Term
| What were the differences between the societies of the Americas and Oceania and those of Afroeurasia? |
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Definition
| Societies of the Americas and Oceania were smaller and had no metallurgy, no wheeled vehicles, or no large domesticated animals to facilitate trade and travel. |
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Term
| What were some of the characteristics of the Toltec society of Mexico? |
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Definition
- Settled in Tula, 31 miles NW of Mexico City in the 8th century
- Used the Tula River to irrigate such crops as maize, beans, peppers, tomatoes, chilies, cotton
- Weaving, pottery, and obsidian work were major skills
- Imported jade, turquoise, animal skins, bird feathers
- Traded with people of the Gulf coast and the Mayas
- Toltec state fell in 1175 due to civil conflict, nomadic invasions; evidence shows fire destroyed part of the city
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Term
| Where did the Mexica people, also known as the Aztecs, settle? |
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Definition
| After moving to central Mexico around the mid 13th ceuntury, they settled on an island in a marshy region of Lake Texcoco and founded their capital, Tenochtitlan. |
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Term
| What was the main goal of the Aztec's triple alliance? |
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Definition
- By the early 15th century the Aztecs ruled over 12 million people in a triple alliance with the cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan.
- The main purpose of the alliance was to collect tribute from conquered people.
- Tribute was in the form of cloaks, women's garments, cacao, and rubber balls.
- At their height in the early 16th century, the Aztecs collected tribute from 489 subject territories.
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Term
| How was Aztec society structured? |
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Definition
- Aztec society was rigidly hierarchical; the military received land and tribute, and was at the top of society.
- Skilled artisans were respected, but merchants were viewed as greedy profiteers.
- The bulk of the Aztec people were peasant farmers who lived in community groups called calpulli.
- The women had no public role in Aztec society except for those who served in temples.
- Slaves were criminals or people sold by their families.
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Term
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Definition
| Chinampas were floating fields for crops developed by the Aztecs. |
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Term
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Definition
- The calpulli were groups of families who lived togethor in communities, allocated community property, and farmed land.
- They worked on land belonging to aristocrats and on public irrigation projects.
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Term
| What were the characteristics of Aztec religion? |
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Definition
- The Aztecs honored Tezcatlipoca as the giver and taker of life and patron of warriors, and Quetzalcoatl as the patron of arts, crafts and agriculture.
- They believed that shedding blood was important to the continuation of the world.
- Human sacrifice was a part of their devotion to the war god of Huitziopochtli.
- Sacrificial victims were criminals, tribute from neighboring people and prisoners of war.
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Term
| What were some features of native societies in what is now the United States and Canada? |
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Definition
- In Arctic and subarctic regions people ate whale, seal, walrus, moose, and caribou
- People in the desert SW United States like the Pueblo and Navajo, built stone and adobe buildings and used irrigation
- People like the Iroquois of the eastern woodlands built longhouses and farmed
- Woodlands people also built huge earthen mounds, that were probably ritual centers
- People in the interior hunted bison and deer
- None of the native peoples north of Mexico had writing
- Rivers linked people through trade
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Term
| What was farming like for the Chucuito in the highlands region of Lake Titicaca? (12th century) |
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Definition
- They used terraced farming to cultivate crops like potatoes.
- They learned about maize from trade with people in the lower valleys.
- They also obtained coca leaves from people in the lower valleys.
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Term
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Definition
- The Chimu, who emerged in the 10th century, dominated and helped maintain order on the coastal lowlands of Peru.
- The capital city of Chanchan, featured massive brick buildings.
- Irrigation networks helped yield crops of maize and sweet potatoes.
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Term
| What were some characteristics of the Inca empire? |
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Definition
- The Inca empire uncluded most of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and parts of Chile and Argentina.
- Cuzco, in Peru was the capital city.
- Gov't was administered by a large class of bureaucrats.
- The Inca built a great system of roads, where runners could deliver messages to the most distant parts of the empire in a matter of days.
- At its height the Inca Empire ruled over 11 million people on South America's west coast.
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Term
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Definition
- The Incas used quipu to keep track of information about population, state property, taxes, and labor services owed by communities.
- The quipus were small cords of various colors suspended from a larger cord.
- Knots would be tied in the cords to help remember information.
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Term
| What was trade like in Inca society? |
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Definition
- Long distance trade was controlled by the government, which did not allow people to become independent merchants; therefore, a large calss of merchants and artisans did not develop in Inca society.
- Administraors organized the exchange of farm products, textiles, pottery, jewelry, and craft goods.
- Local people bartered surplus farm goods and handcrafted goods.
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Term
| How was Inca society divided? |
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Definition
- Believed their ruler was descended from the sun god, and ruler's remains were mummified and venerated.
- Aristocrats often acted as the bureaucrats and helped administer the government.
- Inca priests came from aristocratic families and led celibate ascetic lives.
- Most people were farmers who lived in ayllu and owed compulsory labor on building projects.
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Term
| What was Incan religion like? |
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Definition
- The Inca believed their ruler was descended from the sun god Inti, on whom they focused their worship.
- The Inca made sacrifices of farm products and animals to their gods.
- They also observed rituals of confession and penance.
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Term
| What was trade like for the Aborigines of Australia? |
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Definition
- They mainly traded with other Aborigines.
- There was sporadic trade with people of New Guinea.
- Australian spears and pearly shells were the most valuable commodities of the Aborigines.
- Aborigines lived in small nomadic groups, so they traded with each other for things their groups did not possess.
- Stone axe heads, spears, boomerangs, skins, and fibers came from the interior.
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Term
| What is the significance of the settlement of New Zealand? |
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Definition
| New Zealand was settled in about 500 C.E., and was the last large habitable region of the earth settled by human beings. |
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Term
| What was the trade like amongst the islands of the Pacific? |
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Definition
- Distant trade networks did NOT develop in the eastern Pacific, but contact with South America resulted in the spread of sweet poatoes from Easter Island through Polynesia from 400 to 700.
- In the western Pacific, where the islands are closer, mariners linked socieities, and goods like axes, pottery, shells, and decorative items were traded.
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Term
| How was Hawaii inhabited? |
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Definition
| People from Tahiti settled in Hawaii. They adapted some words from Tahitian language as well. |
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Term
| What are some advantages and disadvantages of a growing population on the Pacific islands? |
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Definition
- A stable food supply caused the island of Hawaii to have around 500,000 inhabitants by the 8th century.
- However, social strife was caused by dense populations on islands such as Easter Island around 1500 C.E.
- Also, a complex social and political organizaion arose with the Sandeleur dynasty on the Caroline Islands
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Term
| How was society organized on the islands of Tonga, Hawaii, and Tahiti? |
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Definition
- These islands had much larger populations than others.
- There were distinctions between higher and lesser chiefs.
- Ruling chiefs oversaw island projects such as land allocation, labor for building projects, or organizing millitary forces.
- Some high chiefs were known as ali'i nui.
- High chiefs were intermediaries between humans and gods.
- They built marae (or heiau in Hawaii) that were ceremonial precincts.
- Tahiti is the site of a large marae called Mahaiatea; it is the shape of a pyramid.
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