mesoamerica terms for ashman
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| 42962781 | mesoamerica | Everything north of the isthmus of Panama is considered North America The Rio Grande is what separates Mexico from the U.S. In Alaska was where the land bridge (Bering Strait) was Debate among academics still over when and how people reached the Americas | 0 | |
| 42962782 | maya | built large cities, had a golden age known as the Classic Period, city-states, started off living scattered across the land, developed two methods of farming-burning trees down and lifts for flood season for areas on riverbanks, individual and powerful city-states developed, but no empire formed before the golden age, maintained contact with the other city-states through economic exchange, trade generated much wealth, majority were farmers, farmers paid taxes, had slaves, impressive advances in learning and the arts, complex polytheistic religion, known for stone palaces and temples, temples for sacrifices, palaces were most likely royal residences, made stelas, hieroglyphic writing system, recently deciphered, wrote about astronomy, rituals and other religious matters on bark paper, Spanish conquerors later burned most of these books but three remained, needed to measure time accurately for religious ceremonies (priests), developed an accurate 365 day calendar and a 260 day ritual calendar, also invented a number system with place values and the concept of zero, ad 900 abandoned many of their cities, declined to farming villages by the time the Spanish arrived, many Mayan people survived and still live there today | 1 | |
| 42962783 | stela | elaborate tall commemorative monument-often decorated, in this case made of stone, images of rulers and Mayan gods | 2 | |
| 42962784 | aztec | some time after A.D. 1200, nomadic people from the north migrated into the valley of Mexico, spoke Nahuatl and believed came from same origin place: aztlan=Aztecs, capital and chinampas, greatly expanded territory, war brought wealth and power, gained tributes, single ruler, high up council elected an emperor, emperors nobles warriors were the class distinctions at the top in order, priests were in class all their own they worked to please the gods and prevent disasters, middle class with traders, common were farmers, bottom was serfs and slaves, could own land and but their freedom though, polytheistic, worshipped Quetzalcoatl as well, also worshipped the gods of the people of Teotihuacan, offered human sacrifices every day to help the sun rise, believed that gods often sacrificed themselves for humans, plentiful sacrifices from prisoners of war, priests were the keepers of knowledge, used math and astronomy to predict the future, created 2 calendars like the Mayans, developed medicine | 3 | |
| 42962785 | valley of mexico | where the nomadic peoples migrated to | 4 | |
| 42962786 | tenochtitlán | capital city, legend is that their gods told them to look for an eagle holding a snake in its beak perching atop a cactus, swampy island in lake texcoco, today Mexico city is on the same spot, connected to mainland by wide stone causeways | 5 | |
| 42962787 | teotihuacán | dominated life in the valley of Mexico, pyramid of the sun, pyramid of the moon, massive temples, apartment buildings, wide roads, culture survived after it fell in other Mesoamerican cultures | 6 | |
| 42962788 | chinampas | artificial islands made of mud piled atop reed mats that were anchored to the shallow lake bed with willow trees, called floating gardens and many crops were grown on them such as maize | 7 | |
| 42962789 | inca | south America, western edge, variety of terrains, farmers grew plants, domesticated animals, developed artisan skills, many different peoples over time (moche, chavin), most powerful of the Andean civilizations, formed first dynasty in 1100s, proclaimed himself emperor, enlisted conquered people in his armies, large empire, claimed to be divine, gold was his symbol, Sapa Inca, trade did not play a major role in their society, periodically he would call for workers for a short time, local chieftains helped rule, then officials were under them and recorded information on quipus, enforced their religion on conquered people, made large bridges tunnels, fantastic roads, runners for messages, stationed at positions, ordinary people couldn't use roads, Cuzco is capital, temple of the sun made of enormous stone blocks, extremely precise even to the point of surviving earthquakes, strictly regulated peoples lives, assigned each family jobs, government officials arranged marriages, created terraces for farming, spent some time for themselves and some time farming for the temple and emperor, learned to blend copper and gold and other metals, mastered weaving, cotton, important medical practices, procedures similar to today, mummified dead, worshipped gods for natural forces, many festivals, ceremonies sports games, chief god was the sun god, civil war over next ruler right before the invaders came | 8 | |
| 42962790 | sapa inca | Incan leader in charge, title of the Inca emperor | 9 | |
| 42962791 | cuzco | the capital of the Incan empire | 10 | |
| 42962792 | quipu | knotted strings used by Incan officials for record-keeping | 11 | |
| 42962793 | ayllu | leader of each Incan village | 12 |
