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were the Native American people who dominated northern Mesoamerica at the time of the Spanish conquest led by Hernan Cortes in the early 16th century. According to their own myths and legends, they originated from a place called Aztlan, somewhere in north or nort ....

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.... and pragmatic builders, ruthlessly created an empire during the 15th century that was surpassed in size in the Americas only by that of the Inca in Peru. As early texts and modern archaeology continue to reveal, beyond the violence of their conquests and many of their religious practices, there were more positive achievements: the formation of a highly specialized and stratified society and an imperial administration; the expansion of a trading network as well as a tribute system; the development and maintenance of a sophisticated agricultural economy, carefully adjusted to the land; and the cultivation of an intellectual and religious outlook that ....