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| 735292957 | Indian | Misnomer created by Columbus when referring to indigenous American peoples; implies social and ethnic commonalty that did not exist among Native Americans; still used to describe Native Americans. | 0 | |
| 735292958 | Toltec | a people who invaded central Mexico and were ruled by a military class; had a capital city of Tula; influenced the Maya; introduced the working of gold and silver; spread the worship of their god Quetzalcoatl; destroyed in the AD 1100s | 1 | |
| 735292959 | Teotihuacan | The first major civilization of central Mexico, this was a city-state whose ruins lie just outside of Mexico City. containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas, first major metropolis in Mesoamerica, collapsed around 800 CE. It is most remembered for the gigantic "pyramid of the sun"., | 2 | |
| 735292960 | Nahautl | The language of the Aztecs and the Toltecs | 3 | |
| 735292961 | 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. | 4 | |
| 735292962 | Tlaloc | Major god of Aztecs; associated with fertility and the agricultural cycle; god of rain | 5 | |
| 735292963 | Huitzilopochtli | Aztec tribal patron god; central figure of cult of human sacrifice and warfare; identified with old sun god, The chief god of the Mexica or Aztec. Aztecs believed he required a steady diet of human hearts. | 6 | |
| 735292964 | Quetzalcoatl | Toltec deity; feathered serpent; adopted by Aztecs as a major god, his disappearance and promised return coincided with the arrival of Cortes | 7 | |
| 735292965 | Chinampas | Beds of aquatic weeds, mud, and earth placed in frames made of cane and rooted in lakes to create "floating islands"; system of irrigated agriculture utilized by Aztecs | 8 | |
| 735292966 | Pocheta | special merchant class in Aztec society; dominated both local and long distance trade | 9 | |
| 735745829 | Incan Socialism | The idea of Incan society as a type of socialist utopia | 10 | |
| 735745830 | Chimor | A coastal kingdom; centered on capital of Chan-Chan; emerged as most powerful small state; between 900 and its conquest by the Incas in 1465, gained control of most of north coast of Peru | 11 | |
| 735745831 | Twantinsuyu | Word for Inca Empire; region from present-day Columbia to Chile and eastward to northern Argentina | 12 | |
| 735745832 | split inheritance | Inca practice of descent; all titles and political power went to successor; but wealth and land remained in hands of male descendents for support of cult of dead Inca's mummy, was major reason that Inca pushed to expand empire | 13 | |
| 735745833 | Temple of the Sun | Inca religious center located at Cuzco; center of state religion; held mummies of past Incas | 14 | |
| 735745834 | Tambos | Way stations used by Incas as inns and storehouses; supply centers for Inca armies; relay points for system of runners used to carry messages. | 15 | |
| 735745835 | 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. | 16 | |
| 735745836 | 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 | 17 | |
| 735745837 | Quipu | An arrangement of knotted strings on a cord, used by the Inca to record numerical information. | 18 | |
| 735745838 | The Maya | Lived in the Yucatan Peninsula; major focus was religion; made an accurate calendar with 365 days; built large stone temples in the shape of pyramids; created their own system of hieroglyphics; civilization declined around 900 AD but no one knows why (although some still exist today). | 19 | |
| 735745839 | Olmec | The first Mesoamerican civilization. Between ca. 1200 and 400 B.C.E., these people of central Mexico created a vibrant civilization that included intensive agriculture, wide-ranging trade, ceremonial centers, and monumental construction. | 20 | |
| 735745840 | city-state | A city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independent political unit | 21 | |
| 735745841 | stratified society | A society characterized by formal, permanent social and economic inequality in which some people are denied access to basic resources | 22 | |
| 735745842 | The Aztecs | Native Americans who lived in what is now Mexico City; this group eventually established their capital at Tenochtitlan, on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco; routinely offered their gods human sacrifices, these people were violent and militaristic, yet built amazing pyramids and built a great civilization without having a wheel., | 23 | |
| 735745843 | Aztec social system | From a loose association of clans, Aztec society became a stratified society | 24 | |
| 735745844 | Tihuanaco and Huari | large centers for regional chiefdoms between 300 and 900 C.E. located in southern Peru; had large ceremonial centers supported by extensive irrigated agriculture; center for the spread of religious and artistic symbols all over Andean zone. | 25 | |
| 735745845 | 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 | 26 | |
| 735745846 | Quechua | the language of the Inca Empire, now spoken in the Andes Highlands | 27 | |
| 735745847 | 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. | 28 | |
| 735745848 | Topiltzin | Religious leader and reformer of the Toltecs; dedicated to god Quetzalcoatl; after losing struggle for power, went into exile in the Yucatan peninsula | 29 | |
| 735745849 | Hernan Cortes | Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the conquest of Aztec Mexico in 1519-1521 for Spain. | 30 | |
| 735771436 | Bernal del Castillo | A soldier in the Spanish Army. He described Tenochtitlan at its peak. He thought the two most impressive sights were: the markets and the temples. | 31 | |
| 735771437 | The Mexica | People from northwest Mexico who settled in central Mexico in the mid 13th century. Commonly referred to as the Aztecs | 32 | |
| 735771438 | Causeway | a road that is raised above water or marshland or sand | 33 | |
| 735771439 | The Andes | The world's longest and second tallest mountain range. Divide Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia into three regions: a western coastal desert, a central mountain range, and an eastern rain forest. People live at altitudes approaching 15,00 ft. (4,573 mi.) life in region is extremely hard. Contain Llamas. Many inhabitants are descendants of the highly evolved Inca civilization. | 34 | |
| 735771440 | Aqueduct | A conduit, either elevated or underground, using gravity to carry water from a source to a location-usually a city-that needed it. | 35 | |
| 735771441 | Irrigation | the process of supplying water to areas of land to make them suitable for growing crops | 36 | |
| 735771442 | Ayllus | Households in Andean societies that recognized some form of kinship; traced descent from some common, sometimes mythical ancestor; a clan or community that worked together on projects required by the ruler | 37 | |
| 735771443 | Calpulli | Clans in Aztec society, later expanded to include residential groups that distributed land and provided labor and warriors. | 38 | |
| 735771444 | Egalitarian | believing in the social and economic equality of all people | 39 | |
| 735771445 | Social mobility | The ability of individuals to move from one social standing to another. Social standing is based on degrees of wealth, prestige, education and power. | 40 | |
| 735771446 | Tupac Yupanqui | ruled 1471-1493; extended northward; rebuilt Quito, His father was Pachacuti, and his son was Huayna Capac. | 41 | |
| 735771447 | Ritual sacrifice | it was a symbol of worship to honor their ancestors and gods | 42 | |
| 735771448 | curacas | Ayllu chiefs with privileges of dress and access to resources; community leaders among Andean societies. | 43 | |
| 735819521 | "Precious Water" | Aztec phrase for blood | 44 | |
| 735819522 | Quetzal | a type of bird that lived in the tropical rainforest | 45 | |
| 735819523 | Cacao | tropical tree whose seeds are used to make chocolate and cocoa | 46 | |
| 735819524 | ethnocentrism | belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group | 47 | |
| 735819525 | Cultural relativism | The perspective that a foreign culture should not be judged by the standards of a home culture and that a behavior or way of thinking must be examined in its cultural context | 48 | |
| 735819526 | Kinship | state of relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption | 49 | |
| 735819527 | Flowery death | Death while taking prisoners for the sacrificial knife. It was a fitting end to a noble life and ensured eternity in the highest heaven. (A reward also promised to women who died in childbirth) | 50 | |
| 4229450557 | Cannibal kingdom | Modern interpretation of Aztec society created by Marvin Harris; based on observation that Mesoamerica lacked cattle and sheep that replaced human sacrifice in the Old World | 51 | |
| 4229452454 | Chichen Itza | Originally a Mayan city, was conquered by the Toltecs ca. 1000 and ruled by Toltec dynasties. | 52 | |
| 4229466731 | Francisco Pizarro | Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the conquest of the Inca Empire of Peru in 1531-1533. | 53 |
