ancient Meso-American Cultures

chac

The Maya rain god, counterpart of the Aztec Tlaloc. Though portrayed with two curling fangs and tears streaming from his eyes, Chac was a friend of man, the lord of wind, thunder, lightning, rain, and fertility. Sometimes he was worshipped not as a single god but as four gods, one for each of the cardinal points.

chicha

Chicha, a pale yellow, milky drink common throughout Latin America, originated with the Incas, who used the drink during festivals and other rituals. Next part is rather gross . . .

Inca women (girls of ages 8 - 10) made this important drink by chewing corn to a pulp and then spitting the mixture into a vat of warm water.

Chichen Itza {chee-chehn eet-sah}

It is the sacred city of the Itza, called Chichen-Itza in Maya, located in the Yucatan Pennisula. Chichén Itzá translates as "At the Mouth of the Well of the Itza" in Yucatec Mayan, a reference to the nearby Sacred Cenote, or sinkhole, where offerings were made to various deities and from which the city derived much of its water supply.

chinampa

Often referred to as "floating gardens," chinampas were artificial islands that usually measured roughly 30 × 2.5 m (98 × 8.2 ft), although they were sometimes longer. Chinampas were fertilized using lake sediments as well as human excrement. They were created by staking out the shallow lake bed and then fencing in the rectangle with wattle. The fenced-off area was then layered with mud, lake sediment, and decaying vegetation, eventually bringing it above the level of the lake. Willow trees were planted at the corners to secure the chinampa. Chinampas were separated by channels wide enough for a canoe to pass. These "islands" had very high crop yields with up to three crops a year.

Chimu

The Chimu civilization lasted from 1100 AD to the late 1400's AD. The Chimu state was characterized by conquest and expansion periods of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. At one time, the Chimu empire encompassed 620 square miles. Minchancamon was the greediest and coincidentally the last leader of the Chimu state. His quest for dominance, built on by his predecessors, resulted in the conquest of the Sican state to the north. In their quest for expansion, the Chimu encountered the Inca to the south. The Chimu conflict with the Inca began in 1462, and the Inca eventually prevailed. The Inca conquered the Chimu state in 1475 - 1476. The entire Chimu state was absorbed into the Tawantinsuyu community and resettled in the city of Cuzco to serve its new Inca rulers. The Chimu were well known for their elaborate irrigation systems. These systems provided a great deal of water for an ordinarily dry and arid land.

Coatlicue

Coatlicue is the Aztec goddess who gave birth to the moon, stars, and Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and war. She is also known as the patron of women who die in childbirth.

Cocizo

Interesting . . .

Collca

What the Incas referred to as a clustering of stars; The Incas called the cluster of stars known as the Pleiades the 'Collca.' These were considered by the Incas to be the celestial guardians of seeds and agriculture. Inca priests used the Collca to calculate the lunar calendar and for divination in rituals of agricultural fertility.

Copan

Maya city; important center for art and astronomy. This city had many stelae (stone tablet used for writing glyphs).

Coricancha (Corchancha)

Coricancha was the most important temple in the Inca Empire, dedicated primarily to Inti, the Sun God. It was one of the most revered temples of the capital city of Cusco and was used as an observatory that helped the Incas plant crops, begin a new Incan year, etc.