Ethnos

Aztec

The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th century. It was a tribe with a rich mythology and cultural heritage.

In Nahuatl, the native language of the Aztecs, "Aztec" means "someone who comes from Aztlán", a mythical place in northern Mexico. However, the Aztec referred to himself as Mexica, SAMPA or Tenochca. The modern usage of the name Aztec as a collective term, applied to all the peoples linked by trade, custom, religion, and language to the Mexica state, the Triple Alliance, was suggested by Alexander von Humboldt.

Aztec culture is generally grouped with the cultural complex known as the "nahuas," because of the common language. According to legend, the various groups who were to become the Aztecs arrived from the north into the Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco. The location of this valley and lake of destination is clear -- it is the heart of modern Mexico City -- but little can be known with certainty about the origin of the Aztecs. ***