Take a trip back the 12th century AD and you’ll witness the capital city of the Aztecs rising upon the islets in Lake Texococo. Today, the once Tenochtilan, is now better known simply as Mexico City.
What tends to attract the attention of most is the ancient Aztec art form. It featured everything from humans to nature, with rattlesnakes tending to be the most popular.
Universally every design is realistic and lifelike; in a sense you could say it feels alive!
However, the expressive style was actually based upon their passion to avoid death and conquer disaster. It’s a good reason why the Aztecs took sacrifices to an unprecedented level. I’m talking about 80,4000 prisoner sacrifices within four days as claimed by the Great Speaker, Ahuitzotl!
Though, not all designs have such gruesome purpose. For instance, the frog was a symbol of joy, while the butterfly represented transformation. The monkey called for celebrations and dancing.
If you were to combine these symbols all together the story it would tell is one filled with a rich and happy life.
Now, some symbols like the Ideograms were used to represent and express certain concepts. A warrior hovering over his enemy with a weapon would showcase the idea of conquest and victory.
Before I share these top 80 best Aztec tattoos for men, you should know about the popular Huitzilopochtli design. In short, he was the noble sun-gun of the Aztecs.
