Chapter 11: Peoples and Civilizations of the Americas, 600-1500 Flashcards
Teotihuacan
A powerful city-state in central Mexico (100 BCE - 750 C.E) Its population was about 150,000 at its peak in 600
Chinampas
Raised fields constructed along lake-shores in Mesoamerica to increase agricultural yields
Maya
Mesoamerican civilation concentrated in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar.
The Great Plaza at Tikal
The impressive architectural and artistic achievements of the classic-era Maya are still visible in the ruins of Tikal, in modern Guatemala. Maya centers provided a dramatic setting for the rituals that dominated public life. Construction of Tikal began before 150 BCE.; the city was abandoned about 900 CE. A ball court and residences for the elite were part of the Great Plaza.
The Mesoamerican Ball Game
From Guatemala to Arizona, archaeologists have found evidence of an ancient ball game played with a solid rubber ball on slope-sided courts shaped like a capital T. Among the Maya the game was associated with a creation myth and thus had deep religious meaning. Evidence suggests that some players were sacrificed. In this scene from a ceramic jar, players wearing elaborate ritual clothing—which includes heavy, protective pads around the chest and waist—play with a ball much larger than the ball actually used in such games. Some representations show balls drawn to suggest a human head.
Toltecs
Powerful postclassic empire in central Mexico (900–1175 C.E.). It influenced much of Mesoamerica. Aztecs claimed ties to this earlier civilization.
altepetl
An ethnic state in ancient Mesoamerica, the common political building block of that region.
Costumes of Aztec Warriors
In Mesoamerican warfare individual warriors sought to gain prestige and improve their status by taking captives. An Amerindian artist employed by the Franciscans produced this illustration in the sixteenth century Codex Mendoza. It shows the Aztecs’ use of distinctive costumes to acknowledge the prowess of warriors. The individual on the bottom right shown without a weapon was a military leader. As was common
kneeling before the victors. The in Mesoamerican illustrations of military conflict, the captives, held by their hair, are shown kneeling before the victors
calpolli
A group of up to a hundred families that served as a social building block of an altepeti in ancient Mesoamerica
Tenochtitlan
Capital of the Aztec Empire, 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.
Aztecs
Also known as Mexica, the Aztecs created a powerful empire in central Mexico (1325–1521C.E.). They forced defeated peoples to provide goods and labor as a tax.
tribute system
A system in which defeated peoples were forced to pay a tax in the form of goods and labor. This forced transfer of food, cloth, and other goods subsidized the development of large cities. An important component of the Aztec and Inca economies.
Culture Areas of North America
In each of the large ecological regions of North America, native peoples evolved distinctive cultures and technologies. Here the Anasazi of the arid southwest and the mound-building cultures of the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys are highlighted.
Mesa Verde Cliff Dwelling
Located in southern Colorado, the Anasazi cliff dwellings of the Mesa Verde region hosted a population of about 7,000 in 1250 c.e. The construction of housing complexes and religious buildings in the area’s large caves was prompted by increased warfare in the region.
Anasazi
Important culture of what is now the southwest United States (700–1300 C.E.). Centered on Chaco Canyon in New Mexico and Mesa Verde in colorado, the Anasazi culture built multistory residences and worshiped in subterranean buildings called kivas.
