Chapter 13: From City to Empire: Social Complexity in Mesoamerica Flashcards
1
Q
Olmec
A
- earliest complex society in Mesoamerica along the Gulf Coast of Mexico
- sculptures of human heads carved out of volcanic rock at La Venta which represented a town council
2
Q
Monte Albán
A
- oldest city in Mesoamerica in the Oaxaca Valley
- had defence wall, temples, palace, and a ball court
3
Q
Teotihuacán
A
- an enormous city with a population of over 80,000 located in the Valley of Mexico
- political office was more important than the person filling it
4
Q
Pyramid of the Moon
A
showed both symbolic functions of obsidian and the production of military supplies
5
Q
Maya Cenotes
A
sinkholes that were a critical source of water
6
Q
Maya Slash and Burn Cultivation
A
- agricultural method which the forest is cleared by burning
- after growing seasons field is abandoned to allow forest to regenerate
7
Q
Tenochtitlán
A
- the capital of the Aztec Empire and the largest indigenous city ever built in the Americas in the Valley of Mexico
- destroyed by Spanish
8
Q
Aztec Empire
A
a large Mesoamerican empire based in Tenochtitlán
9
Q
Florentine Codex
A
a document of info on Aztec and Toltec history and culture, compiled soon after the Spanish colonized the Aztecs
10
Q
Bernardino de Sahagún
A
a 16th century Catholic missionary who compiled the Florentine Codex
11
Q
Aztlán
A
manuscript from 1550 AD shows mythical homeland of the seven caves
