Connections and Interactions in the Americas and Beyond (1200-1450)

Vocabulary flashcards covering cross-cultural interactions, trade networks, and key civilizations in the Americas and the Ottoman Empire between 1200 and 1450 based on lecture notes.

Ottoman Empire

A Turkish empire that arose around 1300, conquered the Byzantine Empire, captured Constantinople in 1453, settled Turkic Muslims in Anatolia, and laid siege to Vienna in 1529.

Christopher Marlowe

The English playwright who wrote in 1587 about European dread of Ottoman military expansion: "Now shalt thou feel the force of Turkish arms, which lately made all Europe quake for fear."

Isthmus of Panama Rain Forests

A geographic bottleneck covered by dense rain forests that served as an environmental obstacle inhibiting contact between North and South America.

Cahokia

A North American chiefdom near present-day St. Louis that flourished between about 1100 and 1350 as the hub of a widespread trading network in the eastern woodlands.

Cahokia Pyramid

A terraced four-level structure measuring 1,000 feet long by 700 feet wide, standing over 100 feet high, occupying 15 acres, and serving as the largest structure north of Mexico.

Chaco Phenomenon

A regional network in northwestern New Mexico between 860 and 1130 C.E. that encompassed 25,000 square miles and linked 150 outlying settlements to Chaco Canyon.

Pueblo Bonito

The largest town or "great house" in Chaco Canyon, standing five stories high and containing over 600 rooms and numerous ceremonial kivas.

Kivas

Ceremonial pits used for religious and ritual practices in Chaco Canyon and other Pueblo settlements.

Pochteca

Professional Aztec merchants of the fifteenth century who conducted large-scale trading expeditions within and beyond empire borders, acting as private businessmen or state agents.

Tlatelolco

The largest marketplace in the Aztec Empire, situated near the capital city and renowned for its immense scale, order, and wide diversity of trade goods.

Hernán Cortés

The Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire and documented the vast array of merchandise for sale at the Tlatelolco market.

Inca State-Run Economy

A centralized economic system in the Andes where state storehouses collected and redistributed goods via human porters and llamas, operating without a private merchant class.

Quipus

Knotted cords utilized by a trained class of Inca accountants to maintain numerical records and state inventory.

Inca Road System

A 20,000-mile network of roads and bridges across the Andes and coastal plains, equipped with roughly 2,000 inns and used by foot-relay messengers covering up to 150 miles per day.