1.4 americas APWH

Mesoamerican civilization famed for city-states and advanced astronomy.

Maya

Independent urban center governing surrounding territory (e.g., Maya).

City-state

Post-Mayan civilization in central Mexico known for warlike culture.

Toltecs

Original name of the Aztecs, who established Tenochtitlan.

Mexica

Mesoamerican empire based on tribute from conquered territories.

Aztec Empire

Aztec emperor at the time of Spanish arrival.

Montezuma

Floating agricultural plots used by Aztecs for intensive farming.

Chinampa

→ Basic social unit/clan in Aztec society.

Calpulli

→ Feathered serpent deity in Mesoamerican religions.

Quetzalcoatl

→ Aztec sun and war god.

Huitzilopochtli

→ South American Andean empire based in Peru.

Inca

→ Language and culture of the Inca.

Quechua

→ Capital city of the Aztec Empire.

Tenochtitlan

→ Classic Maya city-state on the Usumacinta River.

Yaxchilan

→ Capital of the Inca Empire.

Cuzco

→ Temple of the Sun in Cuzco.

Qorikancha

→ Inca knotted-string record-keeping system.

Quipu

→ Inca kin-based community or clan group.

Ayllu

→ Inca sun god.

Inti

→ Southwestern Native American settlement type (e.g., Pueblo).

Pueblo

→ Indigenous group from the American Southwest.

Navajo

→ Northeast North American Native confederacy.

Iroquois

→ Chaco Canyon civilization known for monumental buildings.

Chaco

→ Cliff-dwelling site built by ancestral Puebloans.

Mesa Verde

→ People who built homes in cliff alcoves (e.g., Mesa Verde).

Cliff dwellers

→ Major Mississippian mound-building city near present-day St. Louis.

Cahokia

→ Indigenous groups known for constructing earthen mounds across North America.

Mound-builders