Early American Civilizations Flashcards

Flashcards related to the civilizations of North and South america

Eastern Woodlands

The land in eastern North America from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico where farming villages appeared around 1000 B.C.

Hopewell people

Also known as the Mound Builders, they were located in the Ohio River valley and extended their culture along the Mississippi River. They built large, elaborate earth mounds used as tombs or for ceremonies.

Mississippian culture

A culture that thrived in the Mississippi River valley around A.D. 700, practicing full-time farming and growing corn, squash, and beans.

Cahokia

A major city in the Mississippian culture, located near modern-day East St. Louis, Illinois, featuring a burial mound more than 98 feet high.

Iroquois

People who lived to the northeast of the Mississippian culture in villages with longhouses surrounded by wooden fences.

Longhouse

Iroquois houses built of wooden poles covered with sheets of bark, housing about a dozen families.

Three Sisters

The most important crops grown by Iroquois women: corn, beans, and squash.

Iroquois League

An alliance of five Iroquois groups created by Deganawida and Hiawatha to establish the Great Peace.

Grand Council

A council of 50 Iroquois leaders who met regularly to settle differences within the Iroquois League.

Clan

A group of related families within each Iroquois group.

Anasazi

Peoples of the Southwest who established an extensive farming society and built pueblos using stone and adobe.

Pueblos

Multistoried structures built by the Anasazi that housed many people.

Pueblo Bonito

A large complex in Chaco Canyon that contained some 800 rooms housing more than 1,000 people.

Mesa Verde

A large community formed in southern Colorado by the Anasazi, featuring remarkable buildings in the recesses of cliff walls.

Mesoamerica

The areas of Mexico and Central America that were civilized before the Spaniards arrived.

Maya

A sophisticated civilization that flourished in Mesoamerica between A.D. 300 and 900, building splendid temples and pyramids and developing an accurate calendar.

Itzamna

The Maya god of knowledge and wisdom.

Palenque

A powerful Maya city-state where the ruler Pacal claimed to be descended from the gods.

Toltec

A warlike people who rose to prominence in central Mexico around A.D. 1000, building their empire with Tula as its capital.

Tenochtitlán

The capital city of the Aztec, established in 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco.

Chinampas

Swampy islands crisscrossed by canals that provided water for crops, built by Aztec farmers.

Huitzilopochtli

The Aztec god of war and of the sun.

Quetzalcoatl

An important Aztec god who, according to tradition, had left his homeland in the tenth century, promising to return in triumph.

Moche

An early civilization that developed near the Pacific coast of South America around A.D. 300, known for its urban center, irrigated fields, and pottery.

Inca

A civilization that emerged in the area of Cuzco in the late 1300s and developed a highly centralized state and empire.

Pachacuti

The Inca ruler who launched a campaign of conquest in the 1440s, bringing the entire region under Inca control and creating a highly centralized state.

Quechua

The language taught to local inhabitants after an area was placed under Inca control.

Quipu

A system of knotted strings used by the Inca to keep records.