Americas Vocab Quiz

Aleutian Islands

Lands that were once connected as a bridge that crossed the Bering Strait, allowing humans to migrate from Asia to the Americas

Olmec Civilizations

Earliest civilizations in Mesoamerica, known as "rubber people"

Cacao

Raw form of chocolate beans used by some Mesoamerica civilizations as currency

Obsidian

Glass formed when lava comes into contact with water, used by American civilizations for weapons and jewelry

Chavin civilization

One of the earliest South American civilizations, located in the Andes Mountains

Llama

First domesticated animal in South America, first used by the Chavin

Maya civilization

Classical Mesoamerican civilization located on the Yucatan Peninsula, used slash and burn farming, organized into city-states

slash and burn agriculture

Agricultural technique that involves the cutting and burning of trees and plants to create fields and replenish the land with nutrients, used by the Maya

Stelae

Memorial pillars built by the Mayan to commemorate great leaders or mark ceremonial occasions

Human sacrifice

Lacerating, disemboweling, and decapitating humans in order to appease the gods

Teotihuacan Civilization

Mesoamerican civilization centered around a lead city, considered to be the earliest American urban center

Toltec Civilization

Formed by a post-classical Mesoamerican warrior tribe centered around the capital of Tula

Quetzalcoatl

Toltec god; known as the "feathered serpent"

Aztec Civilization

Post-classical Mesoamerican civilization centered around the capital city of Tenochtitlan

Codices

Aztec pictographic records

Tenochtitlan

Capital city of Aztecs, created in the middle of a lake

Chinampas

"floating gardens", method of creating small farming plots by draining water from swampy farms

tribute system

Aztec system of collecting payments from conquered groups in the form of crops

Huitzilopochtli

Chief Aztec god, to whom the Aztecs sacrificed thousands of humans

Moche Civilization

South American civilization which rose to power following the collapse of the Chavin in the Andes

Inca Civilization

Most powerful South American civilization, rose to power following the Moche collapse

Cuzco

Capital city of the Incan civilization, located in the Andes Mountains of South America

Khipus

Record keeping system used by the Incas in which knots on cords represented numerical values

mit'a labor system

Incan system of forced communal labor, based on the organization of the ayllus

Ayllus

Local communities within the Incan labor system

Quechua

Incan spoken language

Anasazi

North American farming settlements in Southwestern United States

Pueblos

Permanent stone and adobe buildings which created multi-storied tenement housing

Kivas

Enclosures within Anasazi pueblos where rituals would take place

Cahokia

North American mound-builder settlements along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers