The+Americas


 * E || * It is speculated about that when the great Anasazi adobe town at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico was abandoned and the Toltec Empire fell,trade in local turquoise ended.
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 * S || * Some of the burial sites include well-produced pottery and other goods, and some burials seem to have been accompanied by ritual executions or sacrifices of servants or wives.
 * Each city ward was controlled by a kin group that cared for its temples, shrines, and palaces.
 * When the empire was just beginning it was a world of political maneuvers and state marriages, competing powers and shifting alliances
 * An intrusive and militant group, the Aztecs were distrusted and disliked by the dominant powers of the area.
 * Their reputation of being tough warriors and fanatical followers of their gods to whom they offered human sacrifices to made them both valued and feared.
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 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">P || * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">They claimed authority on the basis of their military power and their connections to Toltec culture.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Droid Serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Their fighting skills could be put to use, and this made them attractive as mercenaries and allies.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Droid Serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I || * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Droid Serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Toltec Empire was a very flourishing empire who started out as mercenaries and soon emerged on the political scale but eventually collapsed in the hands of invaders.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Droid Serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Toltec created an empire that extended over much of central Mexico, and their influence spread from their capital, Tula, to areas as far as Guatemala.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Droid Serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Toltec influence spread northward as well. Obsidian was mined in northern Mexico, and the Toltecs may have traded for turquoise in the American Southwest.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Droid Serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The empire was destroyed by nomadic invaders from the north, who sacked Tula.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Droid Serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">R || * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Droid Serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Aztecs believed in human sacrifice like their predecessors had.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Droid Serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The purpose of the Temples was for ceremonies of human sacrifice. ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I || * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Droid Serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Many of the people that were fighting for political power spoke Nahuatl, the language that the Toltecs had spoken.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Droid Serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This fact made their rise to power and their eventual claims to legitimacy more acceptable.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Droid Serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Courier New; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">T || * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> ||