The art and archaeology of the Aztecs continues to be a subject of both popular and scholarly interest.  The term "Aztec empire" will be used in this module to refer to the political alliance of three meso-american groups, the Mexica, the Acolhua, and the small city of Tlacopan, that dominated the political life in the basin of Mexico from approximately 1428 to the early sixteenth century. The empire that was created by this alliance ended in 1521 CE after the brutal ninety-one day Spanish siege of the capital city of the Mexica, Tenochtitlan. 

The art and architecture of the Aztecs drew heavily on earlier Meso-American cultures.  This module will briefly examine the art and architecture of the most powerful member of the triple alliance, the Mexica, and their capital city of Tenochtitlan.