8.1
Founded c. 1325 on a marshy island in Lake Texcoco; became the center of Aztec power; joined with Tlacopan and Texcoco in 1434 to form a triple alliance that controlled most of the central plateau of Mesoamerica.
What is Tenochtitlan?
The Aztecs made _____ sacrifices to the gods.
What are human sacrifices?
Clans in Aztec society, later expanded to include residential groups that distributed land and provided labor and warriors.
What were the calpulli?
This South American mountain range was the heartland of the Inca Empire.
What are the Andes?
This method of estimating pre-Columbian Native populations has been revised upward over time due to new archaeology and understanding of disease.
What are population estimates?
The people the Aztecs believed to be 'the givers of civilization.'
What are the Toltec?
Major god of Aztecs; associated with fertility and the agricultural cycle; god of rain.
Who is Tlaloc?
The noble leader of each city-state; the first ruler of Tenochtitlan.
Who was the Great Speaker?
Labor extracted for lands assigned to the state and the religion; all communities were expected to contribute; an essential aspect of Inca imperial control.
What is mita?
Some Native groups, like the peoples of the Northwest Coast, developed hierarchical societies without relying on this.
What is agriculture?
The place where the Aztecs lived in exile; it helped them earn the name 'Aztec' as opposed to the Mexica.
What is Aztlan?
The Aztec tribal patron god; central figure of cult of human sacrifice and warfare; identified with old sun god (must be pronounced correctly).
Who is Huitzilopochtli?
The language spoken by the Aztecs.
What is Nahuatl?
This language was spread by the Incas to unify their diverse empire.
What is Quechua?
This crop was the main food of the Tainos on the larger Caribbean islands, such as Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.
What is manioc (cassava)?
The capital of the Toltec Empire; sacked in 1150 by nomadic invaders from the north.
What is Tula?
Leading Aztec king of the fifteenth century. He wrote hymns to the "lord of the close vicinity."
Who was Nezhualcoyotl?
Warriors gained rank and respect by doing this.
What is 'capturing their enemies for sacrifice '?
Unlike the Aztecs, the Inca Empire lacked this system of recording information, though they used quipus instead.
What is a written language?
Unlike Europe, Asia, and Africa, the Americas lacked these nomadic societies that depended on herding animals.
What are nomadic herders?
The name of the wars staged between free city-states and the Aztec; used to gain captives for human sacrifice.
What are the flower wars?
There were at least this many major deities.
What is 128?
What is maize?
The Incas worshiped this celestial body as a key part of their religion and politics.
What is the sun?
American isolation from Afro-Eurasia meant the absence of technologies like the wheel, ironworking, and immunity to Old World diseases. This global event in 1492 ended that isolation.
What is Columbus’s voyage (European contact)?