World History AP Chapter 11 – Flashcards
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quipu
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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
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Tenochtitlan
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Founded c. 1325 on a marshy island in Lake Texcoco; became center of Aztec power; joined with Tlacopan and Texcoco in 1434 to form a triple alliance that controlled most of central plateau of Mesoamerica
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Quetzalcoatl
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Toltec deity; Feathered Serpent; adopted by Aztecs as a major god
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Tlaloc
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Major god of Aztecs; associated with fertility and the agricultural cycle; god of rain
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huacas
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Sacred spirits and powers that resided or appeared in caves, mountains, rocks, rivers, and other natural phenomena; typical of Andean societies
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tambos
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Way stations used by Incas as inns and storehouses; supply centers for Inca armies on move; relay points for system of runners used to carry messages
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curacas
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Ayllu chiefs with privileges of dress and access to resources; community leaders among Andean societies
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Inca socialism
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A view created by Spanish authors to describe 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
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Pachacuti
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Ruler of Inca society from 1438 to 1471; launched a series of campaigns that gave Incas control of the region from Cuzco to the shores Lake Titicaca
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calpulli
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Clans in Aztec society, later expanded to include residential groups that distributed land and provided labor and warriors
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Nezhualcoyotl
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Leading Aztec king of the 15th century
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mita
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Labor extracted for lands assigned to the state and the religion; all communities were expected to contribute; and essential aspect of Inca imperial control
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yanas
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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
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Toltec culture
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Succeeded Teotihuacan culture in central Mexico; strongly militaristic ethic including human sacrifice; influenced large territory after 1000 c.e.; declined after 1200 c.e.
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Twantinsuyu
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Word for Inca Empire; region from present-day Colombia to Chile and eastward to northern Argentina
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Huitzilopochtli
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Aztec tribal patron god; central figure of cult of human sacrifice and warfare; identified with old sun god
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Topiltzin
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Religious leader and reformer of the Toltecs; dedicated to god Quetzalcoatl; after losing struggle for power, went into exile in the Yucatan peninsula
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Indian
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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
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chinampas
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Beds of aquatic weeds, mud, and earth placed in frames made of cane and rooted in lakes to create "floating islands"; system of irrigated agriculture utilized by Aztecs
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split inheritance
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Inca practice of descent; all titles and political power went to successor, but wealth and land remained in hands of male descendants for support of cult of dead Inca's mummy
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pochteca
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Special merchant class in Aztec society; specialized in long-distance trade in luxury items
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Temple of the Sun
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Inca religious center located at Cuzco; center of state religion; held mummies of past Incas
