Chapter 11 AP World History Vocabulary

A member of a widespread group of South American Indian peoples of south-central Chile and the western pampas of Argentina, including the Mapuche.

A member of a group of peoples native to southern Mexico and Central America, including the Aztecs.

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

An early Native American culture centered in the Ohio River valley from about the second century b.c. to the fourth century a.d., noted for the construction of extensive earthworks and large conical burial mounds and for its highly developed arts and crafts.

Chimor (also Kingdom of Chimor) was the political grouping of the Chimú culture that ruled the northern coast of Peru, beginning around 850 AD and ending around 1470 AD. Chimor was the largest kingdom in the Late Intermediate period

Death while taking prisoners for the sacrificial knife. It was a fitting end to a noble life and ensured eternity in the highest heaven.

The plumed serpent god of the Toltec and Aztec civilizations.

Mita was mandatory public service in the society of the Inca Empire. It was effectively a form of tribute to the Inca government, in the form of labor

Raised fields constructed along lake shores is Mesoamerica to increase agricultural yields.

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547).

Leading Aztec king of the 15th century. King of Texcoco who wrote hymns to god. Religion never gained popularity.

Viracocha is the great creator god in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andes region of South America.

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. (p. 305)

Modern interpretation of Aztec society created by Marvin Harris; based on observation that Mesoamerica lacked cattle and sheep that replaced human sacrifice in the Old World.

(1466-1520) Aztec ruler from 1502 to 1520; he was the emperor of the Aztecs when Cortés and his army conquered the empire. He was taken prisoner and killed during battle with the Spanish army.

Large centers for regional chiefdoms between 300 and 900 C.E. located in southern Peru; had large ceremonial centers supported by extensive irrigated agriculture; center for the spread of religious and artistic symbols all over Andean zone.

Nobility in Aztec society; formed by intermarriage of Aztecs with peoples tracing lineage back to the Toltecs.

The capital city of the Toltec; when it was destroyed, the civilization ended.

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

Originally a Mayan city; conquered by Toltecs circa 1000 and ruled by Toltec dynasties; architecture featured pyramid of Feathered Serpent (Quetzacoatl).

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.

In Incan society, a clan or community that worked together on projects required by the ruler.

Sacred spirits and powers that resided or appeared in caves, mountains, rocks, rivers, and other natural phenomena; typical of Andean societies.

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

A member of the small group of Quechuan people living in the Cuzco valley in Peru who established hegemony over their neighbors to create the great Inca empire that lasted from about 1100 until the Spanish conquest in the early 1530's.

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

Inca colonists in new regions; could be Quechua-speakers; used to pacify new conquest or conquered population moved to new home.

An arrangement of knotted strings on a cord, used by the Inca to record numerical information.

Important culture of what is now Southwest U.S., centered on Chaco Canyon in New Mexico ans Mesa Verde in Colorado; culture built multi-history residences and worshiped in subterranean building called Kivas.

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

Inca ruler (1471-1493); extended his father's conquests; seized the northern coastal kingdom of Chimor and pushed into Equador.

Incan word for the nobility and big ears.

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

Also known as Mexica, the Aztecs created a powerful empire in central Mexico (1325-1521 C.E.). They forced defeated peoples to provide goods and labor as a tax. Greatly worshiped the sun god. Polytheistic.

Labourers in Aztec society, usually farmers. Similar to serfs.

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.

Changes genetically, to produce slight variations.

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

Adviser to Aztec rulers from 1427 to 1480; had histories of Mexico rewritten; expanded cult of human sacrifice as effective means of political terror.

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.

Originally a separate island city in Lake Texcoco; later incorporated into Tenochtitlan; Market remained the most important in combined city.

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

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