Chapter 11

Question 1

Indian

Answer 1

Misnomer created by Columbus referring to indigenous peoples of New World; implies social and ethnic commonality among Native Americans that did not exist; still used to apply to Native Americans

Question 2

side note

Answer 2

The Toltecs and later the Aztecs were the chief civilizations that followed the fall of Teotihuacan and the abandonment of the classic Maya cities in the 8th century C.E. These new civilizations built on the accomplishments of their predecessors but rarely surpassed them except in political and military organization.

Question 3

Toltec culture

Answer 3

succeeded Teotihuacan culture in central Mexico; strongly militaristic ethic including human sacrifice; influenced large territory after 1000 C.E.; declined after 1200 C.E.

Question 4

Topiltzin

Answer 4

religious leader and reformer of the Toltecs in 10th century; dedicated to god Quetzalcoatl; after losing struggle for power, went into exile in the Yucatan peninsula

Question 5

Quetzalcoatl

Answer 5

Toltec deity; Feathered Serpent; adopted by Aztecs as a major god

Question 6

Tenochtitlan

Answer 6

founded c. 1325 on marshy island in Lake Texcoco; became center of Aztec power; joined with Tlacopan and Texcoco in 1434 to form a tripe alliance that controlled most of central plateau of Mesoamerica

Question 7

Tlaloc

Answer 7

major god of Aztecs; associated with fertility and the agricultural cycle; god of rain

Question 8

Huitzilopochtli

Answer 8

Aztec tribal patron god; central figure of cult of human sacrifice and warfare; identified with old sun god

Question 9

Nezhualcoyotl

Answer 9

leading Aztec king of the 15th century

Question 10

chinampas

Answer 10

beds of aquatic sees, mud, and earth placed in frames made of cane and rooted in lakes to create “floating islands”; system of irrigated agriculture utilized by Aztecs

Question 11

pochteca

Answer 11

special merchant class in Aztec society; specialized in long-distance trade in luxury items

Question 12

side note

Answer 12

Aztec society became more hierarchical as the empire grew and social classes with different functions developed, although the older organization based on clans and kinship groups never disappeared. Tribute was drawn from subject peoples, but Aztec society confronted technological barriers that made it difficult to maintain the large ovulation of central Mexico.

Question 13

calpulli

Answer 13

clans in Aztec society, later expanded to include residential groups that distributed land and provided labor and warriors

Question 14

side note

Answer 14

After about 1300 C.E., the Inca empire emerged in the highlands of Peru and eventually spread its control over the whole region by integrating many ethnic groups into an extensive imperial state.

Question 15

ayllus

Answer 15

households in Andean societies that recognized some form of kinship; traced descent from some common, sometimes mythical ancestor

Question 16

Pachacuti

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Twantinsuyu

Answer 17

Word for Inca Empire; region from present-day Colombia to Chile and eastward to northern Argentina

Question 18

split inheritance

Answer 18

Inca practice of descent; all titles and political power went to successor, but wealth and land remained in heads of male descendants for support of cult of dead inca’s mummy

Question 19

Temple of the Sun

Answer 19

Inca religious center located at Cuzco; center of state religion; held mummies of past Incas

Question 20

tambos

Answer 20

way stations used by Incas as inns and storehouse; supply centers for Inca armies on move; relay points for system of runners used to carry messages

Question 21

“mita”

Answer 21

labor extracted fro lands assigned to the state and the religion; all communities were expected to contribute; an essential aspect of Inca imperial control

Question 22

Inca socialism

Answer 22

a view created by Spanish authors to describe Inca society as a type of utopia; image of the inca Empire as a carefully organized system in which every community collectively contributed to the whole

Question 23

yanas

Answer 23

a class of people within Inca society removed from their ayllus to serve permanently as servants, artisans, or workers for the inca or the Inca nobility

Question 24

quipu

Answer 24

system of knotted strings utilized by the Incas in place of a writing system; could contain numerical and other types of information for censuses and financial records

Question 25

side note

Answer 25

The civilizations of Mesoamerica and the Andes, were high points of a Native American cultural achievement. However, the Americas continued to be occupied by a variety of peoples who lived in different ways, ranging from highly complex sedentary agricultural empires to simple kin-based bands of hunters and gatherers.