and it has also been influenced by Basque as well as by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages. It also adopted words from languages such as Gothic language from the Visigoths in which many Spanish names and surnames have a Visigothic origin. Spanish is one of the six languages of the United Nations. It is the language in the world by the number of people who speak it as a mother tongue, after Mandarin Chinese. It is estimated more than 437 million people speak Spanish as a native language. Spanish is the official or national language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, speakers in the Americas total some 418 million. In the European Union, Spanish is the tongue of 8% of the population. Spanish is the most popular second language learned in the United States, in 2011 it was estimated by the American Community Survey that of the 55 million Hispanic United States residents who are five years of age and over,38 million speak Spanish at home. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the language of the whole Spanish State in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas. Article III reads as follows, El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado, las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas. Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State, the other Spanish languages as well shall be official in their respective Autonomous Communities. The Spanish Royal Academy, on the hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. Two etymologies for español have been suggested, the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary derives the term from the Provençal word espaignol, and that in turn from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus, from—or pertaining to—Hispania
9.
Mexica
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The Mexica or Mexicas were an indigenous people of the Valley of Mexico, known today as the rulers of the Aztec Empire. The Mexica were a Nahua people who founded their two cities Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco on raised islets in Lake Texcoco around AD1300, after the rise of the Aztec Triple Alliance, the Tenochca Mexica assumed a senior position over their two allied cities, Texcoco and Tlacopan. The Mexica are eponymous of the placename Mexico Mēxihco and this area was expanded upon in the wake of the Spanish conquest and administered from the former Aztec capital as New Spain. Like many of the peoples around them, the Mexica spoke Nahuatl, the form of Nahuatl used in the 16th century, when it began to be written in the alphabet brought by the Spanish, is known as Classical Nahuatl. Nahuatl is still today by over 1.5 million people
10.
City-state
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A city-state is a sovereign state that consists of a city and its dependent territories. A great deal of consensus exists that the term applies to Singapore, Monaco. A number of small states share similar characteristics, and therefore are sometimes also cited as modern city-states. Occasionally, other states with high population densities, such as San Marino, are also cited. Several non-sovereign cities enjoy a degree of autonomy, and are sometimes considered city-states. Hong Kong and Macau, along with independent members of the United Arab Emirates, most notably Dubai, scholars have classed the Viking colonial cities in medieval Ireland, most importantly Dublin, as city-states. In Cyprus, the Phoenician settlement of Kition was a city-state that existed from around 800 BC until the end of the 4th century BC. The success of regional units coexisting as autonomous actors in loose geographical and cultural unity, as in Italy and Greece. However, such small political entities often survived only for short periods because they lacked the resources to defend themselves against incursions by larger states, thus they inevitably gave way to larger organisations of society, including the empire and the nation-state. In the history of Mainland Southeast Asia, aristocratic groups, Buddhist leaders, the system existed until the 19th century when colonization by European powers, and Thailands resulted in the adoption of the modern concept of statehood. In the Holy Roman Empire the Free Imperial Cities enjoyed a considerable autonomy, some, like the three Hanseatic cities of Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck, pooled their economic relations with foreign powers and were able to wield considerable diplomatic clout. Under Habsburg rule the city of Fiume had the status of a Corpus separatum, a later city-state, though lacking sovereignty, was West Berlin, being a state legally not belonging to any other state, but ruled by the Western Allies. They allowed – notwithstanding their overlordship as occupant powers – its internal organisation as one state simultaneously being a city, though West Berlin maintained close ties to the West German Federal Republic of Germany, it was legally never part of it. But the idea of leaving the United States proved too radical even in the turmoil of 1861 and was poorly received, the war, and especially conscription, was nevertheless often unpopular in the city, sparking the deadly New York Draft Riots. The neighboring City of Brooklyn, in contrast, was staunchly Unionist, the Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and nearly 200 towns in the surrounding areas. It was created on 15 November 1920 under the terms of Article 100 of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles after the end of World War I. Its territory of 28 km2 comprised the city of Fiume and rural areas to its north, with a corridor to its west connecting it to Italy, the Shanghai International Settlement was an international zone with its own legal system, postal service, and currency. The Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors
11.
Mexico City
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Mexico City, or City of Mexico, is the capital and most populous city of Mexico. As an alpha global city, Mexico City is one of the most important financial centers in the Americas and it is located in the Valley of Mexico, a large valley in the high plateaus at the center of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 metres. The city consists of sixteen municipalities, the 2009 estimated population for the city proper was approximately 8.84 million people, with a land area of 1,485 square kilometres. The Greater Mexico City has a domestic product of US$411 billion in 2011. The city was responsible for generating 15. 8% of Mexicos Gross Domestic Product, as a stand-alone country, in 2013, Mexico City would be the fifth-largest economy in Latin America—five times as large as Costa Ricas and about the same size as Perus. Mexico’s capital is both the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of two founded by Amerindians, the other being Quito. In 1524, the municipality of Mexico City was established, known as México Tenochtitlán, Mexico City served as the political, administrative and financial center of a major part of the Spanish colonial empire. After independence from Spain was achieved, the district was created in 1824. Ever since, the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution has controlled both of them, in recent years, the local government has passed a wave of liberal policies, such as abortion on request, a limited form of euthanasia, no-fault divorce, and same-sex marriage. On January 29,2016, it ceased to be called the Federal District and is now in transition to become the countrys 32nd federal entity, giving it a level of autonomy comparable to that of a state. Because of a clause in the Mexican Constitution, however, as the seat of the powers of the federation, it can never become a state, the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan was founded by the Mexica people in 1325. According to legend, the Mexicas principal god, Huitzilopochtli indicated the site where they were to build their home by presenting an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak. Between 1325 and 1521, Tenochtitlan grew in size and strength, eventually dominating the other city-states around Lake Texcoco, when the Spaniards arrived, the Aztec Empire had reached much of Mesoamerica, touching both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. After landing in Veracruz, Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés advanced upon Tenochtitlan with the aid of many of the native peoples. Cortés put Moctezuma under house arrest, hoping to rule through him, the Aztecs thought the Spaniards were permanently gone, and they elected a new king, Cuitláhuac, but he soon died, the next king was Cuauhtémoc. Cortés began a siege of Tenochtitlan in May 1521, for three months, the city suffered from the lack of food and water as well as the spread of smallpox brought by the Europeans. Cortés and his allies landed their forces in the south of the island, the Spaniards practically razed Tenochtitlan during the final siege of the conquest. Cortés first settled in Coyoacán, but decided to rebuild the Aztec site to erase all traces of the old order and he did not establish a territory under his own personal rule, but remained loyal to the Spanish crown
12.
Lake Texcoco
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Lake Texcoco was a natural lake within the Anáhuac or Valley of Mexico. Lake Texcoco is best known as where the Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan, after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, efforts to control flooding by the Spanish led to most of the lake being drained. The entire lake basin is now almost completely occupied by Mexico City, in the Pleistocene era, the lake occupied an even greater area. There were several paleo-lakes that would connect each other from time to time. At the north in the community of San Miguel Tocuilla there is a great paleontological field. The disarticulated remains of seven mammoths dated between 10,220 ±75 and 12,615 ±95 years were found, suggesting human presence, agriculture around the lake began about 7,000 years ago, with humans following the patterns of periodic inundations of the lake. On the northeast side of the lake, between 1700 and 1250 BC, several villages appear, by 1250 BC, the identifying signs of the Tlatilco culture, including more complex settlements and a stratified social structure, are seen around the lake. By roughly 800 BC, Cuicuilco had eclipsed the Tlatilco cultural centers and was the power in the Valley of Mexico during the next 200 years. The Xitle volcano destroyed Cuicuilco around AD30, a destruction that may have given rise to Teotihuacan, none of these predominated and they coexisted more or less in peace for several centuries. This time was described as a Golden age in Aztec chronicles, by the year 1300, however, the Tepanec from Azcapotzalco were beginning to dominate the area. If Tenochtitlan was the city of the Aztec Empire, and Mexico City the capital of Mexico, then Lake Texcoco is the Lake of the capitals. According to a story, the Mexica wandered in the deserts of modern Mexico for 100 years before they came to the thick forests of the place now called the Valley of Mexico. Tenochtitlan was founded on an islet in the part of the lake in the year 1325. Around it, the Aztecs created an artificial island using a system similar to the creation of chinampas. To overcome the problems of drinking water, the Aztecs built a system of dams to separate the salty waters of the lake from the water of the effluents. It also permitted them to control the level of the lake, the city also had an inner system of channels that helped to control the water. During Cortéss siege of Tenochtitlan in 1521, the dams were destroyed, the Valley of Mexico is a basin with an average elevation of 2,236 metres above mean sea level located in the southern highlands of Mexicos central altiplano. Lake Texcoco formerly extended over a portion of the southern half of the basin
13.
Valley of Mexico
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The Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with the present-day Distrito Federal and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several civilizations, including Teotihuacan, the Toltec. The ancient Aztec term Anahuac and the phrase Basin of Mexico are both used at times to refer to the Valley of Mexico, the Basin of Mexico became a well known site that epitomized the scene of early Classic Mesoamerican cultural development as well. The Valley of Mexico is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the valley contains most of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, as well as parts of the State of Mexico, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala and Puebla. The Valley of Mexico can be subdivided into four basins, but the largest and this section of the valley in particular is colloquially referred to as the Valley of Mexico. The valley has an altitude of 2,200 meters above sea level and is surrounded by mountains. It is a valley with no natural outlet for water to flow. Within this vulnerable watershed all the fishes were extinct by the end of the 20th century. Hydrologically, the valley has three features, the first feature is the lakebeds of five now-extinct lakes, which are located in the southernmost and largest of the four sub-basins. The other two features are piedmont, and the mountainsides that collect the precipitation that eventually flows to the lake area and these last two are found in all four of the sub-basins of the valley. Today, the Valley drains through a series of canals to the Tula River, and eventually the Pánuco River. Seismic activity is frequent here, and the valley is considered an earthquake prone zone, the valley has been inhabited for at least 12,000 years, attracting humans with its mild climate, abundant game and ability to support large-scale agriculture. Civilizations that have arisen in this include the Teotihuacan the Toltec Empire. When the Spaniards arrived in the Valley of Mexico, it had one of the highest population concentrations in the world with one million people. After the Conquest, the Spaniards rebuilt the largest and most dominant city here, Tenochtitlan, although violence and disease significantly lowered the population of the valley after the Conquest, by 1900 it was again over one million people. The 20th and 21st centuries have seen an explosion of population in the valley along with the growth of industry, since 1900, the population has doubled every fifteen years. Today, around 21 million people live in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area which extends throughout almost all of the valley into the states of Mexico, the growth of a major urban, industrial centre in an enclosed basin has created significant air and water quality issues for the valley. Wind patterns and thermal inversions trap contaminants in the valley, over-extraction of ground water has caused new flooding problems for the city as it sinks below the historic lake floor
14.
Fall of Tenochtitlan
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The Siege of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, was a decisive event in the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The conquest of Mexico was a stage in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In April 1519 Hernán Cortés, the Chief Magistrate of Santiago, Cuba, came upon the coast of Mexico at a point he called Vera Cruz with 508 soldiers,100 sailors, and 14 small cannons. Velázquez revoked Cortés right to lead the expedition once he realized that Cortés intended to exceed his mandate, after Cortés sailed, Velázquez sent an army led by Pánfilo de Narváez to take him into custody. Cortés followed this tactic when he and his men established the city of Veracruz, an inquiry into Cortés action was conducted in Spain in 1529 and no action was taken against him. As he moved inland Cortés came into contact with a number of polities who resented Aztec rule, Cortés clashed with some of these polities, among them the Totonacs, the latter surrounded his army on a hilltop for two agonizing weeks. This is now believed to be an invention of the conquerors, most scholars agree that the Aztecs, especially the inner circle around Moctezuma, were well convinced that Cortés was not a god in any shape or form. Moctezuma sent a group of noblemen and other emissaries to meet Cortés at Quauhtechcac and these emissaries brought golden jewelry as a gift, which greatly pleased the Spaniards. According to the Florentine Codex, Lib, Moctezuma also ordered that his messengers carry the highly symbolic penacho of Quetzalcoatl de Tula to Cortés and place it on his person. As news about the strangers reached the city, Moctezuma became increasingly fearful and considered fleeing the city. Cortés continued on his march towards Tenochtitlan, before entering the city, on November 8,1519 Cortés and his troops prepared themselves for battle, armoring themselves and their horses, and arranging themselves in proper military rank. Four horsemen were at the lead of the procession, the indigenous soldiers wore cotton armor and were armed with shields and crossbows, many carried provisions in baskets or bundles while others escorted the cannons on wooden carts. Cortés army entered the city on the flower-covered causeway associated with the god Quetzalcoatl, Cortés was amicably received by Moctezuma. The captive woman Malinalli Tenépal, also known as La Malinche or Doña Marina, translated from Nahuatl to Chontal Maya, Moctezuma was soon taken hostage on November 14,1519, as a safety measure by the vastly outnumbered Spanish. The first captain assigned to him was Pedro de Alvarado. Other Aztec lords were also detained by the Spanish, the palace was surrounded by over 100 Spanish soldiers in order to prevent any attempt at rescue. It is uncertain why Moctezuma cooperated so readily with the Spaniards and it is possible he feared losing his life or political power. It was clear from the beginning that he was ambivalent about who Cortés and his men really were, gods, descendants of a god, ambassadors from a greater king, from the perspective of the tlatoani, the Spaniards might have been assigned some decisive role by fate
15.
Americas
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The Americas, also collectively called America, encompass the totality of the continents of North America and South America. Together they make up most of the land in Earths western hemisphere, along with their associated islands, they cover 8% of Earths total surface area and 28. 4% of its land area. The topography is dominated by the American Cordillera, a chain of mountains that runs the length of the west coast. The flatter eastern side of the Americas is dominated by river basins, such as the Amazon, St. Lawrence River / Great Lakes basin, Mississippi. Humans first settled the Americas from Asia between 42,000 and 17,000 years ago, a second migration of Na-Dene speakers followed later from Asia. The subsequent migration of the Inuit into the neoarctic around 3500 BCE completed what is regarded as the settlement by the indigenous peoples of the Americas. The first known European settlement in the Americas was by the Norse explorer Leif Ericson, however, the colonization never became permanent and was later abandoned. The voyages of Christopher Columbus from 1492 to 1502 resulted in permanent contact with European powers, diseases introduced from Europe and Africa devastated the indigenous peoples, and the European powers colonized the Americas. Mass emigration from Europe, including numbers of indentured servants. Decolonization of the Americas began with the American Revolution in 1776, the population is over 1 billion, with over 65% of them living in one of the three most populous countries. As of the beginning of the 2010s, the most populous urban agglomerations are Mexico City, New York, Sao Paulo, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, all of them megacities. The name America was first recorded in 1507 in the Cosmographiae Introductio, apparently written by Matthias Ringmann and it first applied to both North and South America by Gerardus Mercator in 1538. Amerigen means land of Amerigo and derives from Amerigo and gen, America accorded with the feminine names of Asia, Africa, and Europa. When conceived as a continent, the form is generally the continent of America in the singular. However, without a context, singular America in English commonly refers to the United States of America. In some countries of the world, America is considered a continent encompassing the North America and South America subcontinents, the first inhabitants migrated into the Americas from Asia. Habitation sites are known in Alaska and the Yukon from at least 20,000 years ago, beyond that, the specifics of the Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion. Widespread habitation of the Americas occurred during the glacial maximum
16.
Municipalities of Mexico
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Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico, where the first-level administrative division is the state. There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, with an average population 45,616, the internal political organization and their responsibilities are outlined in the 115th article of the 1917 Constitution and further expanded in the constitutions of the states to which they belong. All Mexican states are divided into municipalities and this concept, which originated after the Mexican Revolution, is known as a municipio libre. A municipal president heads the ayuntamiento, the municipal president is elected by plurality and cannot be reelected for the next immediate term. The municipal council consists of a cabildo with a síndico and several regidores, in that sense, a municipality in Mexico is roughly equivalent to the counties of the United States, whereas the auxiliary presidency is equivalent to a township. Nonetheless, auxiliary presidencies are not considered an administrative division since they depend fiscally on the municipalities in which they are located. Although an urban area might cover an entire municipality, auxiliary councils might still be used for administrative purposes, municipalities are responsible for public services, street lighting, public safety, traffic, supervision of slaughterhouses and the cleaning and maintenance of public parks, gardens and cemeteries. They may also assist the state and federal governments in education, emergency fire and medical services, environmental protection and maintenance of monuments and historical landmarks. Since 1983, they can collect property taxes and user fees, although more funds are obtained from the state, since the Conquest and colonization of Mexico, the municipality became the basic entity of the administrative organization of New Spain and the Spanish Empire. Settlements located in strategic locations received the status of city and were entitled to form an ayuntamiento or municipality, as such, every state set its own requirements for a settlement to become a municipality. However, in 1983 the 115th article was modified to expand the authority to raise revenue. Data from the 2015 Intercensal Survey by INEGI and it is administered through the Government of the Federal District and it has its own unicameral Legislative Assembly. For administrative purposes, the Federal District is subdivided into delegaciones or boroughs, while not fully equivalent to a municipality, since 2000, they enjoy a certain degree of political autonomy since residents within a borough directly elect a local borough head of government. However, boroughs do not form local councils and they are not constituted by a group of trustees. They do not have powers, which are mostly centralized in the Federal District government. Most of the public services are organized by the Federal District even if part of the administration responsibilities are carried out by the boroughs. Still, at the level, the delegaciones of the Federal District are considered a second-level territorial division in statistical data collection. Other municipalities in Mexico have chosen to use a similar administrative internal organization, all municipalities of Baja California are subdivided into boroughs or delegaciones
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New Spain
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New Spain was a colonial territory of the Spanish Empire, in the New World north of the Isthmus of Panama. It was established following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1521, after 1535 the colony was governed by the Viceroy of New Spain, an appointed minister of the King of Spain, who ruled as monarch over the colony. The capital of New Spain was Mexico City and it developed highly regional divisions, which reflect the impact of climate, topography, the presence or absence of dense indigenous populations, and the presence or absence of mineral resources. The areas of central and southern Mexico had dense indigenous populations with complex social, political, silver mining not only became the engine of the economy of New Spain, but vastly enriched Spain, and transformed the global economy. New Spain was the New World terminus of the Philippine trade, although New Spain was a dependency of Spain, it was a kingdom not a colony, subject to the presiding monarch on the Iberian Peninsula. Every privilege and position, economic political, or religious came from him and it was on this basis that the conquest, occupation, and government of the New World was achieved. The Viceroyalty of New Spain was established in 1535 in the Kingdom of New Spain and it was the first New World viceroyalty and one of only two in the Spanish empire until the 18th century Bourbon Reforms. The Spanish Empire comprised the territories in the north overseas Septentrion, from North America, to the west of the continent, New Spain also included the Spanish East Indies. To the east of the continent, it included the Spanish West Indies and this was not occupied by many Spanish settlers and were considered more marginal to Spanish interests than the most densely populated and lucrative areas of central Mexico. To shore up its claims in North America starting in the late 18th century, Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest explored and claimed the coast of what is now British Columbia and Alaska. The indigenous societies of Mesoamerica brought under Spanish control were of unprecedented complexity, the societies could provide the conquistadors, especially Hernán Cortés, a base from which the conquerors could become autonomous, or even independent, of the Crown. As a result, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, since the time of the Catholic Monarchs, central Iberia was governed through councils appointed by the monarch with particular jurisdictions. Thus, the creation of the Council of the Indies became another, the crown had set up the Casa de Contratación in 1503 to regulate contacts between Spain and its overseas possessions. A key function was to gather information about navigation to make trips less risky and they were accompanied by maps of the area discussed, many of which were drawn by indigenous artists. The Francisco Hernández Expedition, the first scientific expedition to the New World, was sent to gather information medicinal plants, an earlier Audiencia had been established in Santo Domingo in 1526 to deal with the Caribbean settlements. That Audiencia, housed in the Casa Reales in Santo Domingo, was charged with encouraging further exploration, management by the Audiencia, which was expected to make executive decisions as a body, proved unwieldy. Therefore, in 1535, King Charles V named Don Antonio de Mendoza as the first Viceroy of New Spain. After the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire in 1532 opened up the vast territories of South America to further conquests, the Crown established an independent Viceroyalty of Peru there in 1540
18.
Historic center of Mexico City
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The Zocalo is the largest plaza in Latin America. It can hold up to nearly 100,000 people and this section of the capital has just over nine square km and occupies 668 blocks. It contains 9,000 buildings,1,550 of which have been declared of historical importance, Most of these historic buildings were constructed between the 16th and 20th centuries. It is divided into two zones for preservation purposes, zone A encompasses the pre-Hispanic city and its expansion from the Viceroy period until Independence. Zone B covers the areas all other constructions to the end of the 19th century that are considered indispensable to the preservation of the architectural and cultural heritage. This is where the Spaniards began to build what is now modern Mexico City in the 16th century on the ruins of the conquered Tenochtitlan and this has made it a World Heritage Site. What is now the downtown of Mexico City roughly correlates with the ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. During the prehispanic era, the city developed in a fashion, with streets and canals aligned with the cardinal directions. The calpullis were named Cuepopan, Atzacualco, Moyotla and Zoquipan, which had subdivisions, the intersection of these roads was the center of the city and of the Aztec world. Here were the Templo Mayor, the palaces of the tlatoani or emperors, palaces of nobles such as the House of the Demons, also located here were the two most renowned Aztec schools, the Telpuchcalli for secular studies and the Calmecac for priestly training. When the Spaniards arrived, the city had built by Moctezuma Ilhuicamina. After the Spanish conquest, this remained largely intact, mostly due to the efforts of Alonso Garcia Bravo. This reconstruction conserved many of the main thoroughfares such as Tenayuca, renamed Vallejo, Tlacopan, renamed México Tacuba, and Tepeyac, now called the Calzada de los Misterios. They also kept major divisions of the city adding Christian prefixes to the such as San Juan Moyotla, Santa María Tlaquechiuacan, San Sebastián Atzacualco. In fact, most of the centro historicos is built with the rubble of the destroyed Aztec city, a number of people during this time, all Spaniards, accumulated vast wealth mostly through mining and commerce in the 17th and 18th centuries. This wealth is reflected in the various mansions scattered in the such as the Palace of Iturbide. This house was built in the 16th century in Arab style, historically, the Zócalo, or main plaza, has been a venue for fine and popular cultural events. Some example of events held here recently are Spencer Tunicks photo shoot, the Ashes and Snow Nomadic museum, the Festival de México is an annual event with programs dedicated to art and academia
19.
Nahua peoples
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The Nahuas are a group of indigenous people of Mexico and El Salvador. Their language of Uto-Aztecan affiliation is called Nahuatl and consists of many dialects and variants. About 1,500,000 Nahua speak Nahuatl and another 1,000,000 speak only Spanish, less than 1,000 native speakers remain in El Salvador. Evidence suggests the Nahua peoples originated in Aridoamerica, in regions of the present day northwestern Mexico and they split off from the other Uto-Aztecan speaking peoples and migrated into central Mexico around 500 CE. They settled in and around the Basin of Mexico and spread out to become the dominant people in central Mexico, the name Nahua is derived from the Nahuatl word-root nāhua-, which generally means audible, intelligible, clear with different derivations including language. It was used in contrast with popoloca, to speak unintelligibly or speak a foreign language, another, related term is Nāhuatlācatl or Nāhuatlācah literally Nahuatl-speaking people. The Nahuas are also referred to as Aztecs. Using this term for the Nahuas has generally fallen out of favor in scholarship and they have also been called Mēxihcatl, Mēxihcah or in Spanish Mexicano Mexicans, after the Mexica, the Nahua tribe which founded and predominated in the Aztec empire. At the turn of the 16th century, Nahua populations occupied territories ranging across modern-day Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and these were gradually assimilated into mestizo society in most places. The last of the southern Nahua populations are the Pipil of El Salvador, Nahuatl was a lingua franca for trade and rule during the apogee of the Aztec empire. There are many Nahuatl place names in regions where Nahuas were not the most populous group, Nahua populations in Mexico are centered in the middle of the country, with most speakers in the states of Puebla, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Guerrero and San Luis Potosí. But smaller populations are spread throughout the country, following recent population movements within Mexico, within the last 50 years, Nahua populations have appeared in the United States, particularly in New York City, L. A. and Houston. Archaeological, historical and linguistic evidence suggest that the Nahuas originally came from the deserts of northern Mexico, before the Nahuas entered Mesoamerica, they were probably living for a while in northwestern Mexico alongside the Cora and Huichol peoples. The first group of Nahuas to split from the group were the Pochutec who went on to settle on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca possibly as early as 400 CE. From c.600 CE the Nahua quickly rose to power in central Mexico and expanded into areas earlier occupied by Oto-Manguean, Totonacan and Huastec peoples. Around 1000 CE the Toltec people, normally assumed to have been of Nahua ethnicity, from this period on the Nahua were the dominant ethnic group in the Valley of Mexico and far beyond, and migrations kept coming in from the north. After the fall of Toltecs a period of population movements followed. And in central Mexico different Nahua groups based in their different Altepetl city-states fought for political dominance
20.
Altepetl
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The altepetl or modern pronunciation, in pre-Columbian and Spanish conquest-era Aztec society, was the local, ethnically based political entity. It is usually translated into English as city-state, the word is a combination of the Nahuatl words ā-tl and tepē-tl. They prefer the Nahuatl term over any English-language approximation, the concept is comparable to Maya cah and Mixtec ñuu. Azcapotzalco Chalco Culhuacán Ecatepec Huitzilopochco Ocotelolco Otompan Texcoco Tizatlan Tlatelolco Tlaxcala
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Tlatelolco (altepetl)
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Tlatelolco was a pre-Columbian Nahua altepetl in the Valley of Mexico. Its inhabitants were known as Tlatelolca, the Tlatelolca were a part of the Mexica ethnic group, a Nahuatl speaking people who arrived in what is now central Mexico in the 13th century. They settled on an island in Lake Texcoco where they founded their city on the northern part — the other Mexica group, the Tenochca, founded their city Tenochtitlan on the southern part. The city was tied with its sister city, which was largely dependent on the market of Tlatelolco. The Tlatelolco archaeological site is an excavation site in Mexico City. In February 2009, the discovery of a grave with 49 human bodies was announced by archaeologists. The grave is considered unusual because the bodies are laid out in ritual fashion, in 1337, thirteen years after the foundation of Tenochtitlan, the Tlatelolca declared themselves independent from the Tenochca and inaugurated their first independent Tlatoani. Under the king Cuacuauhpitzahuac, the first two stages of the Main Pyramid of Tlatelolco were constructed, under Tlacateotl, the Tlatelolca assisted the Tenochca in the war against the Tepanecs, shortly thereafter, the first war between the Tenochca and Tlatelolca erupted. Also during Tlacateotls reign, the stage of the Main Pyramid was constructed. Under Cuauhtlatoa, the Tlatelolca conquered the citystate of Ahuilizapan, the fourth and fifth stages of the Main Pyramid were constructed in this period. The ruler Moquihuix constructed the stage of the temple, but in 1473 he was defeated by the Tenochca Tlatoani Axayacatl. Itzcuauhtzin ruled Tlatelolco during a period in which it was almost completely incorporated into Tenochtitlan, after the Spanish Conquest in 1521, Tlatelolco became a municipality of New Spain, and was renamed Santiago Tlatelolco. Tlatelolco remained an important location, partly because of the foundation there of the university Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, today its remains are located within Mexico City
22.
Opuntia
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Opuntia is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae. The most common species is the Indian fig opuntia. Most culinary uses of the prickly pear refer to this species. Prickly pears are also known as tuna, sabra, nopal from the Nahuatl word nōpalli for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word nōchtli for the fruit, or paddle cactus. The genus is named for the Ancient Greek city of Opus, where, according to Theophrastus, like all true cactus species, prickly pears are native only to the Americas, but they have been introduced to other parts of the globe. Prickly pear species are found in abundance in Mexico, especially in the central and western regions, Prickly pear cactus is also native to coastal beach scrub environments and low open areas of the East Coast from Florida to Connecticut/Long Island. Prickly pears also produce a fruit, commonly eaten in Mexico and in the Mediterranean region, known as tuna, the fruit can be red, wine-red, green, or yellow-orange. The first introduction of prickly pears into Australia is ascribed to Governor Philip, brought from Brazil to Sydney, prickly pear grew in Sydney, New South Wales, where they were rediscovered in a farmers garden in 1839. They appear to have spread from New South Wales and caused great damage in the eastern states. In the Galápagos Islands, six different species are found, O. echios, O. galapageia, O. helleri, O. insularis, O. saxicola and these species are divided into 14 different varieties, most of these are confined to one or a few islands. For this reason, they have described as an excellent example of adaptive radiation. On the whole, islands with tall, trunked varieties have giant tortoises, Prickly pears are a prime source of food for the common giant tortoises in the Galápagos islands so they are important in the food web. Charles Darwin was the first to note that these cacti have thigmotactic anthers and this movement can be seen by gently poking the anthers of an open Opuntia flower. The same trait has evolved convergently in other cacti, chollas, now recognized to belong to the distinct genus Cylindropuntia, are distinguished by having cylindrical, rather than flattened, stem segments with large barbed spines. The barbed spines can remain embedded in the skin, causing discomfort, collectively, opuntias, chollas, and related plants are sometimes called opuntiads. When Carl Linnaeus published Species Plantarum in 1753 – the starting point for botanical nomenclature – he placed all the species of cactus known to him in one genus, Cactus. In 1754, the Scottish botanist Philip Miller divided cacti into several genera and he distinguished the genus largely on the form of its flowers and fruits. Also, not all species listed here may actually belong in this genus, – quipá Opuntia insularis Opuntia invicta syn. O. leptocarpa MacKensen, O. tenuispina Engelm
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Swamp
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A swamp is a wetland that is forested. Many swamps occur along rivers where they are critically dependent upon natural water level fluctuations. Other swamps occur on the shores of large lakes, some swamps have hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodic inundation. The two main types of swamp are true or swamp forests and transitional or shrub swamps, in the boreal regions of Canada, the word swamp is colloquially used for what is more correctly termed a bog or muskeg. The water of a swamp may be water, brackish water or seawater. Some of the worlds largest swamps are found along rivers such as the Amazon, the Mississippi. Swamps are characterized by slow-moving to stagnant waters and they are usually associated with adjacent rivers or lakes. Swamps are features of areas with very low topographic relief, historically, humans have drained swamps to provide additional land for agriculture and to reduce the threat of diseases borne by swamp insects and similar animals. Many swamps have also undergone intensive logging, requiring the construction of drainage ditches and these ditches and canals contributed to drainage and, along the coast, allowed salt water to intrude, converting swamps to marsh or even to open water. Large areas of swamp were therefore lost or degraded, louisiana provides a classic example of wetland loss from these combined factors. Europe has probably lost nearly half its wetlands, New Zealand lost 90 percent of its wetlands over a period of 150 years. Ecologists recognise that swamps provide valuable ecological services including flood control, fish production, water purification, carbon storage, in many parts of the world authorities protect swamps. In parts of Europe and North America, swamp restoration projects are becoming widespread, often the simplest steps to restoring swamps involve plugging drainage ditches and removing levees. Swamps and other wetlands have traditionally held a very low property value compared to fields, prairies and they have a reputation for being unproductive land that cannot easily be utilized for human activities, other than perhaps hunting and trapping. Farmers, for example, typically drained swamps next to their fields so as to more land usable for planting crops. Many societies now realize that swamps are important to providing fresh water and oxygen to all life. Indeed, floodplain swamps are important in fish production. Government environmental agencies are taking steps to protect and preserve swamps, in Europe, major effort is being invested in the restoration of swamp forests along rivers
24.
Avenida Bucareli
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Avenida Bucareli, often referred to as Bucareli Street, is a main avenue and eje vial in Mexico City. It divides the Historic center on the east from Colonia Juárez on the west and it is named after the viceroy of New Spain, Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, who commissioned it. Built in the late 18th century and called Paseo Nuevo, it was once a wide boulevard lined with more than 1000 ash trees, in the 19th century the walking paths on either side were built upon and the avenue acquired its current width. It originally had three plazas, each with a fountain, only one fountain survives, though it was moved to Plaza Loreto
25.
Canal
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Canals and navigations are human-made channels for water conveyance, or to service water transport vehicles. In the vernacular, both are referred to as canals, and in most cases, the works will have a series of dams. These areas are referred to as water levels, often just called levels. In contrast, a canal cuts across a drainage divide atop a ridge, many canals have been built at elevations towering over valleys and others water ways crossing far below. Cities need a lot of water and many canals with sources of water at a higher level can deliver water to a destination where there is a lack of water. The Roman Empires Aqueducts were such water supply canals, a navigation is a series of channels that run roughly parallel to the valley and stream bed of an unimproved river. A navigation always shares the drainage basin of the river, a vessel uses the calm parts of the river itself as well as improvements, traversing the same changes in height. A true canal is a channel that cuts across a drainage divide, most commercially important canals of the first half of the 19th century were a little of each, using rivers in long stretches, and divide crossing canals in others. This is true for many canals still in use, there are two broad types of canal, Waterways, canals and navigations used for carrying vessels transporting goods and people. These can be subdivided into two kinds, Those connecting existing lakes, rivers, other canals or seas and oceans and those connected in a city network, such as the Canal Grande and others of Venice Italy, the gracht of Amsterdam, and the waterways of Bangkok. Aqueducts, water canals that are used for the conveyance and delivery of potable water for human consumption, municipal uses, hydro power canals. Historically canals were of importance to commerce and the development, growth. In 1855 the Lehigh Canal carried over 1.2 million tons of burning anthracite coal, by the 1930s the company which built. By the early 1880s, canals which had little ability to compete with rail transport, were off the map. In the next couple of decades, coal was diminished as the heating fuel of choice by oil. Later, after World War I when motor-trucks came into their own, Canals are built in one of three ways, or a combination of the three, depending on available water and available path, Human made streams A canal can be created where no stream presently exists. Either the body of the canal is dug or the sides of the canal are created by making dykes or levees by piling dirt, stone, the water for the canal must be provided from an external source, like streams or reservoirs. Where the new waterway must change elevation engineering works like locks, lifts or elevators are constructed to raise, examples include canals that connect valleys over a higher body of land, like Canal du Midi, Canal de Briare and the Panama Canal
26.
Canoe
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A canoe is a lightweight narrow boat, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel using a single-bladed paddle. In International Canoe Federation nomenclature used in some European countries such as the United Kingdom the term refers to kayaks. Canoes are used for racing, whitewater canoeing, touring and camping, freestyle, the intended use of the canoe dictates its hull shape and length and construction material. Historically, canoes were dugouts or made of bark on a wood frame, most modern canoes are made of molded plastic or composites such as fiberglass. Until the mid-1800s the canoe was an important means of transport for exploration and trade, canoeing has been part of the Olympics since 1936. In places where the played a key role in history, such as the northern United States, Canada, and New Zealand. Canoes can be adapted to many purposes, for example with the addition of sails, outboard motors, the word canoe comes from the Carib kenu, via the Spanish canoa. Constructed between 8200 and 7600 BC, and found in the Netherlands, the Pesse canoe may be the oldest known canoe, excavations in Denmark reveal the use of dugouts and paddles during the Ertebølle period. Australian Aboriginal people made canoes using a variety of materials, including bark, the indigenous people of the Amazon commonly used Hymenaea trees. Many indigenous peoples of the Americas built bark canoes and they were usually skinned with birch bark over a light wooden frame, but other types could be used if birch was scarce. At a typical length of 4.3 m and weight of 23 kg, although susceptible to damage from rocks, they are easily repaired. When you reach them you load canoe and baggage upon your shoulders and go overland until the navigation is good, and then you put your canoe back into the water, and embark again. American painter, author and traveler George Catlin wrote that the canoe was the most beautiful. Native American groups of the north Pacific coast made dugout canoes in a number of styles for different purposes, from western red-cedar or yellow-cedar, different styles were required for ocean-going vessels versus river boats, and for whale-hunting versus seal-hunting versus salmon-fishing. The Quinault of Washington State built shovel-nose canoes, with double bows, the Kootenai of British Columbia province made sturgeon-nosed canoes from pine bark, designed to be stable in windy conditions on Kootenay Lake. The first explorer to cross the North American continent, Alexander Mackenzie, used extensively, as did David Thompson. Its dimensions were, length approximately 11 m, beam 1.2 to 1.8 m and it could carry 60 packs weighing 41 kg, and 910 kg of provisions. With a crew of eight or ten, they could make three knots over calm waters, four to six men could portage it, bottom up
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Endorheic basin
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Such a basin may also be referred to as a closed or terminal basin or as an internal drainage system. However, in a basin, rain that falls within it does not flow out but may only leave the drainage system by evaporation. The bottom of such a basin is occupied by a salt lake or salt pan. Endorheic regions, in contrast to regions which flow to the ocean in geologically defined patterns, are closed hydrologic systems. Their surface waters drain to inland terminal locations where the water evaporates or seeps into the ground, endorheic water bodies include some of the largest lakes in the world, such as the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea, the worlds largest saline inland sea. Most endorheic basins are arid, although there are notable exceptions, such as the Valley of Mexico, the Lake Tahoe region. Endorheic basins can be massively and rapidly affected by change and excessive water removal. An exorheic lake naturally remains at a level, so water flow into the lake may be many times more than is needed to maintain its present size. In contrast, an endorheic basin does not have enough inflow that it overflows to the ocean, endorheic lakes are bodies of water that do not flow into the sea. Most of the water falling on Earth finds its way to the oceans through a network of rivers, lakes, however, there is a class of water bodies that are located in closed or endorheic watersheds where the topography prevents their drainage to the oceans. These endorheic watersheds are often called terminal lakes or sink lakes, endorheic lakes are usually in the interior of a landmass, far from an ocean in areas of relatively low rainfall. Their watersheds are often confined by natural geologic land formations such as a mountain range, the inland water flows into dry watersheds where the water evaporates, leaving a high concentration of minerals and other inflow erosion products. Over time this input of erosion products can cause the lake to become relatively saline. Endorheic regions can occur in any climate but are most commonly found in desert locations, the Black Sea was likely such a lake, having once been an independent hydrological system before the Mediterranean Sea broke through the terrain separating the two. Lake Bonneville was another such lake, overflowing its basin in the Bonneville flood, malheur/Harney Lake in Oregon is normally cut off from drainage to the ocean, but has an outflow channel to the Malheur River that is normally dry, but flows in years of peak precipitation. Examples of relatively humid regions in endorheic basins often exist at high elevation and these regions tend to be marshy and are subject to substantial flooding in wet years. The area containing Mexico City is one case, with annual precipitation of 850 mm. Endorheic regions tend to be far inland with their boundaries defined by mountains or other features that block their access to oceans
28.
Brackish
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Brackish water or briny water is water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, the word comes from the Middle Dutch root brak. Brackish water is also the primary product of the salinity gradient power process. Because brackish water is hostile to the growth of most terrestrial plant species, without appropriate management it is damaging to the environment. Technically, brackish water contains between 0.5 and 30 grams of salt per litre—more often expressed as 0.5 to 30 parts per thousand, thus, brackish covers a range of salinity regimes and is not considered a precisely defined condition. It is characteristic of many brackish surface waters that their salinity can vary considerably over space and/or time, brackish water condition commonly occurs when fresh water meets seawater. In fact, the most extensive brackish water habitats worldwide are estuaries, the River Thames flowing through London is a classic river estuary. A similar pattern of replacement can be observed with the aquatic plants and this type of ecological succession from a freshwater to marine ecosystem is typical of river estuaries. Salmon are anadromous, meaning live in the sea but ascend rivers to spawn, eels are catadromous, living in rivers and streams. Besides the species migrate through estuaries, there are many other fish that use them as nursery grounds for spawning or as places young fish can feed. Herring and plaice are two commercially important species that use the Thames Estuary for this purpose, estuaries are also commonly used as fishing grounds, and as places for fish farming or ranching. Another important brackish water habitat is the swamp or mangal. Many, though not all, mangrove swamps fringe estuaries and lagoons where the salinity changes with each tide, like estuaries, mangrove swamps are extremely important breeding grounds for many fish, with species such as snappers, halfbeaks, and tarpon spawning or maturing among them. Mangroves represent important nesting site for numerous birds groups such as herons, storks, spoonbills, ibises, kingfishers, the Sundarbans and Bhitarkanika Mangroves are two of the large mangrove forests in the world, both on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Some seas and lakes are brackish, the Baltic Sea is a brackish sea adjoining the North Sea. Because the salt water coming in from the sea is denser than freshwater, limited mixing occurs because of the lack of tides and storms, with the result that the fish fauna at the surface is freshwater in composition while that lower down is more marine. Cod are an example of a species found in deep water in the Baltic. The Caspian Sea is the worlds largest lake and contains brackish water with a salinity about one-third that of normal seawater, the Caspian is famous for its peculiar animal fauna, including one of the few non-marine seals and the great sturgeons, a major source of caviar
29.
Moctezuma I
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Moctezuma I, also known as Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, Huehuemotecuhzoma or Montezuma I, was the second Aztec emperor and fifth king of Tenochtitlan. During his reign, the Aztec Empire was consolidated, major expansion was undertaken, Moctezuma was the son of emperor Huitzilihuitl and queen Miahuaxihuitl. He was a brother of Chimalpopoca, Tlacaelel I, and Huehue Zaca, and the father of Atotoztli II and their sons would be the next three tlatoque of Tenochtitlan. Moctezuma took power in 1440, after the death of his half-uncle Itzcoatl, as tlatoani, Moctezuma solidified the alliance with two neighboring states, Tlacopan and Texcoco. In this skillfully crafted Triple Alliance, 4/5ths of a conquered territory would be divided between Texcoco and the Aztecs, with the remaining 1/5 given to Tlacopan. In about 1458, Moctezuma led an expedition into Mixtec territory against the city-state of Coixtlahuaca, despite the support of contingents of Tlaxcala and Huexotzinco warriors, traditional enemies of the Aztecs, the Mixtecs were defeated. While most of the chieftains were allowed to retain their positions. He took many girls from Coixtlahuaca and had ten harems all to himself and he stole three of them from his dead brother Zaca. Similar campaigns were conducted against Cosamaloapan, Ahuilizapan, and Cuetlachtlan, list of Tenochtitlan rulers Moctezuma II Montezuma I
30.
Levee
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A levee, dike, dyke, embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines, the word levee, from the French word levée, is used in American English. It originated in New Orleans a few years after the founding in 1718 and was later adopted by English speakers. The name derives from the trait of the ridges being raised higher than both the channel and the surrounding floodplains. The modern word dike or dyke most likely derives from the Dutch word dijk, the 126 kilometres long Westfriese Omringdijk was completed by 1250, and was formed by connecting existing older dikes. The Roman chronicler Tacitus even mentions that the rebellious Batavi pierced dikes to flood their land, the word dijk originally indicated both the trench and the bank. It is closely related to the English verb to dig, in Anglo-Saxon, the word dic already existed and was pronounced as dick in northern England and as ditch in the south. Similar to Dutch, the English origins of the lie in digging a trench. This practice has meant that the name may be given to either the excavation or the bank, thus Offas Dyke is a combined structure and Car Dyke is a trench though it once had raised banks as well. In the midlands and north of England, and in the United States, a dike is what a ditch is in the south, a property boundary marker or small drainage channel. Where it carries a stream, it may be called a dike as in Rippingale Running Dike. The Weir Dike is a dike in Bourne North Fen, near Twenty and alongside the River Glen. In the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, a dyke may be a ditch or a narrow artificial channel off a river or broad for access or mooring, some longer dykes being named. In parts of Britain, particularly Scotland, a dyke may be a field wall, Levees can be mainly found along the sea, where dunes are not strong enough, along rivers for protection against high-floods, along lakes or along polders. Furthermore, levees have been built for the purpose of empoldering, the latter can be a controlled inundation by the military or a measure to prevent inundation of a larger area surrounded by levees. Levees have also built as field boundaries and as military defences. More on this type of levee can be found in the article on dry-stone walls, Levees can be permanent earthworks or emergency constructions built hastily in a flood emergency. When such a bank is added on top of an existing levee it is known as a cradge
31.
Nezahualcoyotl (tlatoani)
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Nezahualcoyotl, meaning Coyote in fast or Coyote who Fasts) was a philosopher, warrior, architect, poet and ruler of the city-state of Texcoco in pre-Columbian era Mexico. However, he allowed human sacrifices to continue in his other temples, born as Nezahualcoyotly Acolmiztli, he was the son of Ixtlilxochitl I and Matlalcihuatzin, the daughter of Huitzilihuitl. Though born heir to a throne, his youth was not marked by princely luxury and his father had set Texcoco against the powerful city of Azcapotzalco, ruled by the Tepanec. In 1418, when the prince was fifteen, his father was assassinated. The Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco, led by Tezozomoc, conquered Texcoco and Nezahualcoyotl had to flee into exile in Huexotzinco and his aunts bribed the Tepanec king and allowed for him to be partially educated as a Mexica. His exposure to Mexica culture and politics would influence how he later governed Texcoco, after Tezozomocs son Maxtla became ruler of Azcapotzalco, Nezahualcoyotl returned to Texcoco, but had to go into exile a second time when he learned that Maxtla plotted against his life. After being offered support from insurgents inside Acolhuacan and rebel Tepanecs from Coyohuacan and he called for a coalition consisting of many of the most important pre-Hispanic cities of the time, Tenochtitlan, Tlacopan, Tlatelolco, Huexotzingo, Tlaxcala and Chalco. This began the offensive that would reconquer Acolhuacan, capital city of the kingdom of Texcoco. The campaign was divided into three parts, one army attacked Acolman to the north and the second Coatlinchan to the south. A contingent led by Nezahualcoyotl himself was intended to attack Acolhuacan, only after providing support, upon request, the coalition conquered Acolman and Otumba, sacking them only due to the sudden Tepanec siege of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco. In a tactical move, the three armies united again and then divided into two, one of them, under Nezahualcoyotl, headed towards Texcoco laying siege to Acolhuacan on its way, while the other attacked and destroyed Atzcapotzalco. The two armies simultaneously attacked Acolhuacan from two directions until they controlled the main square. After their victory, the coalition began a series of attacks to isolated Tepanec posts throughout the territory of Texcoco, the defeat of the Tepanecs and the total destruction of the kingdom of Azcapotzalco gave rise to the Aztec Triple Alliance between Texcoco, Tenochtitlan and Tlacopan. Nezahualcoyotl, the wisest ruler that had ruled over Anahuac Valley - as it was known at that time - was finally crowned Tlatoani of Texcoco in 1431. According to Motolina, Nezahualcoyotl practiced his strict laws judiciously and imposed them on all his subjects and he killed four of his sons for their sexual relationships with his concubines. Conquered cities paid tribute that was distributed among three kings, Nezahualcoyotl adopted the Mexica legal system into his empire to help in the reconstruction of his city. For example, in the case for adultery, there were different punishments according to the levels of adultery, adulterers were stoned, burned, or hanged if they had committed murder because of their extramarital affair. The Mapa Quinatzin depicts the hanging of a robber for stealing or breaking into a house, in cases of military misconduct, for example those soldiers who did not follow orders or killed captives, the condemned were hanged or beheaded
32.
Spring (hydrology)
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A spring is any natural situation where water flows from an aquifer to the Earths surface. It is a component of the hydrosphere, a spring may be the result of karst topography where surface water has infiltrated the Earths surface, becoming part of the area groundwater. The groundwater then travels through a network of cracks and fissure—openings ranging from intergranular spaces to large caves, the water eventually emerges from below the surface, in the form of a karst spring. The forcing of the spring to the surface can be the result of an aquifer in which the recharge area of the spring water table rests at a higher elevation than that of the outlet. Spring water forced to the surface by elevated sources are artesian wells and this is possible even if the outlet is in the form of a 300-foot-deep cave. In this case the cave is used like a hose by the higher elevated area of groundwater to exit through the lower elevation opening. Non-artesian springs may simply flow from a higher elevation through the earth to a lower elevation, still other springs are the result of pressure from an underground source in the earth, in the form of volcanic activity. The result can be water at elevated temperature such as a hot spring, the action of the groundwater continually dissolves permeable bedrock such as limestone and dolomite, creating vast cave systems. The term seep refers to springs with small flow rates in which the water has filtered through permeable earth. Fracture springs, discharge from faults, joints, or fissures in the earth, tubular springs, in which the water flows from underground caverns. Spring discharge, or resurgence, is determined by the springs recharge basin, factors that affect the recharge include the size of the area in which groundwater is captured, the amount of precipitation, the size of capture points, and the size of the spring outlet. Water may leak into the system from many sources including permeable earth, sinkholes. In some cases entire creeks seemingly disappear as the water sinks into the ground via the stream bed, grand Gulf State Park in Missouri is an example of an entire creek vanishing into the groundwater system. The water emerges 9 miles away, forming some of the discharge of Mammoth Spring in Arkansas, human activity may also affect a springs discharge--withdrawal of groundwater reduces the water pressure in an aquifer, decreasing the volume of flow. Springs are often classified by the volume of the water they discharge, the largest springs are called first-magnitude, defined as springs that discharge water at a rate of at least 2800 liters or 100 cubic feet of water per second. The scale for spring flow is as follows, Minerals become dissolved in the water as it moves through the underground rocks and this may give the water flavor and even carbon dioxide bubbles, depending on the nature of the geology through which it passes. This is why spring water is bottled and sold as mineral water. Springs that contain significant amounts of minerals are sometimes called mineral springs, Springs that contain large amounts of dissolved sodium salts, mostly sodium carbonate, are called soda springs
33.
Chapultepec aqueduct
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The Chapultepec aqueduct is an aqueduct built to provide potable water for Mexico City from Chapultepec. An aqueduct was first built by the Aztecs during the Tenochtitlan era and was destroyed during the Siege of Tenochtitlan, the remains of the Viceregal era aqueduct are located near Metro Sevilla. The project was started under the tlatoani Chimalpopoca and modified by Moctezuma I and it consisted of a twin-pipe construction made of compacted earth and wood, when one pipe needed maintenance, the water flowed through the other. Where it crossed Lake Texcoco, the aqueduct was raised above the level to allow canoes to pass. While the Tenochtitlan rulers ordered the building of the aqueduct, it was Nezahualcoyotl from Texcoco who was the engineer, shortly after the Spanish Conquest, Hernan Cortes set about dividing up land among the conquistadors. The new aqueduct included architectural arches and it was also to supply the city with fresh water from the springs in Chapultepec. The aqueduct passed through what is now Chapultepec Avenue and Arcos de Belen Street, only a small section, about twenty-two arches long, still survives today, on Chapultepec Avenue near Metro Sevilla. Also surviving are two associated with the aqueduct. The first is found wedged between Chapultepec Park and Metro Chapultepec, constructed by viceroy Agustín de Ahumada, this fountain was designed to divert a portion of the water to this zone as well as be decorative. However, it is no longer in its location, it was cleaned up. While it is at the location, it is not the original fountain. The original fountain had deteriorated badly, and a reproduction was made by Guillermo Ruiz, the remains of the original are on display at the Museo Nacional del Virreinato in Tepotzotlán
34.
Terracotta
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Terracotta, terra cotta or terra-cotta, a type of earthenware, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic, where the fired body is porous. The term is used to refer to the natural, brownish orange color, of most terracotta. This article covers the senses of terracotta as a medium in sculpture, as in the Terracotta Army and Greek terracotta figurines, asian and European sculpture in porcelain is not covered. Glazed architectural terracotta and its version as exterior surfaces for buildings were used in Asia for some centuries before becoming popular in the West in the 19th century. In archaeology and art history, terracotta is used to describe objects such as figurines not made on a potters wheel. An appropriate refined clay is formed to the desired shape, after drying it is placed in a kiln or atop combustible material in a pit, and then fired. The typical firing temperature is around 1,000 °C, though it may be as low as 600 °C in historic and archaeological examples. In some contexts, such as Roman figurines, white-colored terracotta is known as pipeclay, as such clays were later preferred for tobacco pipes, fired terracotta is not watertight, but surface-burnishing the body before firing can decrease its porousness and a layer of glaze can make it watertight. It is suitable for use below ground to carry pressurized water, for garden pots or building decoration in many environments, most other uses, such as for tableware, sanitary piping, or building decoration in freezing environments, require the material to be glazed. Terracotta, if uncracked, will ring if lightly struck, painted terracotta is typically first covered with a thin coat of gesso, then painted. It has been widely used but the paint is only suitable for indoor positions and is much less durable than fired colors in or under a ceramic glaze. Terracotta sculpture was rarely left in its raw fired state in the West until the 18th century. Terracotta/earthenware was the known type of ceramic produced by Western and pre-Columbian people until the 14th century. Terracotta has been used throughout history for sculpture and pottery as well as for bricks, in ancient times, the first clay sculptures were dried in the sun after being formed. They were later placed in the ashes of open hearths to harden, however, only after firing to high temperature would it be classed as a ceramic material. Terracotta female figurines were uncovered by archaeologists in excavations of Mohenjo-daro, along with phallus-shaped stones, these suggest some sort of fertility cult and a belief in a mother goddess. The Burney Relief is a terracotta plaque from Ancient Mesopotamia of about 1950 BC. In Mesoamerica, the majority of Olmec figurines were in terracotta
35.
Chapultepec
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Chapultepec, more commonly called the Bosque de Chapultepec in Mexico City, one of the largest city parks in the Western Hemisphere, measuring in total just over 686 hectares. Centered on a formation called Chapultepec Hill, one of the parks main functions is to be an ecological space in the vast megalopolis. It is considered the first and most important of Mexico Citys lungs, the park area has been inhabited and held as special since the Pre-Columbian era, when it became a retreat for Aztec rulers. In the colonial period, Chapultepec Castle would be built here and it would remain such until 1940, when it was moved to another part of the park called Los Pinos. Today, the park is divided into three sections, with the first section being the oldest and most visited and this section contains most of the parks attractions including its zoo, the Museum of Anthropology, the Rufino Tamayo Museum, and more. It receives an estimated 15 million visitors per year and this prompted the need for major rehabilitation efforts which began in 2005 and ended in 2010. Chapultepec Park is the largest city park in Latin America, measuring in total just over 686 hectares and it is classed as one of the worlds great urban parks, along with Bois de Boulogne in Paris, the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo and Central Park in New York City. The name Chapultepec means at the hill in Nahuatl and refers to a large rock formation that is the center of the current parks first section. The park is divided into three sections, the first and oldest surrounded by fence and shut at night, and the two left open. It contains nine museums, amusement parks, winding paths, commemorative sculptures, lakes, Paseo de la Reforma passes most of the park and cuts through a portion on the north side. One of the main functions is to be an ecological space in the vast megalopolis. It is considered the first and most important of Mexico Citys lungs and it is a large unpaved area that allows for aquifer recharge, ameliorates the heat-island effect, and attracts rain. It is a refuge for birds from Canada, the U. S. and other regions of Mexico, including the red-tailed falcon, the Harris falcon, wild ducks, geese. Anywhere from 38 to 60 species of birds can be found here including some native non migratory species such as the Yucatán canary and a type of heron called the water dog. The park is home to a number of Montezuma cypress, locally called ahuehuete trees, with some hundreds of years old. There are also 165 other species, mostly in the third section and it is estimated by city authorities that 100 million pesos are needed annually to maintain the ecology of the park. For Mexico City residents, the park is valued as a cultural, the area has vestiges showing human presence as far back as the Toltecs with a number ruins from the pre-Columbian through to the colonial period. One notable site is the Baths of Moctezuma, which was a systems of tanks, reservoirs, the park received an estimated 15 million visitors each year, and daily visits have exceeded 250,000
36.
Saponaria
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Saponaria is a genus of flowering plants in the pink family, Caryophyllaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, and are known as soapworts. They are herbaceous perennials and annuals, some with woody bases, the flowers are abundant, five-petalled and usually in shades of pink or white. The most familiar species might be common soapwort, which is native to Eurasia but is known in much of the world as a species, often a weed. The genus name Saponaria derives from the Latin sapo and -aria and it contains saponins, and a liquid soap could be produced by soaking the leaves in water. This soap is used to clean delicate antique tapestries. The genus is related to Lychnis and Silene, being distinguished from these by having only two styles in the flower. It is also related to Gypsophila, but its calyx is cylindrical rather than bell-shaped, Saponaria species are eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera, including the Lychnis and Coleophora saponariella, which is exclusive to the genus. There are 30 to 40 species in the genus
37.
Agave americana
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Today, it is cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant. It has become naturalized in regions, including the West Indies, parts of South America, the southern Mediterranean Basin, and parts of Africa, India, China, Thailand. Despite the common name American aloe, it is not closely related to plants in the genus Aloe, although it is called the century plant, it typically lives only 10 to 30 years. It has a spread around 6–10 ft with gray-green leaves of 3–5 ft long, each with a prickly margin and a heavy spike at the tip that can pierce deeply. Near the end of its life, the plant sends up a tall, branched stalk, laden with yellow blossoms and its common name derives from its semelparous nature of flowering only once at the end of its long life. The plant dies after flowering, but produces suckers or adventitious shoots from the base, a. americana was one of the many species described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1753 edition of Species Plantarum, with the binomial name that is still used today. A. americana is cultivated as a plant for the large dramatic form of mature plants - for modernist, drought tolerant. It is often used in hot climates and where drought conditions occur, the plants can be evocative of 18th-19th-century Spanish colonial and Mexican provincial eras in the Southwestern United States, California, and xeric Mexico. It is also a landscape plant in beach gardens in Florida. Two subspecies and two varieties of A. americana are recognized by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, protamericana Gentry A. a. var. expansa Gentry A. a. var. If the flower stem is cut without flowering, a liquid called aguamiel gathers in the heart of the plant. This may be fermented to produce the drink called pulque, the leaves also yield fibers, known as pita, which are suitable for making rope, matting, or coarse cloth, and are used for embroidery of leather in a technique known as piteado. Both pulque and maguey fiber were important to the economy of pre-Columbian Mexico, in the tequila-producing regions of Mexico, agaves are called mezcales. The high-alcohol product of agave distillation is called mezcal, A. americana is one of several agaves used for distillation, a mezcal called tequila is produced from Agave tequilana, commonly called blue agave. The many different types of mezcal include some which may be flavored with the very pungent mezcal worm, in mezcal and tequila production, the sugars are extracted from the piñas by heating them in ovens, rather than by collecting aguamiel from the plants cut stalk. Thus, if one were to distill pulque, it would not be a form of mezcal, Agave nectar is marketed as a natural form of sugar with a low glycemic index that is due to its high fructose content. The plant figures in the coat of arms of Don Diego de Mendoza, el maguey y el pulque en los códices mexicanos. Mexico City, Fondo de Cultura Económica 1956, memoria sobre el maguey mexicano y sus diversos productos
38.
Temazcal
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A temazcal is a type of sweat lodge which originated with pre-Hispanic Indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica. The word temazcal comes from the Nahuatl word temāzcalli, or possibly from the Aztec teme, Temazcal in English is also written as temezcal, temascal, or temescal. In ancient Mesoamerica it was used as part of a curative ceremony thought to purify the body after exertion such as after a battle or a ball game. It was also used for healing the sick, improving health and it continues to be used today in Indigenous cultures of Mexico and Central America that were part of the ancient Mesoamerican region for spiritual and health reasons. It is currently being recovered by all sectors of society in Mexico and Central America and is used as a cleansing of mind, body, the temazcal is usually a permanent structure, unlike sweat lodges in other regions. It is usually constructed from rock and cement and is usually a circular dome, although rectangular ones have been found at certain archeological sites. To produce the heat, volcanic stones are heated, volcanic stones are safe because they do not explode from the temperature. They are then placed in a pit located in the center or near a wall of the temazcal, sauna Article on Temazcal Article on Oaxacan Temazcal Article on the use of the temazcal among the Tzeltal-Tzotzil Maya of Chiapas, Mexico
39.
Sauna
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A sauna, or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire, Saunas can be divided into two basic types, conventional saunas that warm the air or infrared saunas that warm objects. Infrared saunas may use a variety of materials in their area such as charcoal, active carbon fibers. In Baltic-Finnic languages other than Finnish, sauna does not necessarily mean a building or space built for bathing and it can also mean a small cabin or cottage, such as a cabin for a fisherman. In Mexico and Central America, more specifically in the highlands of central and southern Mexico and Guatemala, there is a version of the indigenous to the Americas. It is the Mexican, Central American version of the sweat lodge used by peoples of the Americas. In Europe, the Nordic countries have a sauna tradition, the Finnish sauna culture is well established, Saunas originates from Finland and there are built-in saunas in almost every house in Finland. The oldest known saunas in Finland were made from pits dug in a slope in the ground, the sauna featured a fireplace where stones were heated to a high temperature. Water was thrown on the hot stones to steam and to give a sensation of increased heat. This would raise the apparent temperature so high that people could take off their clothes, the first Finnish saunas are what nowadays are called savusaunas, or smoke saunas. A properly heated savusauna gives heat up to 12 hours, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, the sauna evolved to use a metal woodstove, or kiuas, with a chimney. Air temperatures averaged around 70–90 °C but sometimes exceeded 100 °C in a traditional Finnish sauna, when the Finns migrated to other areas of the globe they brought their sauna designs and traditions with them. Under many circumstances, temperatures approaching and exceeding 100 °C would be completely intolerable, Saunas overcome this problem by controlling the humidity. The hottest Finnish saunas have relatively low humidity levels in which steam is generated by pouring water on the hot stones and this allows air temperatures that could boil water to be tolerated and even enjoyed for longer periods of time. Steam baths, such as the Turkish bath, where the humidity approaches 100%, the wet heat would cause scalding if the temperature were set much higher. In a typical Finnish sauna, the temperature of the air, the room, in contrast, the sauna bathers are at about 38 °C, which is below the dew point, so that water is condensed on the bathers skin. This process releases heat and makes the steam feel hot, finer control over the temperature experienced can be achieved by choosing a higher level bench for those wishing a hotter experience or a lower level bench for a more moderate temperature. A good sauna has a small temperature gradient between the various seating levels
40.
Woodcut
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Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that the artist cuts away carry no ink, while characters or images at surface level carry the ink to produce the print, the block is cut along the wood grain. The surface is covered with ink by rolling over the surface with a roller, leaving ink upon the flat surface. Multiple colors can be printed by keying the paper to a frame around the woodblocks, single-leaf woodcut is a term for a woodcut presented as a single image or print, as opposed to a book illustration. Among these the best known are the 16th century Hieronymus Andreae, Hans Lützelburger and Jost de Negker, all of whom ran workshops, the formschneider in turn handed the block on to specialist printers. There were further specialists who made the blank blocks and this is why woodcuts are sometimes described by museums or books as designed by rather than by an artist, but most authorities do not use this distinction. The division of labour had the advantage that a trained artist could adapt to the medium relatively easily, there were various methods of transferring the artists drawn design onto the block for the cutter to follow. Either the drawing would be made directly onto the block, or a drawing on paper was glued to the block, either way, the artists drawing was destroyed during the cutting process. Other methods were used, including tracing, in both Europe and the Far East in the early 20th century, some artists began to do the whole process themselves. In Japan, this movement was called sōsaku-hanga, as opposed to shin-hanga, in the West, many artists used the easier technique of linocut instead. Compared to intaglio techniques like etching and engraving, only low pressure is required to print, as a relief method, it is only necessary to ink the block and bring it into firm and even contact with the paper or cloth to achieve an acceptable print. In Europe a variety of woods including boxwood and several nut and fruit woods like pear or cherry were commonly used, in Japan, there are three methods of printing to consider, Stamping, Used for many fabrics and most early European woodcuts. Used for European woodcuts and block-books later in the fifteenth century, also used for many Western woodcuts from about 1910 to the present. The block goes face up on a table, with the paper or fabric on top, the back is rubbed with a hard pad, a flat piece of wood, a burnisher, or a leather frotton. A traditional Japanese tool used for this is called a baren, later in Japan, complex wooden mechanisms were used to help hold the woodblock perfectly still and to apply proper pressure in the printing process. This was especially helpful once multiple colors were introduced and had to be applied with precision atop previous ink layers, printing in a press, presses only seem to have been used in Asia in relatively recent times. Printing-presses were used from about 1480 for European prints and block-books, simple weighted presses may have been used in Europe before the print-press, but firm evidence is lacking
41.
Augsburg
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Augsburg is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It was a Free Imperial City for over 500 years and it is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is a district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is the third-largest city in Bavaria with a population of 286,000 citizens, after Neuss and Trier, Augsburg is Germanys third oldest city, being founded by the Romans as Augusta Vindelicorum, named after the Roman emperor Augustus. Augsburg is the only German city with its own legal holiday and this gives Augsburg more legal holidays than any other region or city in Germany. Augsburg was the home of two families that rose to great prominence internationally, replacing the Medicis as Europes leading bankers, the Fugger. Augsburg lies at the convergence of the Alpine rivers Lech and Wertach, in the south extends the Lechfeld, an Outwash plain of the post ice age between the rivers Lech and Wertach, where rare primeval landscapes were preserved. The Augsburg city forest and the Lech valley heaths today rank among the most species-rich middle European habitats, on Augsburg borders the nature park Augsburg Western Woods - a large forestland. The city itself is also heavily greened, as a result, in 1997 Augsburg was the first German city to win the Europe-wide contest Entente Florale for Europes greenest and most livable city. Augsburg is surrounded by the counties Landkreis Augsburg in the west, the neighboring towns and cities are Friedberg, Königsbrunn, Stadtbergen, Neusäß, Gersthofen, Rehling, Affing, Kissing, Mering, Merching, Bobingen, Gessertshausen und Diedorf. Augsburg has a continental climate. The city was founded in 15 BC by Drusus and Tiberius as Augusta Vindelicorum, the name means Augusta of the Vindelici. This garrison camp soon became the capital of the Roman province of Raetia, thus, Augsburg was the intersection of many important European east-west and north-south connections, which later evolved as major trade routes of the Middle Ages. Around 120 AD Augsburg became the capital of the Roman province Raetia, Augsburg was sacked by the Huns in the 5th century AD, by Charlemagne in the 8th century, and by Welf of Bavaria in the 11th century, but arose each time to greater prosperity. Augsburg was granted the status of a Free Imperial City on March 9,1276 and from then until 1803, it was independent of its former overlord, the Prince-Bishop of Augsburg. Frictions between the city-state and the prince-bishops were to remain frequent however, particularly after Augsburg became Protestant and curtailed the rights, with a strategic location as intersection of trade routes to Italy, the Free Imperial City became a major trading center. Augsburg produced large quantities of goods, cloth and textiles. Augsburg became the base of two banking families that rose to prominence, the Fuggers and the Welsers
42.
Field Museum of Natural History
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The Field Museum of Natural History, also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. Additionally, the Field Museum maintains an exhibition program of traveling shows as well as in-house produced topical exhibitions. The professional staff maintains collections of over 24 million specimens and objects that provide the basis for the scientific research programs. These collections include the range of existing biodiversity, gems, meteorites, fossils, as well as rich anthropological collections. The Field Museum and its collections originated from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, during the period from 1943 to 1966, the museum was known as the Chicago Natural History Museum. In 1921, the Museum moved from its location in Jackson Park to its present site on Chicago Park District property near downtown. By the late 1930s the Field emerged as one of the three museums in the United States, the other two being the American Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of Natural History. The Field Museum is part of Chicago’s lakefront Museum Campus that includes the John G. Shedd Aquarium, in 2015, it became public that an employee had defrauded the museum of $900,000 over a seven-year period to 2014. The Hall of Jades focuses on Chinese jade artifacts spanning 8,000 years, the Underground Adventure gives visitors a bugs-eye look at the world beneath their feet. Visitors can see what insects and soil look like from that size, while learning about the biodiversity of soil, inside Ancient Egypt offers a glimpse into what life was like for ancient Egyptians. Twenty-three human mummies are on display as well as many mummified animals, the exhibit features a tomb that visitors can enter, complete with 5, 000-year-old hieroglyphs. There are also many interactive displays, for children and adults, as well as a shrine to the cat goddess Sekhmet and her kinder, less hostile form. A popular feature of the exhibit is the replica of the chapel in the tomb of Unis-Ankh, evolving Planet follows the history and the evolution of life on Earth over 4 billion years, from the first organism to present-day life. Visitors can see how mass extinctions in Earth’s history helped shape all the organisms, there is also an expanded dinosaur hall, with dinosaurs from every era, as well as interactive displays. The Ancient Americas displays 13,000 years of human ingenuity and achievement in the Western Hemisphere, in this large permanent exhibition visitors can learn the epic story of the peopling of these continents, from the Arctic to the tip of South America. Working Laboratories DNA Discovery Center, Visitors can watch real scientists extract DNA from a variety of organisms, Museum goers can also speak to a live scientist through the glass every day and ask them any questions about DNA. McDonalds Fossil Prep Lab, The public can watch as paleontologists prepare real fossils for study, the Regenstein Pacific Conservation Laboratory,1, 600-square-foot conservation and collections facility. Visitors can watch as conservators work to preserve and study anthropological specimens from all over the world, other exhibitions include sections on Tibet and China, where visitors can view traditional clothing
43.
Salamanca
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Salamanca is a city in northwestern Spain that is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the community of Castile and León. The city lies on several hills by the Tormes River and its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is one of the most important university cities in Spain, Salamanca attracts thousands of international students, generating a diverse environment. It is situated approximately 200 kilometres west of the Spanish capital Madrid and 80 km east of the Portuguese border, with its 30,000 students, the university is, together with tourism, a primary source of income in Salamanca. In the 3rd century BC, Hannibal laid siege to the city, with the fall of the Carthaginians to the Romans, the city of Helmantica, as it was known, began to take more importance as a commercial hub in the Roman Hispania due to its favorable location. Salamanca lay on a Roman road, known as the Vía de la Plata and its Roman bridge dates from the 1st century, and was a part of this road. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the Alans established in Lusitania, later the city was conquered by the Visigoths and included in their territory. The city was already an episcopal see, and signatures of bishops of Salamanca are found in the Councils of Toledo, Salamanca surrendered to the Moors, led by Musa bin Nusair, in the year 712 AD. For years, this area between the south of Duero River and the north of Tormes River, became the battlefield between the Christian kingdoms and the Muslim Al-Andalus rulers. The constant fighting of the Kingdom of León first, and the Kingdom of Castile and León later against the Caliphate depopulated Salamanca, after the battle of Simancas the Christians resettled this area. After the capture of Toledo by Alfonso VI of León and Castile in 1085, raymond of Burgundy, instructed by his father-in-law Alfonso VI of León, led a group of settlers of various origins in 1102. Soon it became one of the most significant and prestigious academic centres in Europe, during the 16th century, the city reached its height of splendour. During that period, the University of Salamanca hosted the most important intellectuals of the time, in 1551, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered an inquiry to find out if the science of Andreas Vesalius, physician and anatomist, was in line with Catholic doctrine. Vesalius came to Salamanca that same year to appear before the board and was acquitted, Salamanca suffered the general downturns of the Kingdom of Castile during the 17th century, but in the 18th century it experienced a rebirth. In this period, the new baroque Cathedral and main square were finished, the battle which raged that day is famous as a defining moment in military history, many thousands of men were slaughtered by cannon fire in the space of only a few short hours. During the devastating Spanish Civil War the city went over to the Nationalist side and was used as the de facto capital. The Nationalists soon moved most of the departments to Burgos. Like much of fervently Catholic and largely rural Leon and Old Castile regions, Salamanca was a supporter of the Nationalist side
44.
Templo Mayor
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The Templo Mayor was one of the main temples of the Aztecs in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica, the spire in the center of the adjacent image was devoted to Quetzalcoatl in his form as the wind god, Ehecatl. The Great Temple devoted to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, measuring approximately 100 by 80 m at its base, construction of the first temple began sometime after 1325, and it was rebuilt six times. The temple was destroyed by the Spanish in 1521 to make way for the new cathedral, today, the archeological site lies just to the northeast of the Zocalo, or main plaza of Mexico City, in the block between Seminario and Justo Sierra streets. The site is part of the Historic Center of Mexico City, after the destruction of Tenochtitlan, the Templo Mayor, like most of the rest of the city, was taken apart and covered over by the new Spanish colonial city. The Temple’s exact location was forgotten, although by the 20th-century scholars had an idea where to look for it. This was based on the work done at the end of the 19th century. Leopoldo Batres did some work at the end of the 19th century under the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral because at this time. In the first decades of the 20th century, Manuel Gamio found part of the southwest corner of the temple, however, it did not generate great public interest in excavating further because the zone was an upper-class residential area. In 1933, Emilio Cuevas found part of a staircase and beam, in 1948, Hugo Moedano and Elma Estrada Balmori excavated a platform containing serpent heads and offerings. In 1966, Eduardo Contreras and Jorge Angula excavated a chest containing offerings that was first explored by Gamio, the push to fully excavate the site did not come until late in the 20th century. On 21 February 1978, workers for the company were digging at a place in the city then popularly known as the island of the dogs. It was so named because it was elevated over the rest of the neighborhood. Just over two meters down, the diggers struck a pre-Hispanic monolith and this stone turned out to be a huge disk of over 3.25 meters in diameter,30 centimeters thick and weighing 8.5 metric tons. The relief on the stone was later determined to be Coyolxauhqui, Huitzilopochtlis sister, from 1978 to 1982, specialists directed by archeologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma worked on the project to excavate the Temple. Initial excavations found many of the artifacts were in good enough condition to study. Efforts coalesced into the Templo Mayor Project, which was authorized by presidential decree, to excavate,13 buildings in this area had to be demolished. Nine of these were built in the 1930s and four dated from the 19th century and these objects are housed in the Templo Mayor Museum
45.
Mesoamerican ballgame
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The Mesoamerican ballgame was a sport with ritual associations played since 1400 BCE by the pre-Columbian peoples of Ancient Mesoamerica. The sport had different versions in different places during the millennia, the rules of ōllamaliztli are not known, but judging from its descendant, ulama, they were probably similar to racquetball, where the aim is to keep the ball in play. The stone ballcourt goals are an addition to the game. In the most common theory of the game, the struck the ball with their hips, although some versions allowed the use of forearms, rackets, bats. The ball was made of rubber and weighed as much as 4 kg. The game had important ritual aspects, and major formal ballgames were held as ritual events, Late in the history of the game, some cultures occasionally seem to have combined competitions with religious human sacrifice. The sport was also played casually for recreation by children and may have played by women as well. Pre-Columbian ballcourts have been found throughout Mesoamerica, as for example at Copán, as far south as modern Nicaragua and these ballcourts vary considerably in size, but all have long narrow alleys with slanted side-walls against which the balls could bounce. It is not known precisely when or where ōllamaliztli originated, although it is likely that the game originated earlier than 1400 BCE in the tropical zones home to the rubber tree. One candidate for the birthplace of the ballgame is the Soconusco coastal lowlands along the Pacific Ocean, here, at Paso de la Amada, archaeologists have found the oldest ballcourt yet discovered, dated to approximately 1400 BCE. The other major candidate is the Olmec heartland, across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec along the Gulf Coast, the Aztecs referred to their Postclassic contemporaries who then inhabited the region as the Olmeca since the region was strongly identified with latex production. The earliest-known rubber balls come from the bog at El Manatí. Villagers, and subsequently archaeologists, have recovered a dozen balls ranging in diameter from 10 to 22 cm from the spring there. Five of these balls have been dated to the occupational phase for the site. These rubber balls were found with other ritual offerings buried at the site, indicating that even at this early date ōllamaliztli had religious, excavations at the nearby Olmec site of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán have also uncovered a number of ballplayer figurines, radiocarbon-dated as far back as 1250–1150 BCE. A rudimentary ballcourt, dated to an occupation at San Lorenzo. From the tropical lowlands, ōllamaliztli apparently moved into central Mexico, starting around 1000 BCE or earlier, ballplayer figurines were interred with burials at Tlatilco and similarly styled figurines from the same period have been found at the nearby Tlapacoya site. It was about this period, as well, that the so-called Xochipala-style ballplayer figurines were crafted in Guerrero and it is known in Spanish as juego de pelota, in Classic Maya as pitz, and in modern Nahuatl as ōllamaliztli
46.
Tzompantli
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It is a scaffold-like construction of poles on which heads and skulls were placed after holes had been made in them. Many have been documented throughout Mesoamerica, and range from the Epiclassic through early Post-Classic, the name comes from the Classical Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, however it is also commonly applied to similar structures depicted in other civilizations. Its precise etymology is uncertain, although its general interpretation is skull rack, wall of skulls and it may be seen to be a compound of the Nahuatl words tzontecomatl (skull, from tzontli or tzom- hair, scalp and tecomatl, and pamitl. It was most commonly erected as a series of vertical posts connected by a series of horizontal crossbeams. The skulls were pierced or threaded laterally along these horizontal stakes, an alternate arrangement, more common in the Maya regions, was for the skulls to be impaled on top of one another along the vertical posts. Tzompantli are known chiefly from their depiction in Late Postclassic and post-Conquest codices, contemporary accounts of the conquistadores, 2nd century BCE to 3rd century CE. The Zapotecs called this structure a yàgabetoo, and it displayed 61 skulls, Tzompantli are also noted in other Mesoamerican pre-Columbian cultures, such as the Toltec and Mixtec. At the Toltec capital of Tula exists the first indications in Central Mexico of a fascination with skulls. Tula flourished from the century until the thirteenth century A. D. The site includes the remains of a tzompantli. The tzompantli at Tula displayed multiple rows of stone carved skulls adorning the sides of a platform upon which the actual skulls of sacrificial victims were exhibited. The tzompantli appeared during the phases of civilization at Tula. Other examples are indicated from Maya civilization sites such as Uxmal and other Puuc region sites of the Yucatán, a particularly fine and intact inscription example survives at the extensive Chichen Itza site. Human sacrifice on a scale was introduced to the Maya by the Toltecs from the appearances of the tzompantli by the Chichen Itza ball courts. Six ball court reliefs at Chichen Itza depict the decapitation of a player, it seems that the losers would be beheaded. The Aztecs had their share of tzompantli, one example is in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. The skull rack here is a reminder of the Aztecs ongoing Flowery Wars, Aztec warfare was primarily concerned with the capture of enemy warriors to serve as sacrifice, which is evident from the number of warriors found sacrificed around Aztec structures. The heart of the captive would be torn from his chest, attendants at the bottom were responsible for severing the limbs and head from the torso, and the warrior who brought the captive in would be given the limbs as property
listen)), originally known as México-Tenochtitlán (Classical Nahuatl: Mēxihco-Tenōchtitlan [meːˈʃíʔ.ko te.noːt͡ʃ.ˈtí.t͡ɬan]), was a large Mexica city-state in what is now the center of Mexico City. Founded on June 20, 1325, the city was built on an island in what was then Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico, the city was the capital of the expanding Aztec Empire in the 15th century[1] until it was captured by the Spanish in 1521.
