30 May 2025 / 10 House
Article suitable for older students
Find out moreWhat about Aztec toilets and bathing together?
Remains of an Aztec aqueduct and causeway, Mexico City
ORIGINAL QUESTION received from - and thanks to - Julian Kintobor: 1) Is there any information on how exactly Aztec toilets looked like and worked? 2) I read that the Aztecs bathed in pools or natural bodies of water, but what were their attitudes concerning nudity and such? Did men and women bathe together? Any other details will also be appreciated! (Answered by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)
Good questions!
1) There’s precious little information in the sources about toilets. That said, we know they HAD them - Chapter 13 of Book 5 of the Florentine Codex opens (the context is omens) with a specific reference to ‘the latrines, the dung heaps’. We know the Mexica kept themselves very clean in general. There IS one key source on this: Bernal Díaz del Castillo, one of Cortes’s soldiers, who wrote a surprisingly detailed eye-witness account of the Spanish invasion, specifically mentioned Aztec toilets in his memoir. Whilst right now we can’t ourselves trace his exact words, several modern historians refer to ‘the existence of many places where people could relieve themselves’ (de Rojas, 2014: 149), the fact that Díaz ‘was perhaps most impressed by its [Tenochtitlan’s] system of public latrines’ (Clendinnen, 2003), and most directly ‘In certain places, “on every road” says Bernal Díaz, there were public latrines with reed walls against the public gaze’ (Soustelle, 1970: 32). Since there are no known contemporary depictions of these things, we have to use our imagination based on snippets of information such as these...
It’s been suggested that public loos were located in bridges in the causeways linking Tenochtitlan to the mainland, and that these were essentially holes formed in the road which allowed city workmen below to collect the human waste in canoes moored under the bridges and later transport it to chinampa farmers for use as fertiliser.
2) On bathing, we think it highly unlikely that men and women bathed together. Again, there’s next to no information on this. We can, however, offer one clue regarding nudity: we know from our own personal experience in Nahua steam baths in San Isidro Buensuceso, Tlaxcala, that men and women (at different times!) would enter the temazcalli naked and be treated by a naked (female) healer to a ritual cleansing (of both body and mind). We have no reason to think that this tradition has changed in any way from pre-invasion times...
Sources:-
• Clendinnen, Inga (2003) ‘Imperial City of the Aztecs: Mexico-Tenochtitlan’, commonplace.online - https://commonplace.online/article/imperial-city-aztecs-mexico-tenochtitlan/
• de Rojas, José Luis (2014) Tenochtitlan: Capital of the Aztec Empire, University Press of Florida
• Soustelle, Jacques (1970) Daily Life of the Aztecs on the Eve of the Spanish Conquest, Stanford University Press.
Picture sources:-
• Main pic: photo of the remains of an Aztec aqueduct/causeway in Mexico City by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore
• Pic 1: pubic domain
• Pic 2: image scanned from Indian Art of Mexico & Central America by Miguel Covarrubias, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1957
• Pic 3: image scanned from the Codex Magliabechiano, ADEVA 1970 facsimile edition, Graz, Austria.
Comments (1)
Julian Kintobor
26th May 2024
I’m very thankful for the prompt, informative, and concise answer!
Mexicolore
Thank YOU - both for the questions and for taking time and trouble to write again just now; much appreciated!
Remains of an Aztec aqueduct and causeway, Mexico City
More Ask Us Entries
- The colours of maizeDid the Aztecs and Maya believe in predestination?What did the Europeans make of the Aztecs brought to Spain?Is the Templo Mayor the only double shrine?How were disputes settled?Why no backgrounds?What was the Maya moon symbol?Why didn’t most Aztec warriors wear helmets?Why did the Aztecs sculpt goddesses?Why did Aztec priests practice asceticism?Was the Toltec calendar similar to the Mexica?What about cougars?Is Xoaltecuhtli a real Aztec god?Was another layer planned for the Templo Mayor?Did women sing and dance in rituals?Did the Aztecs have organised schools of thought?What about Aztec toilets and bathing together?Did the Aztecs adapt to Spanish tactics?Questions about Aztec warriorsDid Aztec warriors have their own warrior code?Did the Aztecs know about peccaries?Did the Aztecs know soap?A symbol for welcomeAre Toci and Tlazolteotl the same?Aztec fortressesAhuitzotl’s childrenDid the Aztecs have ritual specialists?Tell us more about OpochtliDid the Aztecs use canoes for war?The town of MixtlanWas tobacco a harvest offering?Who was Huemac?Diadem versus feather headdressWhat did the Aztecs think of Venus?Did the Aztecs perform mummification?Did the Toltecs paint codices?What is the origin of the Aztec spirit bird?What were battle formations like?Calendar signs on a chess setAztec stone toolsWhat is the object in Xochipilli’s hand?Did the massacre of Toxcatl affect the Mexica army?Did Tezcatlipoca have four wives?What did noble houses look like?Is this a Nezahualcoyotl poem?What do we know about Teotitlan?The art of magicWhat did heron feathers represent?How did the bridges in the causeways work?How did Spaniards describe Aztec warriors?How bad was it to be under the control of the Mexica?How did the Aztecs write distances?What connects Xiuhtecuhtli, Huehueteotl and Chantico?Itzpapalotl and her Chichimec originsDid spiders have any symbolism?What’s with Ixtlilton?Please describe Aztec sling projectilesWere other animals associated with the moon?What do Quetzalcoatl’s earplugs really look like?The ‘Rise Talokan!’ hand gestureHow did Aztec warriors train?Were fish symbolic to the Aztecs?Did sharks or swordfish symbolise anything?Did crows mean anything to the Aztecs?Did they scar children going to religious school?What rituals accompanied Aztec deaths?Did the Aztecs have anything like the 7 deadly sins in Christianity?What was the average age of an Aztec emperor?What would be the Aztec term for empress?Did the Aztecs refer to Tenochtitlan and Mexico?Did merchants stay at inns?Could priests and priestesses marry?Did codices advise on being a good ruler?Did commoners have access to codices?Did they have a preferred hand for wielding weapons?How did warriors carry weapons?Did Mictecacihuatl have her own temple?What was the symbol for the Mexica themselves?Did the Aztecs use wood saws?Why did Quetzalcóatl and Tezcatlipoca dominate creation?The Mexica war cryA name for the north American continentDeclaring warDid the Aztecs use perfume?How do I choose an Aztec name?Did the Mexica say prayers before hunting?Who created Mictlantecuhtli?Were there initiation rites for new warriors?Did they use cooking fat and earth ovens?What animals were associated with the sun?Were albinos special in ancient Mexico?Is there an Aztec symbol for family?Is sobador (massage) culture prehispanic?What type of war paint did they have?Did the Aztecs practice martial arts?Is any of Cortes’s treasure left today?Everything for sale in the great marketDid Aztec men grow beards?Did all festivals include human sacrifices?What happened to the Culhuas?When does a day ‘start’ in the tonalpohualli?Towns linked by causeways to TenochtitlanThe Aztecs and mental illnessWere all Mexica great astronomers?How did they light their homes?Did the Aztecs hug?The Aztecs and the seaWhat about giants in Aztec mythology?The colour bands on Tezcatlipoca’s faceSacrifice of a Colhua princessAxolotls in Mexica(n)/Aztec mythologyWhat’s the meaning of this statue?Xochipilli and XochiquetzalCommon features of Aztec/Mesoamerican religionWhat was the hairstyle of (seasoned) Aztec warriors?How did commoners address the emperor?Resources on Mexica writingOther examples of Aztec templesIs this tattoo an Aztec eagle?Did the Aztecs convert conquered peoples?What’s painted red on the face of Tenoch?Why no bears in Aztec mythology?Red paint on Aztec stone sculpturesGod figures made of corn stalk pasteComing-of-age ritualsCan you identify this poster?What does Temaxcalapa mean?What evidence is there of human sacrifice?Did the Aztecs have a term for religion?How did the Aztecs get their stones for building?Did the Aztecs use metal spears?What does this Nahuatl saying mean?How did the Aztecs use stars?What happened to the nobility?What did the Aztecs call the Spanish?How did Aztec culture influence their housing?Why did Alvarado massacre the Aztecs?What surgery did the Aztecs practice?What did royal women wear?Were all gods male and female?The feast for XilonenCould you get divorced?What would Cuauhtémoc have looked like?Is Tlaltecuhtli on this ring?Keeping the Aztec army supplied and treating woundsThe Aztecs and dwarfsCan you identify this object?Was Xochiquetzal a female Aztec warrior?Is this the urn with Ahuitzotl’s ashes?Dogs as guides for soulsWar chantsThe clothing of Aztec priests and royalsWhat’s going on in this image from the Florentine Codex?Which feast was dedicated to Chalchiuhtlicue?Royal court musiciansHow did they make colourful costumes?Did the Aztecs use a ‘Mixtec Sabre’?The symbolism of the four directionsWere women stargazers?Turquoise mosaic discMesoamerican tradeWhat happened to the rest of the sacrificed person’s body?Who exactly were the Chichimec people?Is there a name for the Aztec speech glyph?Did the Aztecs paint their canoes?The symbol for turquoiseHow do we know Tenochtitlan had a zoo?Did the Spanish eliminate Aztec song and dance?The tongue hanging out in Aztec artThe 13 heavens and 9 underworldsWhat exactly was a ‘calpulli’?Aztec children’s clothesGood source books on Mexica musicWhere are the codices today?Deerskin strap masks‘Mum’ and ‘Dad’How much gold did the Conquistadores get?Can you translate this poem?The origin of ‘pulque’The eagle and the snake...Many partners or one?Volcano mythsMapsWere war banners sacred or utilitarian?Did war shield symbols represent cities?Symbol for war‘A typical battle’TonantzinThe monkey’s earringDouble-headed serpentWho was Prime Minister at the Conquest?The ‘crying boy’ whistling jugThe wind god’s fanThe symbol for goldAztec gardensMysterious rectangular motifAztec/Mexica clothingCuauhtémoc’s emblemThe ruler’s white dressFood storesThe name Moctezuma todayWho are these 2 gods?Aztec shieldsHow should I start teaching a topic on the Aztecs?How did the Aztecs make molcajetes?Aztec God of Good Health?Why wear headdresses?How big was the Aztec Calendar (Stone)?An image of Citlalicue?Aztec pyramidsPictures of what the Aztecs ateTezcatlipoca or Tezcatilpoca?Sacred birds, flowers and Day LordsAztec symbol for protectorTraditional Náhuatl greetingsChild-friendly sources on the ConquestWere the Aztecs barbaric?What does (my) name Cuitlahuac mean?Ce Acatl Topiltzin QuetzalcoatlWomen and the ConquestMoctezuma’s deathAztec earringsThe Aztec ArmyWhat about Tlatelolco?