Mexico Midterm Vocab Deck 1

Sierra Madre Occidental

A geographical mountain range located on the Western Pacific Coast of Mexico. The Sierra Madre Occidental helped provide refuge for various indigenous groups due to its rugged terrain, helping protect indigenous tradition from westernization.

Altiplano

A high plateau or high plain like region where water is blocked from draining, making it good for civilizations. A good example includes the Valley of Mexico or Mexican Plateau where the Aztec Empire found its settlement.

Pocatepetl

A smoking volcano located near Tenochtitlan, the Aztec Empire capital, that played a role in Aztec mythology. Specifically, the volcano was named after Aztec warrior Pocatepetl who buried his love on a mountain and eventually turned into the two mountains, one of which is Pocatepetl.

Valley of Mexico

An altiplano region that served as the home of the Aztec Civilization. The area was a lake basin area with lots of vegetation and wildlife, making it a good place to start a civilization such as the Aztecs.

Xochimilco/Chinampa

An agricultural system that involved making mini agricultural islands in shallow lakes to support the Aztec Empire. This system fostered biodiversity within the Valley of Mexico and provided an abundant food source for the Aztecs.

Cenote

A sink hole that develops as limestone is eroded by water; Cenotes also served as a sacred site for the Mayans to make offerings to their gods and as a portal to Xibalba or the Mayan underworld.

Olmec

The mesoamerican civilization existing prior to the Aztecs and the Maya; created a hieroglyphic-esque writing system and a calendar system of which the Mayans would later on refine and utilize themselves; also had an extensive trade system over long distances.

Calendar Round

a 52 year cycle that combines both the 365 day solar calendar and the 260 day ritualistic calendar to create various permutations and combinations of a cycle; played a role in the belief that time was cyclical and many believed the end of the cycle brought destruction.

Long Count

a method of showcasing time, however it uses a linear system rather than a cyclical cycle like the calendar round. This system starts at a zero date and has counted consistently upwards since. The system ended in 2012, causing many to believe the world would end, however the cycle began again.

Xoloitzcuintle

A hairless dog breed that both the Mayans and Aztecs believed to be a guide to the underworld alongside a healer and guardian of spirits. This breed of dog is often symbolized in modern day media, such as in Coco.

Nixtamal Process

A process of cooking corn kernels in an alkaline solution such as lime juice to enhance nutrients and also make it more digestible for humans to eat.

Comal

A flat, griddle-like cooking dish that the Aztecs utilized to cook items such as tortillas and other fundamental dishes to their diet.

Teotihuacan

A major city in the Mesoamerican world that wasn’t home to just one civilization over time. Teotihuacan serves as the home of the gods and is known to be the sixth largest city of its time.

Xipe Totec

The Flayed God, the god of fertility and renewal and represents the cycle of birth and death and how life emerges from death; played an important role in both Toltec and Aztec culture. 

Maya

A mesoamerican civilization living in Southern Mexico near the Yucatan Peninsula around 2000 BCE up until the 16 century CE around Spanish Conquest. Developed a complex writing system and developed the concept of zero in mathematics as well; believed in a polytheistic religion with a pantheon of gods.

Toltecs

a powerful civilization that thrived in central Mexico between the 10th and 12th centuries, with their capital at Tula. They were remembered by later cultures, especially the Mexica, as great builders, warriors, and cultural innovators, inspiring myths about the ideal state.

Chichimecans

Semi-nomadic peoples from northern Mexico, often described by settled Mesoamerican societies as “barbarians.” Despite this, they played a vital role in cultural mixing, and the Mexica themselves were called ______ before becoming rulers of Tenochtitlan.

Quetzalcoatl

The “Feathered Serpent,” was a major deity linked to wisdom, wind, creation, and civilization. Revered by the Toltecs and later the Mexica, he represented learning and order, often contrasted with gods of war and sacrifice.

Nahuatl

the Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Mexica and many other groups in central Mexico. It was the administrative and cultural language of the Aztec Empire and continues to influence Mexican Spanish today.

Altepetl

the basic city-state of central Mexico. Each had its own ruler, temples, markets, and identity, forming the backbone of Nahua political organization.

Tlatoani

meaning “speaker,” was the ruler of an altepetl. He served as both political and religious leader, commanding armies and overseeing tribute and ceremonies.

Aztlan

the legendary homeland of the Mexica, described as an island place from which they began their migration south. It symbolized their ancestral roots and divine destiny, though its exact location remains debated.

Anahuac

means “land surrounded by water” in Nahuatl and originally referred to the Valley of Mexico. Over time, it came to signify the larger cultural world of central Mexico under Mexica dominance.

Tenochtitlan

Founded in 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco, __________ grew into the Mexica capital and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It was the center of the Aztec Empire until its fall to the Spanish in 1521.

Triple Alliance

Formed in 1428 by Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan, the ________ created a powerful imperial system. Through warfare and tribute, it expanded Mexica control over much of central Mexico.

Huitzilopochtli

the patron god of the Mexica, associated with the sun, war, and sacrifice. He guided their migration and required constant offerings of human hearts to sustain the cosmos.

Tzompantli

a skull rack where the heads of sacrificial victims were displayed. It served as both a sacred offering to the gods and a public demonstration of power and military success.

Moctezuma II

ruled Tenochtitlan from 1502 to 1520 during the height of the empire’s power. His reign ended tragically with the arrival of Hernán Cortés and the Spanish conquest.

Flowery Wars

ritualized battles fought between the Mexica and rivals like Tlaxcala. Their purpose was less about conquest and more about capturing prisoners for sacrificial rituals that sustained the gods.