Calliope articles from December 2005

Calliope archives from December 2005

AZTEC customs that have stood the test of time.
December 1, 2005... 1. Chinampas What role does manure play in the chinampas?--page 12 is ready to tell you. 2. Good-Luck Days--cross your fingers and skip to page 14. 3. Dying to Live Why did the ixiptla make the supreme sacrifice?--page CONSULTING...

The world of the Aztecs (A.D. 1428-1521): you are on my lap, you are in my backpack.(MUSINGS)
December 1, 2005... --translation of an Aztec saying, meaning "I'll take good care of you." WHAT THOUGHTS COME TO MIND WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORD "AZTEC"? A few possibilities might be: Mexico, an accurate calendar system, bright colors, and no-hands ball games!...

Who were the Aztecs?
December 1, 2005... Imagine digging a trench for new telephone lines and finding a large ancient stone (inset page 5) carved with an elaborate design (see drawing at right). That is exactly what happened in 1978 when workers in downtown Mexico City were preparing...

Tenochtitlan.(ancient city of Aztecs)
December 1, 2005... According to Aztec histories, the Mexica, the people who built the city of Tenochtitlan, entered the Basin of Mexico in the mid-1200s. After several unsuccessful attempts to establish a permanent settlement, their patron deity, Huitzilopochtli,...

Chinampas.(PAST AND PRESENT)(Aztec farming)
December 1, 2005... Aztec farmers used a variety of methods to cultivate their lands. They took water from springs and rivers and diverted fast-moving floodwaters from summer thunderstorms to irrigate their fields. To reduce erosion, they constructed terraces on...

Growing up Aztec.(culture)
December 1, 2005... When a baby was born into an Aztec family, the midwife who had helped the mother give birth washed and welcomed it. Elderly relatives then made speeches warning the infant that life on earth was going to be difficult. Baby girls were given...

Gods and Goddesses.(Aztec religion)
December 1, 2005... The Aztec term for god, teotl, had several meanings. It could refer to a god, to the divine nature of a god, and to the concept of sacredness. As a result, understanding the nature of Aztec religion can be difficult. Texts written by people who...

Legend of the suns.(Aztec lore)
December 1, 2005... According to Aztec lore, the gods met at Teotihuacan to discuss how they would create a new sun for the fifth epoch, the present period of time, which they called the Fifth Sun. The gods, so the Aztecs believed, had created and destroyed the...

Celebrating Tezcatlipoca.(religious festival of Aztecs)
December 1, 2005... The ancient god Tezcatlipoca, or "Smoking Mirror," was one of the most important and complex gods in the Aztec pantheon. Although he took multiple forms, the smoking mirror symbol always identifies him. Known by 360 names, Tezcatlipoca was...

Word origins.(FUN WITH WORDS)(Aztec language)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... WORD ORIGINS COYOTE You've probably read about coyotes in your local newspaper--especially if one attacked a sheep, chicken, or dog. Native to the North American plains, coyotes are members of the dog family, but they are wild animals, and...

Word stories.(FUN WITH WORDS)(chocolate and tomato in Aztec language)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... CHOCOLATE Great word, and what delicious images it brings to mind! But, check its origin: First to cokolatl, the word in Nahuatl for "bitter water." Must be all the sugar added to the seeds from the caucauatl tree. Finding it difficult to...

Descriptions Aztec-style.(FUN WITH WORDS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The Aztecs so admired the clever use of words that skilled speakers were said to "scatter jades and turquoises" when talked. They especially liked phrases that used a pair of words, which together suggested or symbolized what or who was being...

A word to the wise.(FUN WITH WORDS)(Aztec sayings)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Here are a few popular Aztec sayings. Use them to "color" your speech, and look for six more in this issue. She follows the road of the deer and the rabbit. Meaning: She is wild and disobedient. The earth is slippery. Meaning:...

Aztec riddles.(FUN WITH WORDS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Here and on page 40 are several popular Aztec riddles. We have provided the answers on page 47, but don't peek until you've come up with at least one possible answer. A. What is a little blue bowl filled with popcorn? B. What do we...

Art of the Aztecs.
December 1, 2005... The earliest Aztec artwork found thus far dates to about 1390, and was uncovered at the Great Temple of the capital city Tenochtitlan. It is a chacmool, a reclining human figure that formed a type of platform for offerings. Given that the...

Which afterworld?(Aztec's beliefs about death)
December 1, 2005... If you were an Aztec, your soul's fate after death depended less on how you lived than on how you died. There were five places you might go: 1 If you died as a baby, you would go to the highest level of the heavens, where the creator gods...

Aztec bungee jumping.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... One of the Aztecs' dances, still performed today in parts of Mexico, was a lot like bungee jumping except the rope was not stretchy, and you had to fly around in circles! People set up a pole, made from a very tall tree, with a circular...

With pen and paper.(aztec paper art)
December 1, 2005... The Aztecs were expert papermakers. Their paper was made from the inner bark of fig and mulberry trees. The bark was stripped from the tree, soaked and boiled in water to soften the strips, and laid out in a grid pattern. The strips were then...

Maze to the underworld.(ACTIVITY)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Aztecs believed that to get to a restful hereafter, the spirits of those who died an ordinary death would have I to make their way through different hazards. Can you make your way to the underworld? First, find a way across the river, through...

Pun, to, three, for (or oh pun sez me).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Aztecs were amused by puns and other ways of shortening hieroglyphs. A word may sound something like the word that is actually meant. Can you sound your way through the message? 1.-- 2.-- Answer: 1. You want to see a tiny...

We have come only to dream.(Aztec poetry)
December 1, 2005... In their poetry, the Aztecs recounted what was dear to them. Most important were the poems and songs dedicated to the gods. Xochipilli, the patron god of poets, was especially honored as the lord of flower and song. Aztec songs told of ancient...

The Aztec calendar stone.
December 1, 2005... A team of artists created the Aztec Calendar Stone in 1511 for Motecuhzoma II, the last Aztec ruler before the Spanish Conquest. This huge monolith measures almost 12 feet in diameter, and its carved circular area features a densely detailed...

A clash of cultures.(Spiniards and Aztecs)
December 1, 2005... In April 1519, the Spanish captain Hernando Cortes and about 600 men stepped ashore along the eastern coast of Mexico, near the modern city of Veracruz. Although sent to Mexico on an exploratory and trading mission, these men became...

Let's play ball.(Mesoamericans' game)
December 1, 2005... The ball game in Mesoamerica has a history of approximately 3,500 years, and, to date, about 1,500 ball courts (above) have been uncovered. Most courts featured an I-shaped design (opposite top) with the long sides flanked by two parallel...

The game today.(ullamaliztli)
December 1, 2005... Because ullamaliztli was closely tied to Aztec religious beliefs, the Spanish eventually banned the game. A few variations did survive, and today, the Ulama Project of California State University, Los Angeles, is documenting the one known as...

Ask Calliope.(T'shu-p'u", popular Chinese board game ; Greek actors' masks; ancient Egyptians dental problems)
December 1, 2005... ? What is "T'shu-p'u"? --Adrian, 13, Web post ! "T'shu-p'u" is a popular Chinese board game that dates back at least to 500 B.C. It belongs to a group of games called race games, where pieces are raced along a course on a board and...

Books.(OFF THE SHELF )(An Ancient American World, The Aztecs(Wood, Tim), The Aztecs (Smith, Michael E.) and Handbook to Life in the Aztec World )(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2005... An Ancient American World by William Fash and Mary E. Lyons (Oxford, 2005, www.oup.com) uses a wide variety of primary sources to tell the story of the native cultures that have existed in the Americas for thousands of years. Interesting...

Cobblestone resources.(OFF THE SHELF)
December 1, 2005... Materials that complement this month's topic, "The Aztecs," and are available from Cobblestone Publishing include: Olmecs (CAL0401) Children of Ancient Mexico (APP0312) Maya Rivals (DIG0211) Ancient Maya (CAL9902) Ancient...

Legacy of the Aztecs.(FROM PAST TO PRESENT)(Spanish influence on culture)
December 1, 2005... The Spanish conquest did not destroy Aztec culture, nor did it wipe out the Aztec people. Rather, the Aztec territory became a colony of the Spanish empire, called "New Spain." While smallpox and other diseases killed millions of Aztecs during...