Transcript Pre-Columbian Empires

Aztec Civilization
• an ancient
civilization that
established a capital
at Tenochtitlán,
where present day
Mexico City is
located
pueblo
• multistoried
structure built of
stone and adobe
(sun-dried brick) that
housed many people
Maya Civilization
• An ancient civilization
in Mesoamerica that
had a solar calendar to
record dates, a
sophisticated writing
system based on
hieroglyphs or pictures,
and a mathematical
system with a base of
20 and a symbol for zero
tepee
• a circular structure
made by the Plains
Indians in which
buffalo skins were
stretched over
wooden poles
quipu
• a system of knotted
strings used by the
Inca to keep records
Mesa Verde
• location in southern
Colorado where a
series of buildings
were constructed in
cliff walls
Anasazi
• A farming society
that was established
between 500 and
1200 in present-day
New Mexico,
Arizona, Utah, and
Colorado
Machu Picchu
• The ruins of about
200 buildings in Peru
constructed by the Inca
on a lofty hilltop
in the Andes Mountains
Pre-Columbian Empires
• Civilizations that
existed in the
Americas before the
arrival of the
explorer Columbus
in 1492.
Inca Civilization
• The empire
stretched some
2,500 miles along
the Andes
Mountains, which
run nearly the entire
length of the west
coast of South
America, and
contained perhaps 10
million subjects.
Columbian Exchange
• (post-1492)
Exchange of
products and ideas
between Native
Americans and
Europe that
developed out of the
“encounter” by
Columbus.
Conquistadores
• Spanish conquerors
of the Native
American lands, most
notably the Aztec
and Inca empires.
Montezuma II
• Last of the Aztec
emperors, who was
defeated by Spanish
conquistador Hernán
Cortés in 1520.
Encomienda System
• Was a legal system
that was used by the
Spanish crown during
the Spanish
colonization of the
Americas to regulate
Native Americans and
to reward individual
Spaniards for services
to the crown.
Atlantic Slave Trade (Middle Passage)
• (16th-19th centuries)
Captured Africans
were transported
across the Atlantic
under horrific
conditions to labor
in the Americas in
mines and
plantation.
Mesoamerica
• Present-day Mexico and Central America
Caravel
• A small, fast,
maneuverable ship
that had a large
cargo hold and
usually three masts
with lateen sails.
Mercantilism
• A set of principles
that said the
prosperity of a
nation depended on
a large supply of gold
and silver.
Teotihuacan
• The largest city of preColumbian America,
with a population
between 100,000 and
200,000 (Aztecs);
seemingly built to a plan
in the Valley of Mexico,
Teotihuacán flourished
between 300 and 600 C.E.
The name Teotihuacán is
an Aztec term meaning
“city of the gods.” (pron.
teh-o-tee-WAH-kahn)
Chichen Itza
• a large preColumbian city built
by the Maya people.
The archaeological
site is located in the
Mexican state of
Yucatán.