Chapter 11: Peoples and Civilizations of the Americas, 600-1500

Question 1

What city-state emerged near modern-day Mexico City around 100 BCE?

Answer 1

Teotihuacan. It was a religious center and political power.

Question 2

How was Teotihuacan ruled?

Answer 2

There was no single ruler or dynasty. Elites controlled the bureaucracy, taxes, and commerce. It was an oligarchy.

Question 3

What did volcanic eruptions in Teotihuacan lead to?

Answer 3

The eruptions disrupted the agriculture. which led to an increase in elite power and urban population.

Question 4

What were Chinampas?

Answer 4

“Floating gardens” that were built along the lakeshore or in marshes. They allowed for year-round agriculture and sustained the growing population of Teotihuacan.

Question 5

What did Teotihuacan religion involve?

Answer 5

They had a polytheistic religion, which included human sacrifice. Their architecture was also aligned with the stars.

Question 6

What was Teotihuacan collapse like?

Answer 6

It was violent. There was most likely a conflict within the ruling elite, which led to class conflict and the breakdown of public order.

Question 7

Arising around 250 CE, the _____, a civilization comprising some 40 city-states in Central America. developed advanced written language as well as a very accurate calendar.

Answer 7

The Maya emerged in modern-day Guatemala and had a series of rival city-states and small kingdoms.

Question 8

The Maya had 1 culture but never unified politically like __

Answer 8

Greece. Rival kingdoms struggled for regional dominance

Question 9

What was Maya agriculture like?

Answer 9

They used raised beds, swamp draining, terracing, and irrigation. Most households had their own garden.

Question 10

How did Maya cities relate to each other?

Answer 10

Powerful cities controlled smaller independent cities and a broad agricultural zone with religious temples.

Question 11

Rituals linked the power of Maya kings to ___.

Answer 11

gods.

Question 12

Everything in the Americas was constructed without what?

Answer 12

The wheel. This made communication and transportation more difficult.

Question 13

What were Maya rulers like?

Answer 13

They had priestly and political functions. They used body paint, tattoos, elaborate costumes, bloodletting, an hallucinogenic trances.

Question 14

What was Maya warfare like?

Answer 14

It had religious meaning. There was fasting, rites of purification, and torture and it centered around the capture of captives, who were sacrificed. Kings and nobles participated. They fought to secure captives, not territory.

Question 15

What role did women play in the Maya?

Answer 15

There were only 2 woman rulers. Noble women participated in bloodletting, public ceremonies, and helped legitimize the rule of their husband. It was patrilineal. Lower class women managed the family and household economy.

Question 16

What was the Maya calendar like?

Answer 16

It was built on that of the Olmec. They had 3 separate dating systems: the ritual cycle, solar calendar, and long count. It depended on math and writing.

Question 17

What was Maya writing like?

Answer 17

It was hieroglyphic, recording whole words and phonetic cues/ symbols

Question 18

What distinguishes the Classical Period from the Postclassical Period?

Answer 18

Population, agriculture, and warfare expanded in the Postclassical Period. Elites responded by increasing political control and the size of armies.

Question 19

Who were the Toltecs?

Answer 19

An empire in Central Mexico that was the first conquest state in the Americas based on military power.

Question 20

What was the Toltec capital?

Answer 20

Tula. It was ruled by 2 kings, like in Rome and Sparta.

Question 21

How did the Toltecs fall?

Answer 21

There was a struggle between elite groups/ religious cults that undermined the state. It began to decline after northern invaders destroyed Tula.

Question 22

What civilization was the largest in the pre-Columbian American world?

Answer 22

The Aztecs, who rose to power in Mexico around 1300. They were warlike and expanded their power through war with neighboring civilizations.

Question 23

How many capitals did the Aztecs have?

Answer 23

2

Question 24

Describe the Aztec political structure.

Answer 24

Military success led to the control of agricultural land. It was a monarchy in which rulers did not have absolute power. A council of aristocrats chose a ruler from males in the ruling lineage.

Question 25

What were the expectations of a new Aztec ruler?

Answer 25

The renegotiation of tribute dependencies and the demonstration of the divine mandate with new military conquests.

Question 26

Describe Aztec social structure.

Answer 26

There were huge inequalities between the rich and the poor. The elite had huge estates with slaves and commoners. Eventually, the lower class lost the ability to control or influence decisions. Few commoners moved up, through battlefield success or priesthood.

Question 27

What was the Aztec economy like?

Answer 27

The Aztecs placed a tribute system on conquered peoples that helped relieve the pressure of a growing population.

Question 28

Describe Aztec trade.

Answer 28

There was a specialized class of merchants that controlled long-distance trade. There were no draft animals or wheeled vehicles, so they mainly traded lightweight and valuable products like gold, jewels, feathered garments, cacao, and animal skins.

Question 29

Describe Aztec religion.

Answer 29

The Aztecs were polytheistic and centered around temples.
The most important god was the sun god Huitzilopochtli, who required a diet of human hearts to sustain in his struggle to bring the Sun’s warmth to the world, which led to large-scale human sacrifice. War captives were the preferred victims. This lead to fear of rebellion and opposition.

Question 30

Who were the Anasazi?

Answer 30

Located in modern-day Four Corners, the meeting of the “four corners” of four modern-day states in southwest the US, the Anasazi created networks of pueblos, cliff dwellings, roads, and canals. Their largest community was Chaco Canyon.

Question 31

Describe Anasazi agriculture.

Answer 31

They had irrigation-based agriculture. They had contact with Mesoamerica, as seen through their cultivation of maize, beans, and squash.

Question 32

What was a Kiva? (Anasazi)

Answer 32

A dug-out hole used for weaving, pottery-making, and religious rituals.

Question 33

Why were Anasazi communities abandoned in the 12th century?

Answer 33

There was a drought that undermined their fragile agricultural economy. The Anasazi continued for a century in large caves, but there was an increase in warfare.

Question 34

Where were the mound builders located?

Answer 34

Mississippi.

Question 35

What were the mounds of the mound builders used for?

Answer 35

They were used for elite burials, chief residences, and platforms for temples.

Question 36

What did the mound-builders depend on?

Answer 36

Hunting and gathering.

Question 37

What led to the development of urbanized sites of the mound-builders?

Answer 37

An increase in agricultural productivity, bow and arrow, and the expansion of trade networks.

Question 38

What was chiefdom in the mound-builders?

Answer 38

A large territory was ruled by a chief/hereditary leader with religious and secular responsibility. They organized public rituals of fasting and gift-giving, and managed long-distance trade.

Question 39

What was the largest center of the mound-builders?

Answer 39

Cahokia, near modern-day St. Louis, MO. ~20k population at its peak in 1050 AD-1150 AD

Question 40

Why did the mound-builder civilizations decline?

Answer 40

Climate changes and population pressure, as well as environmental degradation caused by deforestation.

Question 41

What were all Andean civilizations faced with?

Answer 41

Drought and shifting sand that clogged irrigation works.

Question 42

What did Andean civilizations do in response to a challenging environment?

Answer 42

They:
created a calendar to time planting and harvesting
dispersed farming
terraced hillsides
freeze-dried products
domesticated llama and alpaca

Question 43

What were khipus in Andean civilizations?

Answer 43

A system of knotted color cords that was used to aid administration and record population and tribute obligations.

Question 44

What was an ayllu in Andean civilization?

Answer 44

It was a clan that held land communally and aided each other in tasks that required more labor. They were expected to provide labor and goods to the hereditary chief.

Question 45

What did the ayllus lead to?

Answer 45

The mit’a, a rotational labor draft that organized members of ayllus to work. Work was divided by gender.

Question 46

How was Moche society organized?

Answer 46

They lived in allyu, communal clans that farmed the land owned by elites.

They did not have a formal empire or unified political structure. It was highly stratified and theocratic. The need to organize large numbers of laborers promoted class division. Wealth, power, and political control were concentrated in priests and military leaders.

“The Moche civilization (also known as the Mochica) flourished along the northern coast and valleys of ancient Peru, in particular, in the Chicama and Trujillo Valleys, between 1 CE and 800 CE.” https://www.worldhistory.org/timeline/Moche_Civilization/

Question 47

What caused the decline of the Moche?

Answer 47

A succession of natural disasters- earthquake, flooding, drought
The authority of religious and political leaders was undermined, because their power was based on the ability to control natural forces.

Question 48

Who/ what were the Tiwanaku and Wari?

Answer 48

They preceeded and influenced the Inca. They used stone masonry.

• 200 CE - 1000 CE: Tiwanaku Empire flourishes based around Lake Titicaca.
• c. 450 CE - c. 1000 CE: The Wari civilization flourishes and builds an empire across ancient Peru.

Question 49

Which civilization emerged in the Andes in the 1300s?

Answer 49

The Incas, the most powerful empire of Mesoamerica who developed a vast imperial state.

Question 50

The Inca were ___?

Answer 50

Pastoralists. They depended on herds of llamas and alpacas and believed gods and the ruler shared the obligation of shepherd to flock.

Question 51

The Inca used resources from ___?

Answer 51

Different ecological zones.

Question 52

What was Inca military like?

Answer 52

They conquered additional distant territories, and developed a large professional military.

Question 53

What labor system did the Inca use?

Answer 53

Mit’a. Mit’a laborers constructed 13000 miles of road that allowed for military movements, administration, and trade.

“The Mita system was a crucial aspect of the labor structure in the inca empire, reflecting the sophisticated and organized nature of Incan society. The Inca Empire, one of the most sophisticated pre-Columbian civilizations, was renowned for its complex societal systems and remarkable administrative strategies. Among these was the Inca labor system known as ‘Mita’. This system, not merely an obligation but an integral part of the Inca societal fabric, propelled the empire’s prosperity and marked the collective identity of its people.” https://www.quechuasexpeditions.com/the-inca-labor-system-and-mita-obligations/

Question 54

What was Inca imperial administration like?

Answer 54

They had hereditary chiefs of ayllus who had administrative and judicial functions. They believed that the royal family was descended from the Sun. As they expanded, they left local rulers and thus risked rebellion. They controlled this through a system of hostage taking.

Question 55

What was required from a new Inca ruler?

Answer 55

Extention of imperial boundaries by warfare.

Question 56

What shape was the Inca city of Cuzco laid out in?

Answer 56

The shape of a giant puma.

Question 57

What did Inca expansion of economic and political power lead to?

Answer 57

Reduced equality and local autonomy. There was a struggle for the throne which led to a civil war.