The Aztec were a
collection of Mesoamericans who thrived from
roughly the 14th century through the 16th century. And when Spanish
conquerors first encountered the
Aztec peoples, they were amazed by their techniques
for keeping themselves, and their surroundings, clean. So today we're going to
take a look at what hygiene was like in the Aztec Empire. But before we get started, be
sure to subscribe to the Weird History channel, and let us
know in the comments below what other hygiene-related topics
you would like to hear about. OK, time to get clean. Ah, Aztec fresh. The Aztecs were the inheritors
of ancient cultural traditions from their Olmec, Mayan,
and Toltec predecessors. As such, Aztec hygiene practices
reflected those ancient customs and continued their dedication
to cleanliness and purity. Their concerns about personal
hygiene and sanitation were interwoven with
spiritual considerations, so the Aztecs far
exceeded the standards of their contemporaries
in this department. While London was
still drinking out of the sewage clogged Thames as
late as the mid-19th century, the Aztecs, centuries earlier,
were going to great lengths to provide clean
water to the masses and rid the air of
perceived pollutants. The Aztec peoples were well
aware of how important water was to all aspects of life. This consideration
led to the development of systems of canals in
the Empire's major cities. In Tenochtitlan, for
example, the canals not only supplied residents with water-- they were also a
fully functional public transportation system. Conquistador Hernan
Cortes commented that Tenochtitlan was big,
with wide and narrow streets alongside half-canals, where
they paddle their canoes. Canals that brought fresh
water for personal use were lined with plaster,
matched by accompanying networks to remove human waste
and other detritus. Cortes recorded that alongside
one of the city's causeways were two aqueducts
made of mortar. Each was two paces
wide and six feet deep. And, along one of them, a
stream as wide as a man's body carried very good fresh water
into the heart of the city. The Aztecs drank from that
stream, and the other-- which was left empty-- was used when the people wished
to clean the first canal. The canals and aqueducts
also effectively kept fresh and salt
water separate, which was essential for both
individual use and irrigation purposes. Another incredible benefit
of the extensive water system in Aztec cities was the fact
that it allowed for baths in private homes. While most Aztecs
took cold baths, they also occasionally
participated in steam baths for ritual purposes. An Aztec steam lodge,
temazcal, was an enclosure with no windows that
featured a heated floor dashed with cold water. It was built in accordance
with longstanding Mesoamerican practice, and was used for
purification of the body after a physical conflict to aid
in healing, curing an illness, or serve as a site for
women to bear children. Like most aspects
of Aztec hygiene, the temazcal was
connected to spirituality. The goddess of
the steam bath was Temazcalteci, a
deity whose image was kept on display nearby. Tlazolteotl, the fifth
goddess, protected the entrance to the temazcal,
overseeing the process by which people rid themselves
of physical and spiritual grime. Aztecs didn't have soap, in
the modern sense of the word, but they did take
advantage of the cleansing properties of numerous plants. For example, the roots and
fruit from the copalxocotl, later called the soap
tree by the Spanish, produced a lather that could
be used to clean the body and clothing alike. The xiuhamolli plants,
also known as the amolli, had similar properties. Described as being long
and narrow like reeds, with a chute and a white
flower, it acted as a cleanser. The large thick roots
were used to remove hair, and the small slender
ones were used like soap. During the month of
Atemoztli, the 16th month of the solar calendar
during which the rains fell by the grace of
Tlaloc, Aztecs often avoided bathing their
hair, body, and clothing as a sign of
sacrifice and penance. Similarly, women
didn't wash their faces while men were away fighting. The Badianus Manuscript--
also known as Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis,
or little book of the medicinal herbs of the Indians-- is an herbal text
from 1552, which records that the Aztecs had
acute concern for underarm odor. The book recommended that
when smelly and goaty, a person should enter a
very well prepared bath, and there wash the
armpits thoroughly. To kill the odors,
it recommended washing with the pulverized
plants, chiyavaxihuitl; a human and dog's bone,
recently removed from the body; and the juice of all well
smelling flowers and plants. Sounds like a bath
and bodyworks lotion. To keep body odor
away, Aztecs also applied deodorants
that were made from ingredients like copal
gum, amber oil, and balsam oil. To overcome the fetid
odor of the infirm, patients were anointed with
a perfume made of flowers, pine needles, and fruit. Women also wore
perfume, presumably similar to the
concoction applied to sick and injured individuals. Curating smells wasn't
limited to the body. The Aztecs burned
incense as well, especially priests
during religious rituals, as scents were crucial
to spiritual practices. According to the
Florentine Codex, a 16th century work by Spanish
Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún, Aztec women believed
that remaining clean and pure was the ideal way
to find a husband. As one of the few firsthand
accounts of Aztec society that survives today, the
Codex contains insights into cultural traditions
in the Aztec world. Among other things, this
includes a father advising his young daughter to
wash her face and hands, and to clean her
mouth in the mornings, but never to wear
makeup or put red on her mouth to look beautiful. The father added that
"makeup and paint are things that light women use-- shameless creatures. If you want your
husband to love you, dress well, wash yourself,
and wash your clothes." According to
Sahagún, courtesans-- or women who dressed and groomed
herself in order to please-- use makeup and perfumes,
including a yellow cream called axin, which gave
them a dazzling complexion. He also noted that
these women, being what he described
as "loose and lost," also sometimes wore rouge. Regardless of the preferences of
men like Bernardino de Sahagún, women did often wear makeup,
although in moderation. The most common cosmetic
was axin, a yellow mud of sorts spread on the skin. According to a
contemporary chronicle, Aztec field surgeons tended
to the wounded skilfully and healed them faster than
did the Spanish surgeons. The quality of care
administered on the field also carried over
to everyday life. Priests and healers
that practice surgeries and bloodletting rituals
to promote health also distributed
treatments made out of oils, herbs, and
other natural products to heal cuts of all kinds. Aztec healers trained
in using herbal remedies to treat everything
from headaches to coughs to low-grade infections. For example, juice from
the nopal cactus fruit was used to reduce swelling,
and bark from the ylin tree was mixed with wax,
egg, and other herbs to treat inflammation and fever. They even used hair to
suture cuts and scrapes and were capable
of making casts. According to Friar
Bernardino de Sahagún, the broken bones were carefully
set and the limb placed between splints of wood, tied
lightly with a cord. A plaster then was
applied to the break, composed of gum of the ocozotl
tree, and resin and feathers. The limb and the
splints together were encased in a second
covering of rubber-like gum. As part of maintaining
cleanliness, Aztecs, like many
ancient peoples we've covered in our hygiene
videos, used salt and, ugh, urine to clean their teeth. Other materials, like ashes,
honey, roots, and barks were also used. To keep their breath
fresh, Aztec women were known to chew a gum thought
to be a mixture of chicle, which is derived from the
sapodilla tree, and bitumen. When Bernardino de Sahagún
tried the substance, he found it gave him a headache. He also said that when
a woman chewed tzictli, the Aztec word that
has become chicle, she made a clacking noise
with her teeth like castanets. As a remedy to
toothaches and infection, Aztecs could rub
charcoal on their teeth. But if the tooth problem got
too advanced, removing it was a necessity. Luckily, that was something they
could do safely and humanely. Dentists could pull
a tooth, but not before applying a mixture
of vinegar and snake venom. This made for a relatively
painless tooth removal, after which a mixture of herbs
was applied to protect and cure the open wound. Aztec dentists also filed,
teeth, filled cavities, and applied jewels to incisors,
while so-called "ladies of the night" dyed
their teeth red or black to distinguish themselves. Most dental plans
today aren't that good. Networks of canals
in Aztec cities made it much easier to keep the
heavily populated areas clean. When the streets
of Tenochtitlan, for example, were swept,
the detritus and dirt could be thrown into one of
the canals, which then removed the waste from the city. Sweeping and cleanliness
was a fundamental part of maintaining order
in Aztec society. Women swept their homes
every morning as a way to honor their domestic space,
while priests swept temples and schools to keep out
unwanted and potentially threatening spiritual forces. Cities also had public toilets
available, the waste from which would be collected and
used as fertilizer. It could also be
channeled out of the city by one of the canals or
by other waterways, which helped keep human waste from
contaminating the water supply. As Hernan Cortes
explored Tenochtitlan, he observed establishments
like barbers, where residents go to have
their hair washed and/or shaved. Hairstyles for men
in the Aztec empire varied significantly, with
priests keeping long locks that were sometimes matted with
soot, while common men wore their hair short. Boys' were shorn
until the age of 10. At that point, they
grew out a patch of hair on the backs of their
heads, which was only shaven once they'd
proved themselves to be a successful warrior. Women could dye their hair
using black mud or a green herb, called xiuhquilitl,
that produced a purple shining in the hair. Some women shaved
their heads completely, while older females-- particularly mothers--
had long hair divided at the nape of the neck
and pulled back with a cord. Dandruff was
treated with a urine cleaning and a hearty scrubbing
with ground avocado pits. Clay would then be used to
bring color back to one's locks. In the event of
scabies, men and women had their heads
shaved and, again, were doused in urine
and herbal mixtures of pinewood, cottonseed, and
avocado to eliminate the pests. It was pretty much like they
had fully functional salons-- with a lot more urine. So what do you think? What surprised you the
most about Aztec hygiene? Let us know in the
comments below. And while you're at it, check
out some of these other videos from our Weird History.
