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| 15055346356 | Mississippian | The first North American large-scale civilization. It emerged between 700-1500 CE in the Mississippi River Valley and spread east. They were best known for their large monumental earth mounds, extensive trade and agricultural networks, and art. | 0 | |
| 15055346357 | Great Sun | In the Mississippian culture, the chief who ruled each large town and stood at the top of the class structure. | 1 | |
| 15055346358 | Toltec | Civilization in Mesoamerica that lasted from roughly 950-1100 CE. They established a capital at Tula following migration into the central Mesoamerican plateau, and are known for their strong militaristic ethic. | 2 | |
| 15055346359 | Aztec | An empire that served as a successor state to the Toltecs that developed in what is now the Lake Texcoco region between 1200-1529 CE. Was formed by hunter-gatherers from the north who migrated into central Mexico. They're best known for their impressive capital city Tenochtitlan on Lake Texcoco and their frequent use of human sacrifice. | 3 | |
| 15055346360 | tribute system | A system used by the Aztecs to exert short-term dominance in which conquered peoples were forced to pay tribute, perform military service, and surrender lands. | 4 | |
| 15055346361 | Great Speaker | The Aztec emperor, who served as the political ruler and chief representative of the gods. | 5 | |
| 15055346362 | Inca | A large empire in the Andes that stretched from modern-day Peru to modern-day northern Chile which lasted from roughly 1100-1572 CE. It's best known for its labor system, its agrarian economy, and extensive road system. |  | 6 |
| 15055346363 | Pachacuti | The son of a local tribal ruler that conquered the Chanca people and assumed control from his father in 1438 CE, giving himself this name, meaning "shaker of the earth." His military victories transformed the Inca into a full-fledged empire. |  | 7 |
| 15055346364 | Yupanqui | Pachacuti's son who took control in 1471 CE and ruled until 1493 CE. He extended the Inca Empire north, conquering the state of Chimu. |  | 8 |
| 15055346365 | Huayna Capac | Yupanqui's successor, taking control in 1493 CE. He focused on consolidating and managing the extensive territory the Inca had acquired. |  | 9 |
| 15055346366 | Cahokia | The largest town of the Mississippian civilization, located in modern-day Illinois. At its peak in 1250 CE, 40,000 people lived there; it was mainly a trading city. |  | 10 |
| 15055346367 | Tula | The capital city of the Toltecs, built around 950 CE in northern Mesoamerica. At its peak, 60,000 people lived there. |  | 11 |
| 15055346368 | Tenochtitlan | The capital of the Aztec Empire built in 1325 CE, located on an island in Lake Texcoco. Its population was about 200,000 at its peak, and the Great Pyramid served as the center of the city. Modern-day Mexico City is built on its ruins. |  | 12 |
| 15055346369 | Lake Texcoco | A lake located in the Valley of Mexico, now underneath modern-day Mexico City. It was the location of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. |  | 13 |
| 15055346370 | chinampas | An agricultural method used by the Aztecs in which floating fields on marshy and shallow lake beds were artificially built up by layering soil, sediment, and decaying vegetation. It enabled reliable and large year-round harvests. |  | 14 |
| 15055346371 | Cuzco | A city in modern-day Peru that rose in the early 15th century CE, which used to be a small center of a warring tribe. After about 55 years and several military victories, it became the capital of the Inca Empire. | 15 | |
| 15055346372 | Carpa Nan | The Inca massive roadway system, consisting of 25,000 miles of road built using captive labor that connected Cuzco with the outlying parts of the empire. Was used mostly by government officials, messengers, and the military. |  | 16 |
| 15055346373 | matrilineal society | A society in which one's social standing was determined by the woman's side of the family. | 17 | |
| 15055346374 | mita labor system | A system of mandatory public service in the Inca Empire, in which men from the ages of 15 to 50 periodically provided agricultural and other types of labor, like construction, as a tribute to the government. | 18 | |
| 15055346375 | Quetzalcoatl | The Mayan and Aztec god of wind and knowledge, often depicted as a feathered serpent; one of the primary gods of the Mayan/Aztec pantheon. |  | 19 |
| 15055346376 | Great Pyramid | A 150-foot tall stone pyramid that rose from the center of Tenochtitlan. |  | 20 |
| 15055346377 | human sacrifice | The act of killing one or more humans, usually as an offering to a deity, as part of a ritual. |  | 21 |
| 15055346378 | Quechua | The native language of the Inca, and a language still spoken by the native peoples of Peru. | 22 | |
| 15055346379 | royal ancestor veneration/royal ancestor cult | A practice in the Incan belief system in which dead rulers were mummified and kept "ruling" as they had in life. They were thought to possess everything they had in their past life; therefore, Incan rulers couldn't inherit land, fueling the continued expansion of the empire. | 23 | |
| 15055346380 | Inti | The Incan sun god, considered the most important Incan god. Inca rulers claimed to be representatives of this god on Earth. |  | 24 |
| 15055346381 | huaca | In the Inca's spiritual belief system, elements of the physical world that had supernatural powers. | 25 | |
| 15055346382 | quipu | A system of knotted strings used by the Inca to record numerical information for trade and engineering and for recording messages to be sent throughout the empire. |  | 26 |
| 15055346383 | waru waru | Raised agriculture beds used by the Inca with channels that captured and redirected rain to avoid erosion during floods and store water during dry periods. |  | 27 |
| 15055346384 | pochteca | A special merchant class in the Aztec Empire that traded in luxury goods. They stood below the land-owning nobles, scribes, craftspeople/traders, and above peasants and soldiers. | 28 |
