The Mesoamerica Flashcards
History
How did the Incas keep track of everyone who lived in their massive empire?
The Incas used a quipu, a series of knotted strings which symbolized different things they needed to keep track of like births, deaths, and harvests.
How was Francisco Pizarro able to conquer the Incan Empire?
Taking advantage of a civil war, he and his compatriots toppled the ruler, Atahualpa, in 1532.
Why did the Aztecs build their capital in the middle of a swamp?
The Aztecs built their city, Tenochtitlán, in the middle of a swampy lake, Lake Texcoco, for several crucial reasons. To begin with, this location was strategically advantageous for defense, transportation, and agricultural practices.
In what ways were the Aztecs similar to the Mayans?
While distinct in many aspects, the Maya and Aztecs shared intriguing similarities, such as their grand temples and advanced agricultural techniques.
Imagine you are a Mayan farmer. Explain how your special farming technique works. What kind of crops do you grow?
Mayan farmers used a slash-and-burn technique of cutting down trees and setting the stumps on fire. They used the ashes as fertilizer and grew beans, papayas, avocados and maize.
How did the Mayans appease their gods?
In Maya culture, sacrifice was an important part of their religious practices. The Maya believed that the gods could be appeased through offerings of material goods or the sacrifice of a human life.
What trait did the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas have in common?
A. They spoke the same language
B. They were polytheistic
C. All three build pyramids
D. B and C
B. They were polytheistic
Which civilization lasted the longest, the Mayan, Aztec, or Incan?
The Mayan Civilization
What is the height of Manchu Picchu?
Manchu Picchu is about 8,000 feet Sea above
How tall are the Andes Mountains and how were they formed?
The Andes Mountains stand about 23,000 feet tall and were formed by volcanoes.
What is important to the Incan people of the Andes Mountains?
The Andes Mountains are such a fascinating and important part of South America’s geography and history. They are home to a unique ecosystem, rich in mineral resources, and provide freshwater for millions of people and other supplies.
Where was the Incan Empire?
At its height, the Inca Empire included modern-day Peru, what are today western and south central Bolivia, southwest Ecuador and Colombia and a large portion of modern-day Chile, at the north of the Maule River.
When did the Incan Empire flourished?
The Inca Empire, which flourished from approximately 1200 to 1533 AD, was the largest ancient civilization in pre-Columbian America.
How did the people get around the Incan Empire?
Troops and Inca officials moved throughout the empire on a system that included two main highways, one along the coast and another along the Andes. Many smaller roads connected the two.
What type of buildings did the Incan construct?
The most common shape in Inca architecture was the rectangular building without any internal walls and roofed with wooden beams and thatch, usually made from Ichu.
Along which major body of water does the Inca road system extend?
The Inca road system runs the entire length of Peru and beyond, from Ecuador to Chile and northern Argentina
What was the native language of the Incan people?
Quechua
Who was Huitzilopotchli?
Chief among these gods were Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of war.
Why did tributes not like having to pay?
They had fewer resources for their own people.
What did the Aztec believed in the current world?
The Aztec believed that the current world was one in a series of four worlds, called suns, which had existed before it.
What were the combinations of practices in the Aztec religion?
The Aztec religion was a combination of many beliefs and practices from other Mesoamerican cultures.
Children whose parents were skilled warriors or wealthy merchants were allowed to join ….?
The upper class school
What is an “earthen mound”?
Where can you find them?
Living in the areas that today make up the Midwest and Southeast United States. Floodplains and river valleys were good for farming, so villages and towns developed in these areas.These societies used the mounds in several ways. Round or conical mounds were individual homes or burial sites.
What does it mean to have a “non centralized/decentralized” government?
How does this affect/benefit the Mayan people?
The Mayans’ decentralized system allowed for flexibility in decision-making at the local level. Different city-states could adapt to local conditions and respond more effectively to challenges or changes.
Describe Inca geography.
The Inca Empire had to govern not just north and south across a large empire, but also vertically along the Andes Mountains. The Inca Empire was geographically small in size, but the height of the Andes Mountains made it difficult to govern.
How were the Incas able to overcome the challenges of the geography?
To solve this problem, the Inca
used a system known as terrace farming. They built walls on hillsides and filled them with soil to make terraces. Terraces are wide steps on the side of mountains. Without the terraces, the mountainous landscape would have been too steep for farmers to water, plow, and harvest. The terrace system increased the amount of land that the Inca
could use for agriculture. It also kept the topsoil from washing away down the hillside in heavy rains.
How are the Andes Mountains connected to the development of the Inca Culture?
The geographic features of the Andes Mountains significantly influenced how the Inca Empire was organized. The rugged terrain necessitated the development of an extensive network of roads to connect various regions, which facilitated efficient administration and control over their vast territory.
What factor contributed to Tenochtitlan’s population growth?
Aztec engineering skills helped them build bridges and aqueducts.
Explain how Itzcoatl was able to create a powerful empire?
Itzcóatl came to power in 1428 CE and created a powerful empire by joining with two neighboring peoples to form the Triple Alliance.
How were the spanish able to conquer the Aztec empire?
Cortes’s army besieged Tenochtitlan, and a combination of superior weaponry and a devastating smallpox outbreak enabled the Spanish to conquer the city. Cortes’s victory destroyed the Aztec empire, and the Spanish began to consolidate control over what became the colony of New Spain.
How is the Aztec Empire able to gather so much wealth?
The basis of Aztec success in creating a great state and ultimately an empire was their remarkable system of agriculture, the high productivity of which made for a rich and populous state.
Explain the Aztec education system.
Every child was educated, no matter his or her social status, whether noble, commoner or slave. Two different schools taught the young—one for the noble class and one for commoners, although bright, talented commoners might be chosen for advanced learning at the noble school.
How does the conquest of other people benefit the Incan Empire?
The Inca conquered some regions through the use of their strong army. Incan soldiers remained in the conquered lands to help collect tribute and to keep order among the citizens. Local governments offered tributes of gold and silver to the central Inca government.
Which statement best explains the design of the adobe buildings located in Taos in present-day New Mexico?
The buildings were made out of materials that were abundant in the region.
How is the Inca emperor able to control such a large empire?
As the empire expanded, the structure of the government and the organization of the empire became more important in order to maintain control. The Inca had a central capital in Cuzco and regional capitals in four other cities. The empire as a whole was known as Tahuantinsuyu, a Quechua word which means “Land of the Four Quarters.” Each of the four quarters was called a suyu. The Antisuyu quarter was made of deep, heavily forested valleys east of Cuzco. The Cuntisuyu was west of Cuzco. South of Cuzco was Collasuyu, the largest of quarters, which touched present-day Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The Chincasuyu was comprised of the land north of Cuzco. Each quarter was further divided into smaller provinces.
How are people able to stay connected and trade in the Inca Empire?
In addition to the challenges it created for Incan agriculture, the extreme mountain terrain of the Andes also presented many obstacles to travel and trade. The Inca created a network of roads throughout the empire. In order to create this network, a labor tax was enforced. The labor tax forced peasants to provide free labor for public works projects such as roads, forts, and bridges. Peasants were also forced to work mining precious metals.
How is the Inca Empire able to expand over time?
The Inca Empire gained power through conquest or the diplomatic threat of conquest.
