Aztecs were an advanced civilization who invented many incredible technologies, from calendars and floating gardens to complex systems that helped their society prosper.

The Aztecs had a more holistic view of medicine and health. Instead of searching for one-size-fits-all solutions to illnesses, they preferred using different herbs and medicines to ease symptoms instead of finding one solution to all ailments.

Mathematics

The Aztecs, who ruled central Mexico before Spanish arrival, were widely revered for their impressive architecture, engineering and astronomy skills – but recent research demonstrates they possessed even greater mathematics abilities than was thought possible. Utilizing symbols such as arrows, hearts and hands for tracking land areas far more precisely than researchers had initially assumed.

This research project used two manuscripts that document land surveying in Tepetlaoztoc, an Aztec city-state. These drawings date to between 1540 and 1544 and were studied by Maria del Carmen Jorge y Jorge of National Autonomous University of Mexico and Barbara Williams from University of Wisconsin Rock County.

She and her colleagues were taken aback to discover that Aztec glyphs represented fractional distances. If a measurement did not correspond exactly with one land rod–their standard unit of linear measurement–they added symbols such as arrows, hearts, or hands to indicate how many “rods” were missing from a measurement.

Students can see this process unfold by engaging in the Library of Congress lesson AzTech: Meet the Maya. After 15-20 minutes, move onto Computation activity of this lesson.

Astronomy

Complex civilizations such as that of the Aztecs required rigorous record keeping. Their symbols or glyphs represented objects and ideas on carvings, paintings and long strips of paper known as codices; their count system used units of 20 to keep track of time while simultaneously developing an important calendar for religious purposes.

Like other Mesoamerican civilisations, Aztecs were extremely adept at observing celestial bodies. They studied the Sun, Moon and stars for many reasons – but most obviously as deities they depended upon for life – especially rain; paying their respects through ritual sacrifice for plentiful crops to harvest; defeating enemy opponents with powerful weaponry and for continuing as a culture.

The Aztecs had an extraordinary ability to predict eclipses. They did this using their complex calendar – with its 365-day count of solar years and ritual calendar – as well as mountain alignments such as those which aligned toward rising sun on February 24 every 52 years, providing them with solar observatories on these hills.

Medicine

Though they lacked iron or bronze and their defense technology fell short of that of Spain, the Aztecs made considerable advances on their own. They invented an agriculture system known as chinampa; were skilled stone carvers; adept builders; Invented Dugout Canoes which proved especially helpful for traversing canals and lakes around Tenochtitlan; as well as developing agriculture methods which produced massive harvests (chinampa).

The Aztecs were skilled herbalists and relied heavily on plants to treat and prevent illness, believing it came either from natural causes or divine intervention. Furthermore, steam baths were frequently employed in treating fevers with sweat believed to drive away evil spirits from the body through sweating.

One of the key sources that sheds light on this subject is a 1552 book called Badianus Manuscript that describes more than 180 herbs and their medicinal uses, while Florentine Codex published in 1950 provides information about all of the herbal remedies the Aztecs employed, along with hallucinogen use among their culture – these sources have enabled researchers to gain more insight into this ancient civilization.

Education

Aztec technology was truly impressive. Before the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, people outside Mexico had never seen fabric dyed with such deep scarlet hues – a feat made possible thanks to cochineal beetle pigmentation.

The Aztecs did not possess iron or copper but still managed to produce weapons and tools out of wood, obsidian, and andesite (a form of volcanic rock). For transportation across lakes and canals they invented dugout canoes while producing pottery tools figurines and jewelry as well.

Archeologists have learned a great deal from this ancient document known as codices about daily life in Aztec civilization from these ancient writings.

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Agriculture

The Aztecs were an extremely agricultural society. They produced large volumes of crops so that everyone had enough to eat. This allowed them to focus more energy and time on other activities such as religious observances, craft production, government services and military duties.

Corn (maize), their staple crop, was used in multiple ways – as food (grain or otherwise), for stews and soups, in tamales and various forms of gruels; currency trading occurred between nations using corn as its basis.

The Aztecs could grow so much corn thanks to their innovative farming techniques, particularly chinampas – floating islands made of mud on swampy lake beds which enabled multiple crops to be grown simultaneously in one area with rich soil. Another innovative farming practice they utilized was terracing, in which stone walls were constructed on hillsides to provide more usable land – all these methods enabled the empire to prosper over time.

Weapons

The Aztecs were highly adept at using metalworking to produce tools and weapons for use against enemies, as well as having a highly developed agriculture sector and employing an unusual farming technique known as chinampa in lakes by creating floating islands out of reed mats to harvest their produce.

Aztec warriors were also powerful forces on the battlefield. Equipped with various types of weapons such as the tezcatl spear tipped with sharp points made of flint, and macauahuitl club weapons containing obsidian blades on each side for elite warriors to favor, their numbers on battle fields was impressive.

These razor sharp blades were said to pierce through muscle and bone with ease, according to Aztec legend. A single blow could even decapitate an entire horse!

Aztec warriors used slingshots as another tool of combat. Scouting ahead of their enemies, they would collect stones along their route and use this weapon against enemy soldiers on the battlefield. Ruse tactics such as pretending to flee or hiding behind covered trenches were often employed if diplomacy failed; defeated rulers must agree to regular tribute payments consisting of goods and people.

Calendars

The Aztecs made tremendous advances in astronomy, mathematics, medicine and education. They also invented many useful tools and created their own number system based on 20. In addition, one of their achievements was pioneering compulsory schooling for both boys and girls alike.

Mexica (Aztecs), as they were commonly known, utilized an intricate calendar system used for religious ceremonies and tracking time. But how they calibrated their solar year has long remained unknown until recently uncovered research from UC Riverside revealed their method.

Mexica were remarkably adept at following the 260-day calendar cycle with remarkable accuracy, for instance they knew that 4 Olin, which marked when they believed the world would end, repeated every 260 days – leading them to sacrifice prisoners on this date.

Researchers conducted extensive analyses on Mexica manuscripts and codexes, such as one depicting an eclipse monster with their tongue sticking out, an icon common for eclipse monsters. A computer model then showed them how sunrise on Tlaloc mountain coincided with sunrise specified in a codex. Furthermore, they conducted fieldwork around Tlaloc peak where Tepeyac temple is aligned to sunrise each Feb 24 – an important clue.