pilli (plural, pipiltin): Nahuatl term for a
noble.
Pleistocene: the geological period of colder
climate that began about 100,000 years ago
and ended about 10,000 years ago.
polygyny: marriage pattern in which one
man has two or more wives simultaneously.
positivism: the ninteenth-century philoso-
phy that maintains that no knowledge is
possible beyond that which can be discov-
ered through empirical facts and hypoth-
esis testing.
Postclassic period: the period from ap-
proximately A.D. 900 to the time of Spanish
contact (ca. 1520).
Preclassic period: same as the Formative
period.
proletariat: wage laborers.
pulque: a native Mesoamerican alcoholic
beverage made from the fermented juice
of the maguey plant (also called agave or
century plant).
reconquista: the process by which Christian
Spaniards reconquered the Iberian Penin-
sula from the Muslim Moors of North
Africa (who had conquered the peninsula
in the early eighth century).
reducción: same as congregación.
repartimiento: in the Colonial period, var-
ious institutions for exploiting Indian
goods, labor, and wealth; a labor draft,
forced distribution of goods, or forced
production of goods.
rural proletariat: individuals from tradi-
tional agricultural rural areas who rely on
wage labor.
secular clergy: Catholic priests who do not
belong to a religious order.
sedentism: a way of life characterized by
permanent or semi-permanent settle-
ments.
semantics: in linguistics, relations among
meanings of different words or grammati-
cal constructions.
538 GLOSSARY
semi-periphery: in world-system theory, the
regions that mediate between core and pe-
riphery, often through trade.
shaman: part-time religious specialist who
possesses magical powers through links
with a supernatural source.
sharecropping: the system by which farm-
ers rent land and pay owners with part of
their harvest.
state: a large, complex society characterized
by social stratification, full-time occupa-
tional specialists, and political and eco-
nomic institutions that allow the central
authorities to monopolize the use of force.
stela (plural, stelae): stone slab erected as a
monument, often sculpted with hiero-
glyphic texts and scenes depicting cere-
monies or mythical events.
subaltern: generally, someone of inferior
status, especially relative to the ruling class.
swidden: slash-and-burn agriculture, an ex-
tensive agricultural method in which the
vegetation of a plot is cut and burned, cul-
tivated until the soil is depleted, and left
fallow to recover before the cycle begins
again.
syncretism: ideas and practices derived
from distinct traditions that are reinter-
preted and transformed during the
process of cultural contact.
syntax: in linguistics, rules governing the
order and use of words.
Tlaloc: Aztec rain god, same as the rain
deity in other regions of Mesoamerica;
Chac (Maya), Cocijo (Zapotec).
tlamene: Nahuatl-derived term for Indian
carriers; they usually employed the tie-
mpline.
tlatoani (plural, tlatoque): Nahuatl term for
the ruler of a town or region (literally,
“speaker”).
tonalli: an individual’s destiny or co-essence
as indicated by the calendar; also a day-sign
in the Aztec 260-day calendar.