AP US History: Unit 1, Topic 2 – Native American Cultures (Vocabulary Flashcards)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Native American cultures described in Unit 1, Topic 2 notes.

Native American diversity

Pre-European contact Native American peoples organized into a wide range of cultures, settlements, and lifeways depending on region.

Aztecs (Mexica)

Central American civilization in Mesoamerica known for an urban capital, Tenochtitlan, irrigation, writing, and a fertility cult featuring human sacrifice.

Tenochtitlan

Aztec capital situated on Lake Texcoco; at the height of the empire it housed about 300,000 people and served as a major urban center.

Codex Mendoza

16th‑century Aztec manuscript depicting Tenochtitlan and Aztec society, illustrating urban life, administration, and culture.

Maya

Mesoamerican civilization on the Yucatan Peninsula; built large cities, irrigation systems, and monumental temples; rulers believed to be descended from the gods.

Inca

Andean empire in the Andes (Peru); vast territory with around 16 million people and about 350,000 square miles, relying on irrigated agriculture and mountain-valley farming.

Maize (corn)

Nutritious staple crop that spread northward, supporting economic development, settlement, irrigation, and social diversification.

Pueblo people

Southwestern Indigenous community (present-day New Mexico and Arizona); sedentary maize farmers who built adobe and cliff dwellings and organized with offices, religious centers, and craft shops.

Pueblo Bonito

Iconic Pueblo great house in Chaco Canyon, illustrating sedentary Southwest settlements and architecture.

Ute

Nomadic hunter‑gatherers of the Great Plains and Great Basin; lived in small egalitarian kinship-based bands in arid regions.

Chinook

Pacific Northwest coastal people who lived in fishing villages and built cedar plank houses; kinship bands could number up to about 70 members.

Cahokia

Largest pre-Columbian settlement in the Mississippi River Valley; at its height 10–30 thousand people; centralized government with powerful chieftains and extensive trade networks.

Hopewell

Mississippi Valley culture with towns of about 4,000–6,000 people; engaged in extensive trade with regions as far away as Florida and the Rocky Mountains.

Iroquois

Northeast Native American group; lived in longhouses in villages of several hundred; farmers of maize, squash, and beans, with longhouse communities housing 30–50 family members.