Aztec-nology Trivia Quiz

Answer:

An agricultural innovation the Aztecs came up with was the creation of chinampas, or floating gardens. These artificial islands were built on the shallow lake beds of the Valley of Mexico by weaving reeds into rectangular frames and piling them with soil and organic material such as human waste. The principles are still used today in hydroponic farming.

Before the Gregorian calendar system existed, the Aztecs were utilizing a tonalpohualli calendar, which was used for spiritual purposes, and a xiuhpohualli calendar which included a 365-day year and agricultural seasons. This calendar system combined mathematical, astronomical, religious and social elements.

The Aztec empire was a pioneer in recognizing the power of formal education. They implemented a universal education system where boys and girls from all walks of life were provided with formal schooling. Today that concept of compulsory education is a part of much of the world.

The Aztecs created a game called olllama that is similar to modern day soccer. They played in a field surrounded by high walls with stone rings on top. The rings represented astronomical functions and the goal was to get a ball through the rings without using the hands.

The Aztec civilization contributed to medicine as well. They were known to use herbs for many remedies. One of the plants they utilized was the passion flower. This was an antispasmodic treatment. It relaxed muscles which was helpful when a patient was being attended to by healers.

When the Spanish first came to Mexico, they were amazed at the bright red coloring of the textiles they saw. The Aztecs had created a vibrant red dye using cochineal bugs found living on cacti. This technology was quickly picked up by the rest of the world.

For centuries, the Aztecs and their predecessors had utilized popcorn as a form of food and decoration. However, the Aztecs introduced this concept to the Spanish who spread the word. Cortes and his shipmates wrote that the Aztecs had "a kind of corn that bursts when parched and discloses its contents and makes itself look like a very white flower".

The Aztecs were among the first people to cultivate cacao for use as chocolate. They made a drink called xocolatl, which was made from ground cacao beans, water, and spices such as chilli and vanilla. It was reserved for use by nobility and for religious rituals. The cacao beans were so highly regarded they were also used as a form of currency.

The Aztecs were early pioneers in culling natural latex from rubber trees and creating various items such as balls for their ritual ball games. By combining latex with juice from the morning glory plant, they also discovered that rubber could be made more durable. This idea would later be used in the rubber industry.

Several civilizations in that area of the world would extract the resin obtained from the sapodilla tree, a substance named chicle. It was the Aztecs who realized that besides staving off hunger, chewing this would also freshen the breath. Strict rules governed who could chew this gum and if it could be done privately or in public.