The Americas on the Eve of Invasion
AP World Civilizations Third Edition
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| 5872215192 | Teotihuacan | first major metropolis in Mesoamerica, collapsed around 800 CE. It is most remembered for the gigantic "pyramid of the sun".; The most significant pre-Columbian Meso-american city.; its collapse along with the abandonment of Mayan cities in 8th century signaled a significant political and cultural change in Mesoamerica | 0 | |
| 5872215193 | Toltecs | Powerful postclassic empire in central Mexico (900-1168 C.E.). It influenced much of Mesoamerica. Aztecs claimed ties to this earlier civilization.; est. capital at Tula in 968; strong militaristic ethnic; adopted sedentary lifestyle; cult of sacrifice and war; aztecs thought of them as the givers of civilization | 1 | |
| 5872215194 | Aztecs | (1200-1521) 1300, they settled in the valley of Mexico. Grew corn. Engaged in frequent warfare to conquer others of the region. Worshipped 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. | 2 | |
| 5872215195 | Topiltzin | Religious leader and reformer of the Toltecs in 10th century; dedicated to god Quetzalcoatl; after losing struggle for power; went into exile in the Yucatan peninsula; his legend influenced the Aztec response to the arrival of the Europeans | 3 | |
| 5872215196 | Quetzalcotl | the supreme got of the Aztecs; "the feathered serpent" | 4 | |
| 5872215197 | Chichen Itza | Originally a Mayan city; conquered by Toltecs circa 1000 and ruled by Toltec dynasties; architecture featured pyramid of Feathered Serpent (Quetzacoatl). | 5 | |
| 5872215198 | Anasazi | adobe town at Chacho Canyon in New Mexico; it is suggested that it was abandoned by the Toltecs when the Toltec empire fell and the trade in local turquise ended | 6 | |
| 5872215199 | Hopewell | A mound builder society that was centered in the Ohio River Valley from about 200 B.C to AD 400 | 7 | |
| 5872215200 | Missisipian | an important mound building culture that thrived between 800 and 1500 CE in a territory that extended from the missisippi river to the appalachian mountains. largest mound: Cahokia illisnois | 8 | |
| 5872215201 | Mexica | What the Aztecs called themselves, they migrated from the north, reaching the Valley of Mexico in the 1200s AD. | 9 | |
| 5872215202 | Nahuatl | The language of both the Toltecs and the Aztecs | 10 | |
| 5872215203 | Tenochtitlan | Capital of the Aztec Empire (founded about 1325), 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. | 11 | |
| 5872215204 | Tlatelolco | Originally a separate island city in Lake Texcoco; later incorporated into Tenochtitlan; Market remained the most important in combined city. | 12 | |
| 5872215205 | Tlacaelel | advisor to Aztec rulers (1427-1480; had histories of Mexico rewritten; expanded cult of human sacrifice as effective means of political terror. | 13 | |
| 5872215206 | Tlaloc | Major god of Aztecs; associated with fertility and the agricultural cycle; god of rain | 14 | |
| 5872215207 | Huitzilopochtli | Aztec tribal patron god; central figure of cult of human sacrifice and warfare; identified with old sun god | 15 | |
| 5872215208 | 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. | 16 | |
| 5872215209 | calpulli | name for a kin group within the Aztec empire | 17 | |
| 5872215210 | chinampas | a floating garden on which the Aztec grew crops | 18 | |
| 5872215211 | Inca Socialism | An interpretation describing Inca society as a type of utopia; image of the Inca Empire as a carefully organized system in which every community collectively contributed to the whole. | 19 | |
| 5872215212 | Tihuanaco | Along with Huari, large center for regional chiefdoms between 300 and 900 CE; located in southern Peru; featured large ceremonial center supported by extensive irrigated agriculture; established widely diffused religious and artistic symbols all over Andean zone | 20 | |
| 5872215213 | Huari | Along with Tihuanaco, large center for regional chiefdoms between 300 and 900 CE; located in southern Peru; featured large ceremonial center supported by extensive irrigated agriculture; established widely diffused religious and artistic symbols spread all over Andean zone | 21 | |
| 5872215214 | 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. | 22 | |
| 5872215215 | Inca | Largest and most powerful Andean empire. Controlled the Pacific coast of South America from Ecuador to Chile from its capital of Cuzco (founded 1350). | 23 | |
| 5872215216 | 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 | 24 | |
| 5872215217 | Twantinsuyu | Word for Inca Empire; region from present-day Columbia to Chile and eastward to northern Argentina | 25 | |
| 5872215218 | 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. | 26 | |
| 5872215219 | Temple of the Sun | Inca religious center located at Cuzco; center of state religion; held mummies of past Incas | 27 | |
| 5872215220 | huacas | holy shrines; mountains, stones, caves, rivers, tombs, temples, etc; places of worship and prayer | 28 | |
| 5872215221 | mitmaq | Inca colonists in new regions; could be Quechua-speakers; used to pacify new conquest or conquered population moved to new home. | 29 | |
| 5872215222 | mita | Forced labor system replacing Indian slaves and encomienda workers; used to mobilize labor for mines and other projects. | 30 | |
| 5872215223 | ayllu | in Incan society, a small community or family group whose members worked together for the common good of the peoples. | 31 | |
| 5872215224 | 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. | 32 | |
| 5872215225 | quipu | knotted cords of various lengths and colors used by the inca to keep financial records | 33 |
