| A | B |
|---|
| Tenochtitlan | City built by the Aztecs on an island in a lake, now the site of Mexico City in 1325 |
| Montezuma II | emperor of the Aztecs who came to power in 1502 |
| Hernan Cortes | Leader of Spanish expedition to the Valley of Mexico that conquered the Aztecs |
| Valley of Mexico | A mountain basin about 7,500 feet above sea level near Lake Texcoco |
| Lake Texcoco | Lake in the Valley of Mexico (now drained and no longer in existence) |
| chinampas | raised garden beds where Aztec people grew a portion of their food crops |
| causeways | a raised road (usually) to get around water or wet ground |
| basin | a bowl-shaped depression in the surface of the land |
| tribute | forced payment, in the Aztec empire it was corn, jade, and gold |
| serfs | landless workers who labored in the fields of the nobles and could not move off the land |
| Quetzalcoatl | Plumed serpent god |
