People
The majority of Aztecs belonged to what social class?
Commoners
Which empire did human sacrifice the most?
The Aztecs
Where were the Incas located?
The Andes Mountains
How did the Maya fall?
By warfare and a drought
What is a term for a bowl shaped geographic area?
Basin
How did the Inca people pay their taxes?
the Mita system
Why did Mayan commoners try to please priests and nobles?
They believed priests and nobles could communicate with the gods.
What is the site of Incan ruins in Peru called?
Machu Picchu
How did the first Mesoamerican civilizations begin?
Once people learned how to farm in the tropical forest
What is the system of government where one person from a ruling family has unlimited power?
An Absolute Monarchy
Where did nobles come from?
The first Aztec king
Which empires had a sun god?
The Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs
They believed that it kept their chief god happy.
What caused the end of the Inca Empire?
When both of Huayna Capac's sons had a civil war over who took power
What are chinampas?
Artificial islands
Members of the Aztec ________ had a say in selecting the king.
nobility
What are two gods that the Aztec worshipped?
Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl
What area did the Aztec empire control at its peak?
From Central Mexico to Guatemala
What was the language that the Incas forced conquered peoples to speak?
Quechua
What are terraces?
A strip of level land cut into a slope that is planted with crops.
When was Huayma Capac named emperor?
When he was a child in 1493
How many victims were sacrificed every year by the Aztecs?
Thousands
What was the capital of the Aztec Empire?
Tenochtitlan
When did Mayan cities begin to fall?
Between 800 and 1000 BCE
What is a dike?
A wall to hold back water