The designs used in the homes of peasants were not very
different from those used in the homes of nobles. The only differences were size and the
quality of the decorations. The normal Aztec family had a home composed of two separate
buildings. One of which was the main home and the other the steam bath.
The main home had walls that were made of adobe (a building mixture of
dirt and water) and a thatched roof. The main building was one big room. It was divided
into four separate areas. There was a bed area where the whole family slept. They had a
little family shrine containing statues of gods, usually displayed on a tabletop. There
was a kitchen where the meals were prepared. In the kitchen, there was an abrasive table
for grinding maize and comal, which were then baked into tortillas. There also was a
designated eating area where the whole family would sit.
The second building was a steam bath. The doctors of that time thought
that steam baths were very therapeutic, so each house had one. The steam bath used a
fireplace built against the steam bath area. As the walls of the fireplace heated up, the
heat was transferred to the walls of the bath area. The people would then pour water on
the heated walls to create steam. In order to get the desired effect, the fire had to burn
constantly.
Bibliography:
1. Odijk, Pamela, The Ancient World: The Aztec,
Dnglewood Cliffs, Silver Burdett, 1989
2. Wood, Tim, See Through History: The Aztecs, New
York, Viking, 1992
