AMSCO world history chapter 14

The first large-scale civilization in North America

started in the valley of the Mississippi River and spread east, built enormous earthen mounds, most were pyramid shaped some were oval, and some built in the forms of animals

Corn, beans, squash, and tobacco

The largest town is in present-day Illinois, in 1250 the population was 40,000 people, was a trading city

A chief that ruled each town

Great Sun upper class of priests and nobles farmers, hunters, merchants, craftspeople, and laborers slaves, prisoners of war

the social standing was determined by the women's side of the family

flooding/extreme weather caused crop failure and the collapse of the agricultural economy needed to sustain the populations of large cities, diseases

built capital at Tula in northern Mesoamerica by 950, at its high there was 60,000 people

continuation of the cult that borrowed from the Mayans

alson know as the Mexicas, originally hunter-gatherers who migrated to central Mexico from the north in 1200s CE, founded capital Tenochtitlan on what is now Mexico City

The Aztecs used geography for protection and defense by

were made of stone

built floating gardens to increase the amount of space for food production

ensured dominance in the short-run, conquered people were forced to pay tribute, surrender lands, and perform military services

special class that specialized in luxury good

at the top was emperor Great Speaker; next were land owning nobles formed majority of Aztec military leadership; below them were scribes and healers; following were craftspeople and traders, pochteca: below them were peasants and soldiers; at the bottom were slaves

also called auto-sacrifice to repay gods

Worshipped an ever-evolving pantheon of hundreds of deities, many of whom were considered to have both male and female aspects

used to mark religious ceremonies

obsidian, cloth, cacao, & rubber balls for shells, feathers, & stones

result from high demand for cloth that women wove

In the early 15th century, in what is now Peru, was a small center of one of several competing tribes.

means "transformer" or "shaker" of the earth

Pachacuti's son, took control in 1471 and conquered Chimu in north ruled approximately 1493

Yupanqui his successor, focused on consolidating and managing the lands conquered by his predecessors

was split into 4 provinces each with its own governor and bureaucracy

mandatory public service, men ages 15 to 50 provided Agricultural and other forms of Labor including construction of roads

the Incan language

main crops

dead rulers were mummified and continue to "rule" as they had in life and were to retain ownership of their servants, possessions, and property

people of the sun

the sun god, was arguably the most important of the Inca gods

each god had his or her...

consulted before important actions, diagnosed illness, predicted the outcomes of battles, solved crime, and determined what sacrifices should be made to which god

Corn, guinea pigs, and llamas

Incas believed that the elements of the physical world could have supernatural powers

could be large geographical features like a river or peak of a mountain, or could be very small objects such as stone, a plant, or building object, such as a bridge

a system of knotted strings used to record numerical information for trading and engineering and for recording messages to be carried throughout the empire

for cultivating crops like maize and potatoes, raised bed and channels that captured/redirected rain