History-Final Modules 13 Mesoamerica

Aztecs

Ancient civilization (1200-1521AD) that was in what is present day Mexico City

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

Maya

Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar.

Teotihuacan

first major metropolis in Mesoamerica, collapsed around 800 CE. It is most remembered for the gigantic "pyramid of the sun".

Tenochtitlan

Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco. Its population was about 150,000 on the eve of Spanish conquest. Mexico City was constructed on its ruins

Pakal

Most famous of all the Mayan kings

Montezuma

The Aztecs emperor conquered by Hernán Cortés and his soldiers.

Pok-a-tok

can best be described as a Mesoamerica ball game

Machu Picchu

An abandoned city high in the Andes mountains that showcases the architectural genius of the Inca

Quipu

An arrangement of knotted strings on a cord, used by the Inca to record numerical information

Mayan Calendar

reflected a powerful urge to identify meaningful cycles of time and to understand human events in the context of those cycles. It consisted of two kinds of years, a solar year that consisted of 365 days for agriculture, and a ritual year for daily affairs.

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541).

Hernando Cortes

Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec empire.

Inca Empire of Peru

empire that the Spanish (Francisco Pizarro) conquered in 1533

Mesoamerica

"Middle America," the region extending from modern-day Mexico through Central America