ARH 3612-0001

Study the online Mesolore tutorial Life Beside the WaterLinks to an external site., which covers Mesoamerican culture in the Postclassic period just before and after the arrival of the Spanish. The tutorial focuses on Central Mexico where the Aztec built their capital Tenochtitlan, which later became Mexico City. Note: The Aztec are also known by the name that they called themselves, Mexica. Since they spoke Nahuatl, they also belonged to a larger group called the Nahua, which is how this tutorial mainly refers to these peoples.

The tutorial describes aspects of life in Central Mexico in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. To talk about these different aspects, the tutorial uses primary source documents—manuscripts written and illustrated by the Nahua at this time.