Western Hemisphere Societies Vocab

Mesoamerica

the region from the central portion of modern Mexico to Honduras and El Salvador

Olmecs

The mother culture/sister culture of Mesoamerica, influenced lots of other Mesoamerican civilizations

Maya

An early civilization in the region around southern Mexico (the yucatan peninsula)

Kaminaljuyu

A Maya village located on Guatemala city, a ceremonial center, the original major Mayan city

Teotihuacan

A large Mayan city in central Mexico, dominated economically and politically

Tikal

The most important Mayan political center between the 4th-9th centuries. It was a city-kingdom that had temples, pyramids, palaces, and public buildings.

Chichen Itza

A Mayan state located in the northern Yucatan peninsula that seeked to dampen hostile instincts and establish a larger political framework for Mayan society

Popol Vuh

A Mayan creation myth that taught that the gods had created humans out of maize and water which became human flesh and blood

bloodletting rituals

Rituals that involved the removing of the sacrifice victims' fingers and then decapitating them so their blood would flow to the gods as much as possible

Chavin culture

A culture centered around agriculture that emerged in the northern highlands of Peru in 900 B.C.E.

Mochica

Mochica is a society in the Andean valleys, near the Moche River, that left behind a remarkable artistic legacy. They made ceramics that represented gods and everyday life.

Tenochtitlan

Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco.

Texcoco

A lake where Tenochtitlan was located

Tlatelolco

A district of Tenochtitlan

Mexica

what the Aztecs called themselves

Toltecs

Nomadic peoples from beyond the northern frontier of sedentary agriculture in Mesoamerica; established capital at Tula after migration into central Mesoamerican plateau; strongly militaristic ethic, including cult of human sacrifice.

Tula

capital of the Toltecs

Aztec empire

Central American empire constructed by the Mexica and expanded greatly during the fifteenth century

chinampa

Small plots of land that got water from canals to water their crops with (planted crops on chinampas)

Itzcoatl

An Aztec leader that defeated the Tepanecs; he destroyed records to reshape Aztec history

Motecuzoma I

Last Aztec emperor who was overthrown by Hernan Cortes

calpulli

Clans or groups of families claiming descent from common ancestors

Tezcatlipoca

A powerful figure, the giver and taker of life and the patron deity of warriors

Quetzalcoatl

Aztec nature god who had a reputation for supporting arts, crafts, and agriculture

Huitzilopochtli

Aztec sun god, Aztecs made human sacrifices to him

Pueblo and Navajo

Two societies in southwest North America. They topped rivers to irrigate maize crops and cultivated beans, squashes, and sunflowers, and also ate wild plants and small game. They began constructing permanent buildings around 700.

Iroquois

A later native group to the eastern woodlands. They blended agriculture and hunting living in common villages constructed from the trees and bark of the forests

Cahokia

an ancient settlement of southern Indians, located near present day St. Louis, it served as a trading center for 40,000 at its peak in A.D. 1200.

Chucuito

kingdom that dominated highlands around Lake Titicaca; depended on cultivation of potatoes and herding llamas and alpacas; heavily terraced fields, chewed coca

Chimu

Pre-Incan South American society that fell to Incas in the fifteenth century.

Quechua

language of the Inca

Inca empire

The vast and sophisticated Peruvian empire centered at the capital city of Cuzco that ruled as a military and administrative elite

Quipu

A memory device that was an array of small chords that had numbers on them, helped Incas send messages and keep track of information (was basically their written language)

Cuzco

The capital city of the Incan Empire, Located in present-day Peru

ayllu

In Incan society, a small community or family group whose members worked together for the common good of the peoples.

Inti

the Incan sun god

Viracocha

Incan god, "creator of the world"