Unit 9 World History

Civilization composed of city-states each governed by a hereditary ruling class. Organized into quarters and clans, each ruled by a prince. The cities were organized around a pyramid. Famous for knowledge of Astronomy. Used both a solar calendar and a sacred calendar for measuring time. They had a sophisticated writing system. They carved all the names and dates of the rulers on stela. Spanish conquerors made no effort to decipher it and decided to burn the Mayan's books. The Mayans were destroyed in part by environmental destructions.

Established their capital at Tenochtitlán, on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. Practice human sacrifice to delay the destruction of the world.

Aztecs initially accepted the Spanish because they took the cross on the Spaniards’ breastplates to be the sign that Quetzalcoatl was returning.

Conqueror of the Aztec

Aztec monarch who initially welcomed the Spaniards

Aztec god who took the form of a feathered serpent

Supreme Mayan god

Inca translates into ruler. Located in South America, near Peru. All Incan subjects were required to provide free labor service for public works. Incan women were expected to raise children, weave cloth, or become a priestess. The Incan farmers used terraced farms and irrigation systems to grow olives and grapes. They were famous for their engineering styles and were compared to the Romans. Their roads included suspension bridges, rest houses, and two major continental routes. The Inca did not have a written language so the kept records using a system of knotted strings called the quipu. The Inca taught their language, quechua, to the people they conquered. Pachacuti was their powerful emperor in the 1440's.When the Spanish came and gave the Inca small pox and their emperor died of the disease, his son Atahuallpa rose to the throne. After Pizarro conquered the Incan capital of Cuzco using Spanish weaponry he established a new capital at Lima.

A extremely old (though not the oldest) city in the Americas. It was build by the Inca and serves as the finest example of Incan architecture.

The exchange of plants, animal, peoples, diseases, and culture between the old and new world. All the Native American groups suffered greatly from this exchange.

Oldest mesoamerican civilization.

Disease carried to mesoamerica by Europeans.

South american domestic animal