World History 173: The Foundation of Empires

By archaeologist Michael E. Smith of ASU. Ms. Jacobson took a class with him in college. He is awesome.

Links to images of artifacts.

In an interview, the archaeologist who uncovered the ancient site of the Templo Mayor [The center of Aztec spirituality] outlines what has been learned

Includes photographs of the site

What was the first item of commerce to be exported from the New World to the Old? No, not corn. Not rubber. It was bug juice.

Essay and images.

Interactive exploration of the meaning, design, purpose, and legacy of the Sun Stone.

Colonial exploitation made the indigenous Aztec people disproportionately vulnerable to epidemics. Indigenous accounts show their perspective.

La Malinche was a key figure in the conquest of the Aztecs. But was she a heroine or a traitor? It depends on whom you ask.

Mexican people today still grapple with the fusion of cultures that resulted from the Spanish Conquest. While the storied romance between Cortés and Malinche, the Aztec woman who served as the Spanish general's translator and lover, remains controversial, many Mexican artists have explored the violent and emotional interpenetration of the Europeans and indigenous in vivid ways.
Podcast with interview Transcript and links to related videos and examples of artworks.

This opening page of the codex depicts the founding of Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco, where, it was foretold, the wandering Mexica tribe would find an eagle perched on a cactus growing from a stone. Modern viewers will recognize this allegorical symbol as the central element in the Mexican flag.