The altepetl – in pre-Columbian and Spanish conquest-era Aztecsociety – was the local, ethnically based political entity. It is usually translated into English as "city-state". The word is a combination of the Nahuatl words a-tl (meaning "water") and tepe-tl (meaning "mountain").
The altepetl – in pre-Columbian and Spanish conquest-era Aztecsociety – was the local, ethnically based political entity. It is usually translated into English as "city-state". The word is a combination of the Nahuatl words a-tl (meaning "water") and tepe-tl (meaning "mountain").