Editing Tenochtitlan (section)

==Social classes==
[[File:Rekonstruktion_Aztekenmarkt_1.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Reconstruction of an Aztec market in Tenochtitlan in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. ]]
Tenochtitlan can be considered the most complex society in Mesoamerica in regard to social stratification.  The complex system involved many [[social class]]es. The {{lang|nci|[[macehualtin]]}} were commoners who lived outside the island city of Tenochtitlan. The {{lang|nci|[[pipiltin]]}} were noblemen who were relatives of leaders and former leaders, and lived in the confines of the island.  {{lang|nci|Cuauhipiltin}}, or eagle nobles, were commoners who impressed the nobles with their martial prowess, and were treated as nobles.<ref name="Coe, M. 2008, p. 193"/> {{lang|nci|Teteuctin}} were the highest class, rulers of various parts of the empire, including the king. {{lang|nci|Tlacohtin}} were [[Slavery in the Aztec Empire|slaves or indentured servants]]. Finally, the {{lang|nci|pochteca}} were merchants who traveled all of Mesoamerica trading.  The membership of this class was based on heredity.  {{lang|nci|Pochteca}} could become very rich because they did not pay taxes, but they had to sponsor the ritual feast of [[Aztec_religion#Xocotl Huetzi|Xocotl Huetzi]] from the wealth that they obtained from their trade expeditions.

Status was displayed by the location and type of house where a person lived.  Ordinary people lived in houses made of reeds plastered with mud and roofed with thatch. People who were better off had houses of adobe brick with flat roofs.<ref name="Coe, M. 2008, p. 193"/> The wealthy had houses of stone masonry with flat roofs. They most likely made up the house complexes that were arranged around the inner court.  The higher officials in Tenochtitlan lived in the great palace complexes that made up the city.

Adding even more complexity to Aztec social stratification was the {{lang|nci|calpōlli}}. {{lang|nci|Calpōlli}} is a group of families related by either kinship or proximity. These groups consist of both elite members of Aztec society and commoners.  Elites provided commoners with arable land and nonagricultural occupations, and commoners performed services for chiefs and gave tribute.<ref>Coe, M. 2008, pp. 194–196.</ref>