World History: Patterns of Interaction: Chapters 15–16

In many African societies, families are organized in groups called lineages. The members of a lineage believe they are descendants of a common ancestor.

In some African societies, lineage groups took the place of
rulers. These societies, known as stateless societies, did not have a centralized system of power.

Members of a patrilineal society trace their ancestors through their fathers. Inheritance passes from father to son.

In a matrilineal society, children trace their ancestors through their mothers. Young men from a matrilineal culture inherit land and wealth from their mother’s family. However, even in a matrilineal society, men usually hold the positions of authority.

Families displayed their rank and prosperity in an elaborate ceremony called the potlatch. In this ceremony, they gave food, drink, and gifts to the community.

By the A.D. 900s, the Anasazi were living in pueblos, villages of large, apartment-style compounds made of stone and adobe, or sun-baked clay.

Common among Native American clans was the use of totems. The term refers to a natural object with which an individual, clan, or group identifies itself.

Maya writing consisted of about 800 hieroglyphic symbols, or glyphs. Some of these glyphs stood for whole words, while others represented syllables.

The Maya used their writing system to record important historical events, carving their glyphs in stone or recording them in a bark-paper book known as a codex.

The city’s most valuable trade item was obsidian, a green or black volcanic glass found in the Valley of Mexico and used to make razor-sharp weapons.

Over the years, the Aztecs gradually increased in strength and number. In 1428, they joined with two other city-states—Texcoco and Tlacopan—to form the Triple Alliance.

For numerical information, the Inca created an accounting device known as the quipu, a set of knotted strings that could be used to record data.