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| 108366700 | Indian | misnomer created by Columbus referring to indigenous peoples of New World; implies social and ethnic commonality among Native Americans that did not exist; still used to apply to Native Americans. | 0 | |
| 108366702 | Toltecs | They were originally a satellite population that Teotihuacan had placed on the northern frontier to protect against the incursions of nomads. They then created the first conquest state based largely on military power, and they extended their political influence from the area north of modern Mexico City to Central America. | 1 | |
| 108366703 | Aztecs | They were among the northern peoples who pushed into central Mexico in the wake of the collapse of Tula. At the time of their arrival they had a clan-based social organization. | 2 | |
| 108366704 | Tenochtitlan | Founded c.1325 on marshy island in Lake Texcoco; became center of Aztec power; joined with Tlacopan and Texcoco in 1434 to form a triple alliance that controlled most of central plateau of Mesoamerica. | 3 | |
| 108366705 | Pipiltin | members of highest Aztec social rank. | 4 | |
| 108366706 | Tlacaelel | Aztec advisor 1427-1480; had histories rewritten; expanded human sacrifice as political terror. | 5 | |
| 108366707 | Huitzilopochtli | Aztec tribal patron god; central figure of cult of human sacrifice and warfare; identified with old sun god. | 6 | |
| 108366709 | Calpulli | clans in Aztec society, later expanded to include residential groups that distributed land and provided labor and warriors. | 7 | |
| 108366712 | Chinampas | beds of aquatic weeds, mud, and earth placed in frames made in cane and rooted in lakes to create "floating islands"; system of irrigated agriculture utilized by Aztecs. | 8 | |
| 108366715 | Pochteca | special merchant class in Aztec society; specialized in long-distance trade in luxury items. | 9 | |
| 108366718 | Inca socialism | a view created by Spanish authors to describe 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. | 10 | |
| 108366721 | Twantinsuyu | word for Inca Empire; region from present-day Colombia to Chile and eastward to northern Argentina. | 11 | |
| 108366725 | Inca | groups of clans centered at Cuzco that were able to create empire incorporating various Andean cultures; term also used for leader of empire. | 12 | |
| 108366729 | 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 shore of Lake Titicaca. | 13 | |
| 108366733 | Topac Yupanqui | ruled 1471-1493; extended northward; rebuilt Quito. | 14 | |
| 108366737 | Huayna Capac | Inca ruler of Peru 1493-1527; son of Tupac Yupanqui. | 15 | |
| 108366748 | 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. | 16 | |
| 108366752 | Temple of the sun | Inca religious center located at Cuzco; center of state religion; held mummies of past Incas. | 17 | |
| 108366756 | Curacas | local rulers from conquered lands/peoples. | 18 | |
| 108366761 | 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. | 19 | |
| 108366769 | Mita | labor extracted for lands assigned to the state and the region; all communities were expected to contribute; an essential aspect of Inca imperial control. | 20 | |
| 108366775 | Quipu | system of knotted strings utilized by the Incas in place of a writing system; could contain numerical and other types of information for censuses and financial records. | 21 | |
| 108366782 | Ayullu | Households in Andean societies that recognized some form of kinship; traced descent from some common, sometimes mythical ancestor. | 22 | |
| 108366788 | Mitmag | Inca colonists in new regions; could be Quecha-speakers; used to pacify new conquest or conquered population moved to new home. | 23 | |
| 108366805 | 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. | 24 | |
| 108366813 | "Orejones" | "Big ears" as the Spaniards called the nobles of the Inca because only they were allowed to wear the large ear spools that enlarged their ears. | 25 | |
| 108366821 | Quetzalcoatl | Toltec deity; Feathered serpent; adopted by Aztecs as a major god. | 26 | |
| 108366829 | Topiltzin | religious leader and reformer of the Toltec's in 10th century; dedicated to god Quetzalcoatl; after losing struggle for power, went into exile in the Yucatan peninsula. | 27 |
