Ancient Mesoamerica Final

Chalchihuitl

Nahuatl word for jade/turquoise — precious green stone central to Mesoamerican ritual and symbolism, associated with water, fertility, and divine power.

Kurikaweri

The chief deity of the Purépecha (Tarasco) people of western Mexico — a fire and war god, associated with the sun and the color red.

Yacata

A stepped pyramid temple platform characteristic of Purépecha architecture in Michoacán — distinctive for its combination of rectangular and circular elements.

Panarchy theory

interconnectedness of multiple adaptive cycles

including socio-political and economic systems and networks

Puuc style

• Richly decorated façades with intricate stone mosaics

• Repetitive geometric designs

• Elaborate figurative sculptures

• Long-nosed masks representing Chaac, the Maya rain god

Chaac

Mayan rain god

Kukulkan

Maya name for the quetzalcoatl (feathered serpent)

Classic Period

Peak of Mayan civilization around 600-850/900 CE

Epiclassic Period

Period of instability, political fragmentation, and competition between areas

formerly controlled by or closely connected to Teotihuacan

• Emergence of independent urban centers: Xochicalco, Cacaxtla, Cholula, El Tajín

• Political competition: limited economical interaction

• Increase in state-sponsored militarism

• Sites with defensive features built on fortified hilltops

•

Postclassic Period

Regional governments became highly segmented and commercially oriented

• Societies characterized by a military nature and multi-ethnic populations

• Shared ideology centered on the feathered serpent (alliances between city-

states)

•

Chalchihuites culture/people

Represents the maximum northern

expansion of Mesoamerica

• Hunter-gatherer groups known as

Chichimecas developed a "frontier"

culture between 100/200-1400 CE

Sacbe

Road

Chac Mool

a reclining figure supporting itself on its elbows and holding a bowl or a

disk upon its stomach. Possible symbol of slain warriors carrying offerings to the gods.

Multepal

a council composed

of members of elite ruling lineages

Popol Vuh

an epic that tells the creation myth of one of the Maya people.

Tollan

capital city or great metropolis (in Nahuatl it means

"among the reads," a metaphor for a densely populated

place).

• Name given to a mythical place of origin

Night of sorrows

Spaniards end up under siege after killing Moctezuma. They escape in the middle of the night.

Coatepantli

Serpent wall at Tula

Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl

wind deity

Represents forces of nature

Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl

Human version of Quetzalcoatl, ruler of Tula

Chinampa

A floating garden on which the Aztec grew crops

Pitao Bezelao

deity of death and

the underworld

Mixteca-Puebla style

characteristic

standardized designs

• Pictographic writing (Codex-style vessels)

• Meaningful use of color; background is

usually orange or black:

Postclassic international style

Associated with the feathered serpent (god of

wind and patron deity of elites)

• Style distributed through interregional trade and

communication network (700-950 CE)

Nuhu

supernaturals (forces beyond the human

world that are also an integral part of nature)

Chichimeca culture/people

Northern, nomadic group that inhabited an arid region of northern Mexico

Totonac culture/people

El Tajin is an example. They controlled the center-north of the Gulf Coast. Architect of Pyramid of the Niches used a method of cement and decorative niches unknown in the rest of Mesoamerica

Chicomoztoc

Place of the 7 caves, some believe it to be the mythical place of origin of the Mexica

Triple Alliance

Tenochtitlán,

Texcoco, and Tlacopan fought against the Azcapotzalco

Huitzilopochtli

Solar war deity. Cities conquered by the Mexica had to worship this deity.

Mictlantecuhtli

God of Death for the Mexica

Tzompantli

Great skull rack of Tenochtitlan

Huey Tlatoani

Each Mexica city-state was ruled by one of these (great speaker)

Coyotlatelco

A red-on-buff ceramic tradition associated with the groups that occupied Teotihuacan after its collapse — often used as a cultural marker for the Epiclassic Period.

Tzitzimime

One of the deities related to the stars, considered dangerous

Xiuhpohualli

Solar round, cycle of 365

days, divided into 18 months of with 20 days

each, and 5 extra days at the end of the cycle

Tonalpohualli

Sacred Round:

cycle of 260 days, with 20-day signs

(veintena), and 13-days periods (trecena)

Calpulli

group of

families sharing land (towns) in city-states

Calmecac

School attached to a temple

Milpa

Crop-growing system used

throughout Mesoamerica that

involved planting many crops at

once (maize, squash, bean, chilis,

tomatoes, quelite, etc.)

• Base of the Mexica diet

Nixtamal

soaking corn in an

alkaline solution (limewater).

This makes the grain easier to

grind, reduces mycotoxins, and

increases its nutritional value,

flavor, and aroma

Pochteca

Long-distance professional merchants trading

luxury goods (feathers, quetzal plumes, gold,

cacao, luxury textiles) across Mesoamerica