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| 317435398 | Indian | of or relating to or characteristic of India or the East Indies or their peoples or languages or cultures. | |
| 317435399 | Maya | Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar. | |
| 317435400 | Toltecs | Powerful postclassic empire in central Mexico (900-1168 C.E.). It influenced much of Mesoamerica. Aztecs claimed ties to this earlier civilization. | |
| 317435401 | Tula | the capital city of the Toltec; when it was destroyed, the civilization ended. | |
| 317435402 | Aztecs | (1200-1521) 1300, they settled in the valley of Mexico. Grew corn. Engaged in frequent warfare to conquer others of the region. Worshiped many gods (polytheistic). Believed the sun god needed human blood to continue his journeys across the sky. Practiced human sacrifices and those sacrificed were captured warriors from other tribes and those who volunteered for the honor. | |
| 317435403 | Quetzalcoatl | Aztec god, the "feathered serpent," who was borrowed originally from the Toltecs; was believed to have been defeated by another god and exiled, and he promised to return riding on a cloud. | |
| 317435404 | Hopewell | A cultural tradition found primarily in the Ohio River Valley and its tributaries, dating from 2200 to 1600 BP. Hopewell societies engaged in hunting and gathering and in some horticulture of indigenous plants. They are known for their mortuary rituals, which included channel houses and burial mounds; some central tombs contained exotics. They also constructed geometric earthworks as ceremonial enclosures and effigy mounds. | |
| 317435405 | Chahokia | hub of Mississippian culture, huge mounds, class divisions. | |
| 317435406 | Mexica | What the Aztecs called themselves, they migrated from the north, reaching the Valley of Mexico in the 1200s AD. | |
| 317435407 | Nahuatl | Native Central American people who live(d) in southern Mexico and Central America, including the ancient Aztecs; also, the language spoken by these people. | |
| 317435408 | Lake Texcoco | A lake, now drained, in central Mexico where Mexico City now stands formally the site of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, was connected to the shore by many waterways. | |
| 317435409 | Tenochtitlan | Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco. Its population was about 150,000 on the eve of Spanish conquest. Mexico City was constructed on its ruins. | |
| 317435410 | Moctezuma II | (1466-1520) Aztec ruler from 1502 to 1520; he was the emperor of the Aztecs when Cortés and his army conquered the empire. He was taken prisoner and killed during battle with the Spanish army. | |
| 317435411 | Huitzilopochtli | The chief god of the Mexica or Aztec. Originally associated with war, as the empire grew, he became the Sun god and was worshiped throughout Mesoamerica. Aztecs believed he required a steady diet of human hearts. | |
| 317435412 | Nezhualcoyotl | King of Texcoco. Wrote hymns to the "lord of the close vicinity" (an invisible creative force that supported the gods) that survived in oral form until being written down in the 16th century. His poetry wondered about life after death and the existence of the gods. Believed in a monotheistic concept. | |
| 317435413 | Calpulli | Clans in Aztec society, later expanded to include residential groups that distributed land and provided labor and warriors. | |
| 317435414 | Chinampas | Raised fields constructed along lake shores in Mesoamerica to increase agricultural yields. | |
| 317435415 | Pochteca | Aztec merchants. Extremely wealthy. Had a huge quantity of material goods etc. But explicitly forbidden to take part in political hierarchy so as not to throw off the balance of power. | |
| 317435416 | Great Speaker | The person at the top of the Aztec social pyramid. | |
| 317435417 | Twantinsuya | The Incas were also known as this. | |
| 317435418 | Inca | a member of the small group of Quechuan people living in the Cuzco valley in Peru who established hegemony over their neighbors to create the great Inca empire that lasted from about 1100 until the Spanish conquest in the early 1530s. | |
| 317435419 | Pachacuti | Ruler of Inca society from 1438 to 1471; launched a series of military campaigns that gave Incas control of the region from Cuzco to the shores of Lake Titicaca. | |
| 317435420 | Cuzco | The capital city of the Incan Empire, Located in present-day Peru. | |
| 317435421 | Split inheritance | Inca practice of descent; all titles and political power went to successor, but wealth and land remained in hands of male descendants for support of cult of dead Inca's mummy. | |
| 317435422 | Temple of the Sun | Inca religious center located at Cuzco; center of state religion; held mummies of past Incas. | |
| 317435423 | Viracocha | God of the Incas who was thought to be creator of all the people of the Andes. | |
| 317435424 | Huacas | Sacred spirits and powers that resided or appeared in caves, mountains, rocks, rivers, and other natural phenomena; typical of Andean societies. | |
| 317435425 | Curacas | Ayllu chiefs with privileges of dress and access to resources; community leaders among Andean societies. | |
| 317435426 | Quechua | the language of the Quechua which was spoken by the Incas. | |
| 317435427 | Tambos | Way stations used by Incas as inns and storehouses; supply centers for Inca armies on move; relay points for system of runners used to carry messages. | |
| 317435428 | Mita | Labor extracted for lands assigned to the state and the religion; all communities were expected to contribute; an essential aspect of Inca imperial control. | |
| 317435429 | Virgins of the Suns | Every year, the Incas had a beauty contest. The most beautiful virgins were chosen and put in convents to become these. These would be chosen as wives or consorts, but if you weren't chosen, you never married. If your husband died before you, you'd have to commit suicide to follow him into his heavenly mansion. | |
| 317435430 | Ayllu | in Incan society, a small community or family group whose members worked together for the common good of the peoples. | |
| 317435431 | Yanas | A class of people within Inca society removed from their ayllus to serve permanently as servants, artisans, or workers for the inca or the Inca nobility. | |
| 317435432 | Quipu | an accounting device created by the Incas which was comprised of a set of knotted strings that could be used to record data. |
