What was life like for an Aztec child?

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A ceremony was held twenty days after birth in which parents chose the type of education they wanted for their child. If they wanted their child to be a priest, the parents took the child to the calmecac, a temple school that educated future priests. This was normally for sons of a noblemen, however children of other families were sometimes permitted to attend.

The decision was sealed by cuts in the body. Boys had their lower lips cut by an sharp stone knife, and a jewel was pushed into the cut. Girls had cuts made in the hips and breasts. These cuts showed that the child was entering into a lifetime of learning.

At four years of age, a child began to be given responsibilities. Girls were taught to weave while boys were responsible for carrying firewood. As the child got older, other duties were expected. Between seven and ten, boys began to fish while girls were expected to continue to cook and spin for the family.

Children were expected to observe the rules. These included such rules as walking quickly and dignified with head held high, speaking slowly with a soft voice, not being allowed to stare when speaking to another, no gossiping, eating and dressing with cleanliness and dignity, and always being obedient to elders.

Children were often threatened with large, pointed thorns for such offences as laziness, disobedience, negligence, and boastfulness. Between the ages of ten and fourteen, punishments included having to breathe in chilli smoke or being made to sleep on the cold, wet ground while bound.

At fifteen, children, whose parents had chosen the calmecac when the child was twenty days old, began their priestly education at the temple school. Much self-sacrifice of all kinds was included.

Fifteen-year-old boys who were not educated for the priesthood were usually sent to the telpochcalli and trained for war. Other duties learned at the telpochcalli were citizenship, arts, crafts, and history.

A girl was generally considered of marriageable age by the age of sixteen. Men were on average twenty years old when they married.

From the time a child was quite small, sacrifice had played a large part in some of the rituals. The naming ceremony at the age of twenty days involved cutting the infant’s skin. Agricultural festivals in the spring involved cutting the earlobes of all infants.

In this way, no matter how young, all were required to give some form of themselves to the gods.

They believed that throughout time, the new sun was not an old sun reborn. Rather it was a brand new sun. The new sun was created by the destruction of the old sun along with the sacrifice of a body. Therefore, without a death by sacrifice, life could not continue.

In many of the stories of Aztec creation, for something new to be born, an old thing must rot and be eaten.

Children played a large role in the ritual dedicated to the rain god, Tlaloc, which was performed to bring needed rain for the crops. Blood from children was compulsory, and this was obtained by small cuts in the tongue.

Actual child sacrifice was also performed at the end of the dry season. Two children were selected to be offered up to the rain gods. The tears that they shed before their sacrifice were offered to Tlaloc so that he released much needed rain. It was believed that the earth needed more than just a small sip of water, as represented by the crying children’s tears. In such a dire circumstance, much water was needed; therefore the quantity of children sacrificed was greatly increased. This is the only time that such a large number of children were offered.

It was deemed an honour to be chosen as one who would feed the gods through sacrifice. Those sacrificed were believed to have a wonderful afterlife for their gift of themselves.

Maya and Aztec believed that infants who were too young to eat normal food (in the Aztec case, maize), were able to talk to the gods directly.

Once every four years parents brought their children forward in a public ceremony. The children who had been born within the previous four years were held over a fire to be purified and would have their ears pierced and a cotton thread inserted. The hole in the ear would gradually be widened as the child grew, so that by the time of adulthood an ear ornament of up to 2 cm could be fitted in the hole.

The growth ceremony included having an adult hold the child up by its forehead or neck. This was thought to help the child grow tall quickly. Other stretching ceremonies included stretching the child’s nose, neck, ears, fingers, and legs so as to encourage suitable development.