Unit 1 Topic 2: The Americas Before European Arrival

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from Unit 1 Topic 2: The Americas before European arrival.

Aztecs/Mexica

Civilization in Central America (Mesoamerica) with a capital city called Tenochtitlan; Known for written language, irrigation systems, and human sacrifice.

Maya

Civilization on the Yucatan Peninsula known for cities, irrigation/water storage, stone temples and palaces

Inca

Civilization in the Andes Mountains (present-day Peru); Massive empire known for cultivating mountain valleys and irrigation systems.

Maize Cultivation

Nutritious crop that supported economic development, settlement, irrigation, and social diversification as it spread north into the American Southwest.

Pueblo People

Sedentary population in present-day New Mexico and Arizona; Farmers of maize and other crops who built adobe and masonry homes.

Ute People

Nomadic hunter-gatherer people of the Great Plains and Great Basin regions who lived in small, egalitarian, kinship-based bands.

Chinook People

People of the Pacific Northwest who lived in fishing villages and constructed plank houses from cedar trees, housing up to 70 family members.

Chumash People

People who lived on the coast of present-day California as hunters and gatherers in permanent settlements.

Hopewell People

People of the Mississippi River Valley who lived in towns and traded extensively with other regions.

Cahokia People

People of the Mississippi River Valley with a large settlement led by chieftains who engaged in extensive trade networks.

Iroquois

People of the Northeast who lived in villages and grew crops; three sisters maize, beans, and squash. Lived in longhouses with extended family members. Had a strong confederacy.