- Cultivation techniques of the Aztecs
- The chinampas
- Terraces
- Products of Aztec agriculture
- Corn and its importance in Aztec agriculture
- Agriculture for various uses
- References
The agriculture of the Aztecs together with trade formed the basic pillars on which the economy of this great Empire was based.
The main Aztec city, Tenochtitlan was built on species of artificial extensions of the island that they filled with reed and earth to arrange their homes on this land.
Corn, main crop of the Aztecs
The Aztecs used canoes to move between the canals. They built a large dam with an extension of 15 kilometers to protect themselves from floods and a freshwater aqueduct supplied from Lake Xochimilco and the forests of Chapultepec.
They used the same ingenuity that led them to develop their city to make their agriculture an advanced self-sustaining system.
Cultivation techniques of the Aztecs
The Aztecs have the merit of having achieved optimal and efficient systems for their crops in less than encouraging geographical conditions: the chinampas and the terraces.
The chinampas
The chinampas were orchards, a kind of rectangular floating islands made with reeds, mud, logs, branches and biodegradable material attached to the bottom of the lake with sticks and roots of willows that they planted themselves.
They served to gain space for the lake, achieving significant yields in their crops without depleting the natural resource of the soil.
They also devised a system that allowed them to generate land suitable for agriculture by using mud from the bottom of Lake Texcoco.
Terraces
It is an agricultural technique that consists of stone walls created on the slopes that were then filled in to create a deep and optimal soil, even when the land was not flat.
Products of Aztec agriculture
Corn, squash, beans, beans, cotton, cocoa, chili peppers, tomatoes, avocados, limes, onions, potatoes, jicamas, and peanuts were grown in the chinampas and on the terraces.
The Aztecs discovered that when they grew corn, bean, and squash plants together, each supported the development of the others.
Corn and its importance in Aztec agriculture
Corn was a fundamental part of the Aztec people's diet.
It was cultivated in enormous quantities, to the point that they managed to store it in quantity to cover times of difficult harvests due to conditions of low rainfall.
Thus they guaranteed food to the million and a half inhabitants who in the year 1519 occupied the Valley of Mexico.
Agriculture for various uses
Not all the products of Aztec agriculture were intended for food.
From the maguey, for example, they obtained their fibers, which they used to make their clothing. They made paper, rope, roofing straw, needles, food from their roots, and a fermented drink from their sap.
The Aztecs faced great challenges in the development of their agriculture. Hence the enormous value attributed to them for the development of their structures and their particular cultivation techniques.
Their ingenuity led them to obtain the main elements of the diet of their people while serving them in the establishment of a solid commercial economy.
References
- Aztec Agriculture: What Did the Aztecs Grow? + Techniques. (September 20, 2017). Obtained from Cultura Azteca: Cultura-azteca.com.
- Aztec Food & Agriculture. (June 20, 2014), retrieved from Ancient History Encyclopedia: ancient.eu
- Aztec Agriculture. (sf) Retrieved on October 6, 2017, from The Aztec Empire: azteccivilisations-justice.weebly.com.
- Aztec Agriculture: Floating Farms Fed the People. (sf). Retrieved on October 6, 2017, from History on the Net: historyonthenet.com
- Aztec Agriculture - Rich and Varied. (sf). Retrieved on October 6, 2017, from Aztec History: Aztec-history.com