Chapter 11: Peoples and
Civilizations of the Americas,
600-1500
AP World History
I. Classic-Era Culture and Society in
Mesoamerica, 200-900
 A. Teotihuacan
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1. Large Mesoamerican city with population of about
150,000.
2. Had pyramids and temples where human sacrifice
was carried out.
3. Forced relocation of farm families and agricultural
innovation such as irrigation and chinampas.
4. Apartmentlike stone buildings housed commoners
and elites lived in separate residential compounds and
controlled the bureaucracy, taxes, and commerce.
5. Ruled by alliances of wealthy families.
6. Collapsed around 650 C.E. probably by
mismanagement of resources and conflict within the
elite or invasion.
 B. The Maya
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1. Never formed a unified kingdom.
2. Increased agricultural productivity by draining swamps, building
elevated fields, terraced fields, and managed forest resources.
3. Large city-states.
4. Believed cosmos consisted of three layers, the heavens, human
world, and the underworld.
5. Rulers and elites communicated with the other worlds.
6. Fought for captives, not for territory. Elite captives were sacrificed
and commoners were enslaved.
7. Mayan women held no political power but participated in the
bloodletting rituals.
8. Technological developments included the Mayan calender,
mathematics, and the Maya writing system.
9. Reasons for fall include disruption of trade, overpopulation and
increased warfare around 800-900 C.E.
II. The Postclassic Period in
Mesoamerica, 900-1500
 A. The Toltecs
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1. Central Mexico and built civilization based
on Teotihuacan.
2. Capital at Tula was ruled by dual kings but
were destroyed by invaders around 1156 C.E.
 B. The Aztecs
 1. Migrated to lake Texcoco area and established
the cities of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco.
 2. Females maintained control of household and
market.
 3. Established irrigation and chinampas, but also
received food from tribute.
 4. Goods were exchanged through barter.
 5. Worshipped a large number of gods, but the most
important was Huitzilopochtli, the Sun god and he
was appeased by sacrifice with human hearts.
III. The Northern Peoples
 A. Southwestern Desert Cultures
 1. The Hohokam established extensive irrigation
systems in the Salt and Gila valleys around 1000
c.e.
 2. The Anasazi constructed Kivas in the American
southwest.
 3. The Chaco Canyon community engaged in trade,
hunting and irrigated agriculture and exerted some
political and religious dominance over the area but
declined due to drought, overpopulation, and
warfare.
 B. Mound Builders: The Mississippian Cultures
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1. The Hopewell culture came out of the Adena culture and
was based in the Ohio Valley.
2. The major Hopewell centers were ruled by chiefs and
they served as priests and managed secular affairs such as
long distance trade.
3. The Hopewell built large mounds both as burial sites and
as platforms upon which temples and residences of chiefs
were constructed.
4. The Hopewell sites were abandoned around 400 C.E.,
but the mound building was continued by the Mississippian
culture(700-1500 c.e.).
5. The Mississippian chiefdoms were made possible by
increased agricultural productivity, the bow and arrow, and
expanded trade networks.
6. The largest center was Cahokia but was abandoned
around 1250 because of climate changes and population
pressure.
IV. Andean Civilizations 600-1500
 A. Cultural Response to Environmental Challenge
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1. Andes, dry coastal plain, and Amazon forced inhabitants
to organize labor effectively.
2. The clan (ayllu) held land collectively, and assisted each
other in production and to supply goods and labor to the clan
chief.
3. The mit’a was introduced around 1000 and required each
ayllu to provide a set number of workers each year for
religious establishments, royal court, or the aristocracy.
4. Work was divided along gender lines.
5. The Andean region is divided into four different ecological
zones; the coast, mountain valleys, higher elevations, and
the Amazonian region.
 B. Moche
 1. North coastal region of Peru in about 200-700 C.E.
 2. Moche society was stratified and theocratic.
 3. Commoners supplied mit’a labor to the elite while
the elite military leaders and priests lived atop large
platforms and decorated themselves in magnificent
clothing.
 4. Moche artisans were skilled in the production of
textiles, portrait vases, and metallurgy.
 5. Decline can be attributed to a series of natural
disasters and pressure from the warlike Wari people.
 C. Tiwanaku and Wari
 1. Civilization of Tiwanku was located in
Bolivia.
 2. Urban construction consisted of large
terraced pyramid, walled enclosures, and a
reservoir.
 3. Ruled by a hereditary elite.
 4. The Wari had contact with Tiwanaku, but
was a separate culture, was built without
central planning, with different techniques, and
on a much smaller scale than Tiwanaku.
 D. The Inca
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1. Inca empire grew out of the small chiefdom of Cuzco.
2. Key to wealth was its strong military and used it to
expand the traditional exchange system that linked the
Andes together.
3. Inca left local rulers in place and took their heirs to
Cuzco. This created an imperial bureaucracy.
4. Cuzco laid out in the shape of a puma and its palaces
were the scene of rituals, feasts, and sacrifices of textiles,
animals, tribute goods, and the occasional human.
5. Did not introduce new technologies, but made more
efficient use of existing technology to increase the profits
gained by trade. Technology included astronomy, weaving,
copper and bronze metallurgy, and gold and silver working.
6. When the elite fell into civil war in 1525, Inca control over
its vast territories weakened.
V. Comparative Perspectives
 A. Political and Economic Comparisons
 1. The Aztec and Inca Empires shared similarities in
the use of powerful armies, strong economies based
on large workforces, and their dependence on
organized government and religious practices that
connected secular rulers to the gods.
 2. Distinctions were in their systems of distributing
goods and in their management of the empire.
 3. Aztecs used local leaders, while the Inca created a
strong central government administered by trained
bureaucrats.
 B. Imperial Comparisons
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1. Both the Aztec and the Inca were the last in
a line of successive indigenous populations
organized into strong empires from former
collapsed civilizations.
2. The arrival of Europeans ended the cycle
of crises and adjustment in both regions.