A powerful city-state in central Mexico (100

B.C.E.–750 C.E.). Its population was about 150,000 at its peak

in 600.

Raised fields constructed along lake shores in

Mesoamerica to increase agricultural yields

 Powerful postclassic empire in central Mexico 

(900–1168 C.E.). It influenced much of Mesoamerica. Aztecs

claimed ties to this earlier civilizatio

 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

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.

A system in which defeated peoples were

forced to pay a tax in the form of goods and labor. This

forced transfer of food, cloth, and other goods subsidized

the development of large cities. An important component of

the Aztec and Inca economies

Important culture of what is now the Southwest

United States (1000–1300 C.E.). Centered on Chaco Canyon

in New Mexico and Mesa Verde in Colorado, the Anasazi

culture built multistory residences and worshipped in subterranean buildings called kivas.

Form of political organization with rule by a

hereditary leader who held power over a collection of

villages and towns. Less powerful than kingdoms and empires, chiefdoms were based on gift giving and commercial

links.

System of knotted colored cords used by preliterate

Andean peoples to transmit information.

Andean labor system based on shared obligations to

help kinsmen and work on behalf of the ruler and religious

organizations.

Civilization of north coast of Peru (200–700 C.E.). An

important Andean civilization that built extensive irrigation

networks as well as impressive urban centers dominated by

brick temples.

Tiwanaku

Name of capital city and empire centered on 

the region near Lake Titicaca in modern Bolivia

Andean civilization culturally linked to Tiwanaku,

perhaps beginning as a colony of Tiwanaku.

Largest and most powerful Andean empire. Controlled

the Pacific coast of South America from Ecuador to Chile

from its capital of Cuzco