Unit 8 : Americas

Mesoamerica

"Middle America" the region extending from modern-day Mexico through Central America

What crops were first domesticated in the Americas and where?

-Mesoamericans cultivated squash 10,000 years ago -people in Panama cultivated tubers like manioc, sweet potatoes and arrow root

Teotihuacán

-The largest city of Mesoamerica, with a population between 100,000 and 200,000; -seemingly built to a plan in the Valley of Mexico, flourished between 300 and 600 C.E., during which time it governed or influenced much of the surrounding region. -The name is an Aztec term meaning "city of the gods."

Which transitions occurred during the Formative Period of Mesoamerica?

-agricultural bands transformed into large urban dwellings with social stratification -ex. Chiapas

How did the Inca use local resources to build their empire?

-built upon the Ayllu kinship system -took advantage of the labor and marriage obligations

What factors have limited or introduced misrepresentations into conventional narratives of pre-Columbian American history?

-explorers found monetary gain by reporting to -misconceptions that human sacrifice was gory and dramatic -different migrations other than beringia -collapse of natives left them unable to tell their story

Describe the transition to agriculture in Mesoamerica.

-hunter gatherers to agricultural bands that still hunted to large urban centers

Norte Chico

-oldest identifiable civilization in the Pacific coast -civilization in the Andes, in today's Peru, characterized by monumental architecture, non-grain-based farming, and the absence of a writing system and little contact with the outside world.

How did the Moche, Huari, and Chimu build their regional influence?

-violence to establish dominance such as sacrifice -tributary settlements to collect taxes from -control over environmental hardships with technologies like irrigation systems -sacred items to maintain relationships with outside groups

What was the role of Macchu Picchu within the Inca Empire?

-was a royal getaway for Pachacuti

How did the Maya support their rapid urbanization?

-water projects, flat ridge tops, and terraced hillsides

Chiapas

A MesoAmerican location where pottery and social hierarchy were first spotted in the Pacific coast

Huaca del Sol

A massive mound made of over 140 million mud bricks, located at the site of Moche. Most likely a residence for royals

Huaca de la Luna

A massive mud-brick mound at the site of Moche where actual remains of sacrificial victims were uncovered and found in various states of dismemberment

Hopewell

A mound builder society that was centered in the Ohio River Valley from about 200 B.C to AD 400

Machu Picchu

Abandoned city high in the Andes mountains that showcases the architectural genius of the Inca

Huari

Along with Tihuanaco, large center for regional chiefdoms between 300 and 900 CE; located in southern Peru; featured large ceremonial center supported by extensive irrigated agriculture; established widely diffused religious and artistic symbols spread all over Andean zone

Maize

An early form of corn grown by Native Americans. In addition to beans and squash was the most important element of Central American diets.

Chaco Canyon

An urban center established by Anasazi located in southern New Mexico. There, they built a walled city with dozens of three-story adobe houses with timbered roofs. Community religious functions were carried out in two large circular chambers called kivas.

Chumash

California fishing community. ;lived in settled communities. Farmed and harvested acorns. Used shells for trade

Tenochtitlán

Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco. Its population was about 150,000 on the eve of Spanish conquest. Mexico City was constructed on its ruins.

Chavín de Huantar

Chavin culture appeared in highlands of Andes between 1800 and 1200 BCE; typified by ceremonial centers with large stone buildings; greatest ceremonial center was Chavín de Huantar; characterized by artistic motifs

Ayllu

In Incan society, a small community or family group whose members worked together for the common good of the peoples and payed taxes to the empire

the Aztec Empire

Major state that developed in what is now Mexico in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; dominated by the seminomadic Mexica, who had migrated into the region from northern Mexico.

Maya

Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar.

Olmec

Mesoamerican civilization in lower Mexico around 1500 BCE to about 400 BCE focused. Most remembered for their large stone heads.

Cahokia

Mississippian settlement near present-day East St. Louis, home to as many as 25,000 Native Americans

Chimu

Powerful Peruvian civilization based on conquest. Located in the region earlier dominated by Moche. Conquered by Inca in 1465. (p. 314)

Toltec

Powerful postclassic empire in central Mexico (900-1168 C.E.). It influenced much of Mesoamerica. Aztecs claimed ties to this earlier civilization. (p. 305)

Pachacuti

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

Moche Civilization

South American civilization which flourished along the northern coast and valleys of ancient Peru, in particular, in the Chicama and Trujilo, Valleys, between 1 CE and 800 CE

Coricancha

Temple in Cuzco; important celestial beings and royal mummies were venerated

Cuzco

The capital city of the Incan Empire, Located in present-day Peru

San Lorenzo

The oldest known site of an Olmec community, which has giant stone monuments set among earthen structures

Shamanism

The practice of identifying special individuals (shamans) who will interact with spirits for the benefit of the community.

Nagual

a Mexican guardian spirit

Nazca

a civilization that flourished on what is now the sourthern coast of Peru from about 200 B.C. to A.D. 600. -famous for aerial-viewable formations

Chavin Cult

a new religion that appeared in the Andes mountains after 1000 BCE; enjoyed enormous popularity during the 900 to 800 BCE; spread in the area of modern Peru; vanished about 300 BCE; no information survives on the significance of the cults

Aspero

a site of the Norte Chico in the Andes that proves its dominance by the 15 hectares of land and 6 monumental stones

Chan Chan

capital of Chimu

Accla Women

one of many chaste and youthful girls employed at the Incan Temple of the Sun

La Venta

several "serpentine bricks" of jade stone were found in this location at the Olmec Center

Tello Obelisk

the lanzón (great lance) of the Chavin Cultures was a kind of supernatural conduit that was similar in style to the ____

Tikal

the most important Maya political center between the 4th-9th centuries. It was a city that had temples, pyramids, palaces, and public buildings.

Kivas

underground chambers in a Pueblo village, used by the men for religious ceremonies or councils

Pithouses

• semi subterranean house • has post molds for vertical beams holding up a roof