The Aztecs had little to no strong metals such as Iron or bronze, they only had gold, silver, copper and different stones. One stone that was very important to them was Obsidian, because it is strong and can be sharpened to a very fine point. They mostly had simple hand tools such as blades and things of that sort.
How do they get their food (agriculture, hunting, etc.)?
The Aztec city of Tenochtitlan was built on an island in the middle of a lake so one would think that as soon as their city was too large for the island, they’d move elsewhere. But the Aztecs were both stubborn and ingenious. They devised a way to create artificial islands and farm on them. They would weave a large platform from reeds, branches and plants, pile soil and other fertilizers on top of it and plant willow trees on the sides to root it down to the bottom of the lake. This worked extremely well and functioned almost flawlessly. The Aztec fishermen would also weave nets from cactus fibers and catch fish, turtles, frogs and ducks.
What innovations do they employ that make food acquisition easier?
Not only did the Aztecs have these amazing man-made islands, but they also had their famous Aztec calendar, complete with 260 days. They used this calendar to keep track of when they should plant their crops and harvest them. They also used it for religious purposes like sacrifices.
The Aztec Calendar
Tenochtitlan
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761593151_3/Aztec_Empire.html
http://www.raintreelibrary.com/products/title.asp?id=0817248781
http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/farming.html
http://www.tqnyc.org/NYC062614/tech2.htm
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