Tlatelolco (altepetl)

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/tlatelolco-altepetl

1. When was Tlatelolco (altepetl) built?
2. What is the primary function?
3. What is the inhabitants?
4. What was Tlatelolco and why was it special?
5. Why did the Mexica people create a separate city instead of staying in Tenochtitlan?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Tlatelolco (altepetl) built?1337 CE by a dissident Mexica faction from Mexico-Tenochtitlan
2. What is the primary function?Served as the most significant commercial marketplace in the Basin of Mexico
3. What is the inhabitants?The Tlatelolca, part of the broader Nahuatl-speaking Mexica people
4. What was Tlatelolco and why was it special?Tlatelolco was a city on an island in Lake Texcoco that started in 1337. It was special because its market was the biggest trading place in the Valley of Mexico, where people bought and sold many different goods.
5. Why did the Mexica people create a separate city instead of staying in Tenochtitlan?They wanted to build a city focused on trade and use the island’s environment for commerce. This helped them manage resources and plan the city differently.

Altepetl: A fundamental political and territorial unit in Mesoamerica, often translated as 'city-state' or 'kingdom'.
Mexica: The Nahuatl-speaking people who migrated to the Basin of Mexico and founded the Aztec Empire, centered in Tenochtitlan.
Pochteca: Long-distance traveling merchants of the Aztec Empire, who played crucial roles in trade, diplomacy, and espionage.