A – anchor
R – reporter
A: Live from Catanduanes State University, broadcasting across the Philippine archipelago, this is 37.5
Real FM The News Rush. Good morning, Philippines! It is now 7:00 in the morning on a hot sunny day
this Thursday, March 23, 2023. We're bringing you now your daily dose of the hottest, weirdest, and
most shockable news you don't want to miss. And now it's time for everyone's most awaited segment...
Throwback Thursday!
A: This is ____, your guide to the news of world history that matters.
A: And this is ________, bringing you some intriguing scoops about the ancient life.
2 A’s: Join us as we discover the development of Science in Mesoamerica.
R: You may have heard of their calendars, seen their temples, or admired one of their cool looking
sculptural artifacts in a museum, but chances are you have no idea what life was really like for the
Aztecs.
R: The Aztec civilization was built upon a complex combination of Olmec and Mayan traditions. But
during the 14th, 15th and early 16th centuries, the Aztecs acquired a new baller level of power,
influence, and richness across most of Mexico and Central America.
R: In this week's episode of Throwback Thursday, let's go back in time and explore the Aztecs' history,
including their food, education, entertainment, and lifestyle. And towards the end, you will know how
Aztecs use their wisdom to survive life.
R: Aztec agriculture featured intensive cultivation of all available land, as well as elaborate systems of
irrigation and reclamation of swampland using raised fields known as chinampas (“floating gardens”).
Rich soil from the bottom of a lake was piled up to form ridges between rows of ditches or canals.
R: Aside from that, the Aztec civilization, which flourished in central Mexico between c. 1345 and 1521
CE, was able to provide an astonishingly wide range of agricultural produce thanks to a combination of
climatic advantages, diverse artificial irrigation methods, and extensive farming know-how.
R: Aztec farmers basic tools are: digging stick, copper axe, and a crude carrying strap (like the one on his
back) for lugging things around.
R: The Aztec economy was based on agriculture and trade. Agriculture provided a great variety of fruits
and vegetables, such as tomatoes, chili peppers, pumpkins, and beans, necessary to feed the high
number of inhabitants in the empire.
R: With their knowledge in farming, the people benefited such inventions includi water filtration,
regulation of water level and microclimate regulation. Other benefits include greenhouse gas
sequestration and increased biodiversity. Not to mention that it's highly sustainable.
R: Ooohhh that's a great insight. But here's a weird thing about the Aztecs.
R: Like most cultures across Mesoamerica, the Aztecs depended on maize, AKA corn, as their staple
crop. They also grew a lot of beans and squash, as well as tomatoes, avocados, chilies, tubers, and root
vegetables, enjoying a mostly vegetarian diet. The upper-class folks generally ate more meat and fish
than the commoners. But there were plenty of ants, grasshoppers, and worms for everyone from all
walks of life to enjoy.
R: Yeah, you heard that right. As some of the countries in other parts of the world still practice today,
the Aztecs were also fond of eating bugs. Mmm, grasshoppers. Farmers even cultivated insects and used
their eggs to make tortillas. Some insects were cooked, while others were eaten alive for, they think it
had medicinal values. In fact, in many parts of Mexico and Mesoamerica today, insects are still part of
their cuisine.
R: Education was universal, mandatory, and practical.
R: That's right. Boys, girls, men, and women all received an education, though each group was trained to
do specific tasks based upon their gender, age, and social status. Aztecs adapted a homeschool style in
education, children were educated by their parents from a young age with a greater emphasis placed on
basic skills.
R: They also placed societal roles for gender. Typically, girls were taught domestic activities like sewing,
weaving, cooking, and other home-based tasks, while boys learned the basics of farming, or whatever
trade their fathers practiced.
R: Also, a boy from a noble family is branch off to a military school to learn the skills necessary to be
warriors- running, jumping, fighting-as well as matters of law, religion, and other civic topics. They were
expected to go on to become government officials, scholars, teachers, or priests. Commoner boys went
to telpochcalli to learn more about agriculture and received some warrior training. Girls went to a
separate school to learn about running the household, as well as singing, dancing, and crafts.
R: After they finished schools, most returned home to put their skills to use. The thing in common to all
these schools was they were all taught about religious rituals and the duties related to citizenship and
history. And the most talented students were chosen to become priests and ritual healers.
A: Now for the entertainment, we get to know more about the Aztec Civilization ways of living and their
practices. Wanting to learn more about Ancient Aztec games? Or maybe you want to play them
yourself? Many of the games of the Aztec empire were popular long before the Mixtecs reached their
new homeland, and many are still played today.
R: As with any culture, the Aztecs had many games and sports. There were games for children, adults,
nobles, and commoners. Being a deeply religious people, their games would often have a religious
significance. Sometimes they would be based on the people's religious beliefs, other times the game
would be a part of their religious ritual. The perfect example of this was the sport that became almost
central to the Aztec culture - ullamaliztli.
R: The main thing Aztecs would do for entertainment was play various board and ball games. The Aztec
people would dance, play music, tell stories and read poems. Music and dance was an important part of
the Mesoamerican and South American culture.
R: Ullamaliztli, the famous Aztec ball game, was played on a tlachtli ball court (the game is sometimes
referred to as Tlachtli). The ball court was one of the first things built when the Aztecs settled a new
area, making it the most important of the ancient Aztec games. It was a very difficult game played with
a large rubber ball (the name of the game comes from the word ulli, or rubber). The game was not just
important for entertainment, but also politics and religion.
R: Let's face it - the Aztecs were passionate about one of the most common ancient Aztec games patolli. Patolli is a type of board game, which was played by the common people as well as the nobles.
The name comes from the word for small red beans, which were used to play the game. Like the
Mesoamerican ball game, patolli was played long before the Aztecs came along.
R: As with Ullamaliztli, betting was common. But in patolli, betting was central to the game. It was a
game of chance and skill, played on a board shaped like a cross. Players would bet precious metals and
stones, plants, or even themselves on the outcome of the game. In the play itself, players would move
their pieces on and off the board based on the throws of the beans or stones (dimpled like dice). You
can play yourself with this software version of patolli.
R: Now, let us dive in to the Aztec View of Time -- In the modern world, time is often imagined as a
straight line running from a distant past to an infinite future but not so for the Aztecs. The Aztecs of
ancient Mexico measured time with a sophisticated and interconnected triple calendar system, the
Aztec Sun Stone, which followed the movements of the celestial bodies and provided a comprehensive
list of important religious festivals and sacred dates. Each day in the calendar was given a unique
combination of a name and a number. Both individual days and periods of days were given their own
gods in the calendar, highlighting the Aztec view that time and daily life was inseparable from religious
beliefs.
R: They have two sacred calendars known as the 'Tonalpohualli or 'Counting of the Days' and
Xiuhpohualli – 'Counting of the Years'. For the Aztecs, specific times, dates and periods, such as one's
birthday for example, could have an auspicious (or opposite) effect on one's personality, the success of
harvests, the prosperity of a ruler's reign, and so on. This all seems rather complicated compared to our
modern calendar but the amazing thing about their Sun Stone is that every 52 years, when the calendars
coincided exactly was regarded as particularly significant and auspicious.
R: The passing of one 52-year cycle (xiuhmolpilli) to another was marked by the most important religious
event of the Aztec world, the New Fire Ceremony, also known, appropriately enough, as the 'Binding of
the Years' ceremony. This was when a human sacrifice was made to ensure the renewal of the sun. If the
gods were displeased, then there would be no new sun and the world would end.
R: This, no doubt, reflected the Aztec cosmos mythology where the world and humanity were being
constantly renewed in perpetual cycles of change.
A: More information about ancient Aztec games and sport are anything that tested skill and endurance
was popular. Children played with bows and arrows, marbles and stones. For the adults, dances and
ritual battles were often considered a form of entertainment. Music was, of course, very popular.
Totoloque was another gambling game popular in Mexico at the time. The object of the game was to hit
a target with gold pellets. Bernal Diaz, the Spanish historian, wrote that Cortés and Moctezuma II played
totoloque together.
A: Time check it's now 7:10 in the morning. And that wraps up our episode for this week. We hope
you've learned much about the Aztecs as much as ___ and I do. Join us again next Thursday to find out
where we will be going back in time next. This is ____, your guide to the news of world history that
matters.
A: And this is ________, bringing you some intriguing scoops about the ancient life. This is Throwback
Thursday! Thank you for listening and God bless. More news comes your way so keep it here on 37.5
Real FM The News Rush.