W13 L2 Ancestral Puebloan and Mesoamerican Cultures

This set covers key vocabulary and concepts regarding the Ancestral Puebloan culture of the American Southwest and the Olmec and Teotihuacan cultures of Mesoamerica.

Ancestral Puebloan Culture

A culture located in the Four Corners region (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico) that existed circa $900-1350$ CE, known for masonry structures and cliff dwellings.

Mesa Verde

A site in Colorado occupied ca. $600-1300$ CE characterized by mesa-and-canyon topography and an altitude of more than $2,600$ meters.

Kivas

Subterranean, circular rooms used by the Ancestral Pueblo culture for ceremonial purposes.

Cliff Palace

A major Ancestral Puebloan structure at Mesa Verde built between ca. $1000-1300$ CE, featuring $150$ rooms and reaching $1-4$ stories.

Pueblo Bonito

A Chaco Culture site in New Mexico dating to ca. $1000$ CE, containing $600-800$ rooms and stone masonry.

Archeoastronomy

The study of solar and lunar alignments, which were significant in the design of the architectural complexes at Chaco Canyon.

Chaco Culture

A pre-Columbian cultural complex in northwestern New Mexico that thrived between the mid-$9$th to early $13$th centuries and reached its height between about $1020$ and $1110$.

Olmec Culture

One of the first Mesoamerican civilizations, dating from $1500-400$ BCE, with major sites including San Lorenzo and La Venta.

Great Pyramid

A ceremonial structure at La Venta, Mexico (ca. $1000-600$ BCE), that stands approximately $100$ ft. tall.

Serpentine

The material used for the mosaic pavement in "Offering 4" at the Olmec site of La Venta.

Teotihuacan Culture

A major urban city-state in Mexico existing circa $200$ BCE - $900$ CE, with a population between $125,000$ and $200,000$.

Teotihuacán (Etymology)

A name given by the later Aztecs meaning "the place where the gods were created."

Pyramid of the Moon

A Teotihuacan structure measuring $168 imes 149$ meters and $43$ meters tall, designed to imitate the sacred mountain Cerro Gordo.

Pyramid of the Sun

A structure built over a tunnel and cave at Teotihuacan, standing circa $200+$ ft. high and $720$ ft. wide.

Talud-tablero

An architectural style at Teotihuacan featuring a sloped wall (talud) and a vertical panel (tablero).

Temple of the Feathered Serpent

A $7$-tiered structure at Teotihuacan also known as the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, featuring talud-tablero architecture and representations of the Rain/Storm God.