Anthropology /Barron's AP World - Chapter 12: Peoples of the Americas and Oceania
Barron's AP World - Chapter 12: Peoples of the Americas and Oceania
This deck covers key concepts and historical facts about the civilizations of the Americas and Oceania, including the Maya, Toltecs, Aztecs, and Incas.
Maya
the people who lived on the Yucatan Peninsula from roughly 200 to 900 AD; they preceded the Toltecs and Aztecs; they were fairly technologically advanced, developing complex mathematical and astronomical calculations
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Key Terms
Term
Definition
Maya
the people who lived on the Yucatan Peninsula from roughly 200 to 900 AD; they preceded the Toltecs and Aztecs; they were fairly technologically advan...
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Toltecs
just west of the prior Mayan civilization, they were the center of power in Mesoamerica from roughly 950 to 1,200 AD
Aztecs
following the Maya and Toltecs, they were the center of power in Mesoamerica from around 1,300 AD, to 1519 AD
Tikal
the capital city of the Maya
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Chichen Itza
the ceremonial center of Mayan civilization, it featured massive truncated pyramids and temples dedicated to their gods
glyphs
symbols representing either words or syllables
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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
Maya | the people who lived on the Yucatan Peninsula from roughly 200 to 900 AD; they preceded the Toltecs and Aztecs; they were fairly technologically advanced, developing complex mathematical and astronomical calculations |
Toltecs | just west of the prior Mayan civilization, they were the center of power in Mesoamerica from roughly 950 to 1,200 AD |
Aztecs | following the Maya and Toltecs, they were the center of power in Mesoamerica from around 1,300 AD, to 1519 AD |
Tikal | the capital city of the Maya |
Chichen Itza | the ceremonial center of Mayan civilization, it featured massive truncated pyramids and temples dedicated to their gods |
glyphs | symbols representing either words or syllables |
Popol Vuh | a book of the Mayans; in this is the Mayan creation story |
Lake Texcoco | a lake in central Mexico where the Aztecs settled and built their capital, believing that a sign from the gods had indicated it to them as the right spot |
Triple Alliance | by the middle of the 15th century, the Aztecs had solidified power, and created this with the neighboring states of Tlacopan and Texcoco |
the Aztec fall | the violent habits of the Aztec led to the weakening of their rule under Montezuma 2; several provinces rose up in protest, and internal issues had already debilitated the empire by the time the Spaniards arrived in 1519 |
Quechua | what the Incas were called; “Inca” was actually the term that the people used to refer to their rulers |
Lake Titicaca | around 1,200, the Chucuito (a predecessor of the Inca) occupied the Andes highlands around here |
Pachacuti | the ruler of the Incas from 1438 to 1471 that grew them into an empire |
Cuzco | the capital of the Inca empire |
parallel descent | the Inca system of inheritance, in which daughters inherited from their mothers, and sons from their fathers |
Machu Pichu | a possible religious center of the Inca Empire whose ruins were discovered high in the Andes by Hiram Bingham in 1912 |
civil war | about 1525, civil war broke out in the Inca Empire between the previous emperor’s two sons; this greatly weakened the Inca Empire, making it vulnerable to Euro |