Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
59 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Aztec provinces: |
50 city-states |
|
What did the Aztecs call Tenochitlan? |
"the foundation of Heaven" |
|
What civilizations followed the collapse of Teotihuacan? |
Toltecs and Atecs |
|
What did the Toltecs and Aztecs base their achievements on? |
their predecessors but they rarely surpassed them except in political and military organization |
|
When/How did the Aztecs rise? |
In the 15th century from humble beginnings to create an extensive empire organized for war, motivated by religious zeal, and resting on a firm agrarian base |
|
What happened to the population when the Toltec Empire fell? |
the center of population and political power in central Mexico shifted to the valley of Mexico and especially to the shores of lakes |
|
People in Central Valley: |
variety (Chichimec migrants and sedimentary farmers) |
|
Conquered people (Aztecs) |
-pay tribute -surrender lands -sometimes do military service |
|
3 major groups/cults of Aztec deities: |
-gods of fertility -gods of creation -gods of sacrifice/warfare |
|
Capital of Tenochtitlan was dedicated to: |
Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc |
|
When/Where did Toltec civilization start? |
central Mexico in the 10th century |
|
Toltec capital: |
Tula |
|
What was the Toltec civilization based on? |
Teotihucan |
|
Toltec states was the first ___ |
conquered state in Americas |
|
Toltec government: |
ruled by dual kings--> internal conflicts |
|
End of Toltec civilization: |
destroyed by nomadic invaders in 1156 CE |
|
Aztecs |
northern people (clan society) in Lake Texcoco areas |
|
2 main cities in Aztec civilization: |
-Tenochtitlan (capital)
-Tlatelolco (big city) |
|
Aztec government: |
monarchy city-states |
|
Aztec Kings: |
-conquer territory ---> wealth
-many commoners with little say ---> inequalities in wealth |
|
Aztec Agriculture: |
-land reclamation products -constructed irrigated fields -gardens on lake -food tribute met 1/4 of capital's requirements |
|
Aztec Trade: |
-long distance trade (Central America) -merchants (lower class) -no: wheeled vechicles, draft animals, money used |
|
Aztec Worship: |
-large numbers of gods -Huizilopuchtil (most important, sun god who required human sacrifice) |
|
currency in Aztec civilization: |
cacao beans and gold dust (mostly barter system) |
|
Aztec society became mostly ___ |
hierarchical as the empire grew and social classes with different functions developed, although organizations based ion the calpulli never disappeared |
|
Why was it difficult for the Aztecs to maintain the large population of central Mexico? |
Aztec society confronted technological barriers |
|
What happened when Aztec power expanded? |
a class of nobility emerged, based on certain privileged families in the most distinguished calpulli |
|
Roles of women (peasants): |
-helped in fields -run household (children and cooking) -weaving |
|
Aztec Marriages: |
-arranged between lineages -virginity at marriage = important -polygamy among nobility |
|
What developed after 1300 CE? |
in the Andean Cultural hearth the Inca Empire (Twantinsuyu) was a highly centralized system that integrated various ethnic groups into an imperial state |
|
States in Andean Zone? |
many large, important states |
|
What was polytheistic belief based on? |
a profound animism that endowed many natural phenomena with spiritual power |
|
Incan empire ruled by ___ |
an inca, who was considered almost a god |
|
Twantinsuyu provinces: |
divided into 4 main provinces, each under a governor, and then divided again |
|
Unlike the Aztecs, the Incas ___ |
did not demand a tribute, but instead, labor |
|
What was absent in Incan Empire? |
distinct merchant class---Incans were self-sufficient |
|
Similarities between Incas and Aztecs: |
-represented the success of imperial military organization -based on intensive agriculture -older kinship-based institutions were dominant -nobles were personnel of the state -reorganized local ethnic groups and political leaders -created by conquest of sedentary agriculture people |
|
Difference between Incas and Aztecs:
|
-trade and markets were more developed in Aztec civilization -metallurgy, writing, social definition, hiearchy |
|
Similarity between Incas and other Indians |
division into clans |
|
Indians
|
Misnomer created by Columbus referring to indigenous peoples of New World, implies social and ethnic commonality among Native Americans that did not exist
|
|
Calpulli
|
Clans in Aztec society, later expanded to include residential groups that distributed land and provided labor and warriors
|
|
Pachacuti
|
Ruler of Inca society from 1438 to 1471, launched a series of military campaigns that gave Incas control of the region from Cuzco to the shores of Lake Titicaca
|
|
Twantinsuyu
|
Word for Inca Empire, region from present-day Colombia to Chile and eastward to northern Argentina
|
|
Split Inheritance
|
Inca practice of descent, all titles and political power went to successor, but wealth and land remained in hands of male descendants for support of cult of dead inca's mummy
|
|
Temple of the Sun
|
Inca religious center located at Cuzco, center of state religion, held mummies of past Incas
|
|
Tambos
|
Way stations used by Incas as inns and storehouses, supply centers for Inca armies on move, relay points for system of runners used to carry messages
|
|
Mita
|
Labor extracted for lands assigned to the state and the religion, all communities were expected to contribute, an essential aspect of Inca imperial control
|
|
Yanas
|
a class of people within Inca society removed from their ayllus to serve permanently as servants, artistians, or workers for the inca or the Incan nobility
|
|
Quipu
|
System of knotted strings utilized by the Incas in place of a writing system, could contain numerical and other types of information for censuses and financial records
|
|
Inca socialism
|
A view created by Spanish authors to describe Inca society as a type of utopia, image of the Inca Empire as a carefully organized system in which every community collectively contributed to the whole
|
|
Toltec Culture
|
Succeeded Teotihuacan culture in central Mexico, strongly militaristic ethnic including human sacrifice, influenced large territory after 1000 CE, declined after 1200 CE
|
|
Topiltzin
|
Religious leader and reformer of the Toltecs in 10th century, dedicated to god Quetzalcoatl, after losing struggle for power, went into exile in the Yucatan peninsula
|
|
Quetzalcoatl
|
Toltec deity, adopted by Aztecs as a major god
|
|
Tenochtitlan
|
Founded CE 1325 on marshy island in Lake Texcoco, became center of Aztec power, joined with Tlacopan and Texcoco in 1434 to form a triple alliance that controlled most of central plateau of Mesoamerica
|
|
Tlaloc
|
Major god of Aztecs, associated with fertility and the agricultural cycle, god of rain
|
|
Huitzilopochtli
|
Aztec tribal patron god, central figure of cult of human sacrifice and warfare, identified with old sun god
|
|
Nezhualcoyotl
|
Leading Aztec king of the 15th century
|
|
Chinampas
|
Beds of aquatic weeds, mud, and earth placed in frames made of cane and rooted in lakes to create "floating islands", system of irrigated agriculture utilized by Aztecs
|
|
Pochteca
|
Special merchant class in Aztec society, specialized in long-distance trade in luxury items
|