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Ancient Civilizations of the Americas
The Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Inca and other great societies of Mesoamerica and South America.
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74 cards
- MesoamericaTermRegion of Mexico and Central America where several great civilizations arose
- OlmecTermEarliest known Mesoamerican civilization, about 1200-400 BCE, known for giant stone heads
- Colossal headsTermHuge carved stone heads made by the Olmec
- Mother cultureTermNickname for the Olmec, who influenced later peoples
- Maize (corn)TermThe most important crop in Mesoamerica
- MayaTermCivilization of southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, with city-states and writing
- Classic MayaTermThe peak of Maya civilization, about 250-900 CE
- TikalTermLarge Maya city in Guatemala with tall temple pyramids
- Chichen ItzaTermMaya city in Yucatan with the pyramid El Castillo
- PalenqueTermMaya city in southern Mexico known for its Temple of the Inscriptions
- Pakal the GreatTermLong-ruling king of Palenque
- Maya glyphsTermWriting system combining pictures and sounds
- Maya calendarTermUsed interlocking cycles including a 260-day count and a 365-day year
- Long CountTermMaya system for counting days from a starting date
- Maya zeroTermMaya used a symbol for zero in their math
- Maya astronomyTermObserved Venus, the Sun and Moon carefully
- Popol VuhTermK'iche' Maya sacred book with creation stories
- CacaoTermMaya and Aztec used cacao beans for chocolate drinks and as money
- Ball gameTermMesoamerican game with a rubber ball played in stone courts
- Maya collapseTermMany southern lowland cities were abandoned after about 800-900 CE
- TeotihuacanTermHuge city near Mexico City with the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, flourished 100-550 CE
- ToltecTermCulture whose capital, Tula, flourished after Teotihuacan
- Aztec (Mexica)TermPeople who founded Tenochtitlan around 1325
- TenochtitlanTermAztec capital on an island in Lake Texcoco, now Mexico City
- ChinampasTermFloating garden plots the Aztec built in shallow lakes
- CausewayTermRaised road across water, used to reach Tenochtitlan
- Templo MayorTermGreat temple in the center of Tenochtitlan
- Moctezuma IITermAztec ruler when the Spanish arrived in 1519
- Hernan CortesTermSpanish conquistador who led the conquest of the Aztec Empire
- La MalincheTermNahua woman who served as Cortes's interpreter
- Triple AllianceTermAztec league of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan
- TributeTermGoods demanded from conquered peoples
- NahuatlTermAztec language, still spoken by many today
- TlaxcalansTermNeighbors of the Aztecs who allied with the Spanish
- Fall of Tenochtitlan (1521)TermSpanish and allies captured the city after a long siege and an outbreak of smallpox
- QuetzalcoatlTermFeathered serpent god
- HuitzilopochtliTermAztec god of the sun and war
- TlalocTermAztec god of rain
- CodexTermFolded book painted by Aztec or Maya scribes
- Inca EmpireTermLargest empire in the Americas, in the Andes, peaked in the 1400s-1500s
- CuscoTermInca capital in Peru
- PachacutiTermRuler who began the Inca's great expansion in the 1430s
- Sapa IncaTermTitle of the Inca emperor
- Machu PicchuTermInca mountain estate in Peru, built about 1450
- QuipuTermInca record-keeping device of knotted strings
- Inca road systemTermThousands of miles of roads across the Andes
- ChasquiTermInca relay runners who carried messages
- Mit'aTermInca labor service owed to the state
- Terrace farmingTermStepped fields on mountainsides in the Andes
- PotatoTermCrop first domesticated in the Andes
- LlamaTermPack animal of the Andes
- AlpacaTermAnimal raised for soft wool in the Andes
- QuechuaTermLanguage of the Inca, still spoken by millions
- AtahualpaTermLast independent Inca emperor, captured by Pizarro in 1532
- Francisco PizarroTermSpanish conquistador who defeated the Inca
- Inca bridgesTermRope suspension bridges woven from grass
- Norte Chico (Caral)TermOne of the oldest civilizations in the Americas, in coastal Peru, about 3000 BCE
- ChavinTermEarly Andean culture known for temple center Chavin de Huantar
- NazcaTermPeruvian culture famous for giant desert line drawings
- Nazca LinesTermHuge figures of animals and shapes etched into the desert
- MocheTermPeruvian culture known for pottery and gold work
- TiwanakuTermAndean city near Lake Titicaca
- Lake TiticacaTermHigh-elevation lake on the Peru-Bolivia border
- Mound BuildersTermAncient peoples in what is now the US who built earthen mounds
- CahokiaTermLargest city north of Mexico before 1492, near St. Louis
- Ancestral PuebloansTermSouthwestern builders of cliff dwellings
- TainosTermIndigenous people of the Caribbean who met Columbus
- Land bridge theoryTermIdea that early people crossed from Asia to the Americas over Beringia
- BeringiaTermLand that once connected Siberia and Alaska
- Clovis pointsTermStone spear tips found at sites across North America
- DomesticationTermMesoamericans bred corn from a wild grass called teosinte
- Turquoise and jadeTermHighly valued stones in Mesoamerica
- ObsidianTermVolcanic glass used for sharp tools
- SacrificeTermReligious offerings, including human offerings, were part of Aztec and Maya ritual
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