Aztec, Maya, and Inca Empires - Middle School and High School

Calling all budding archaeologists! Explore ancient civilizations by learning these terms related to the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas. This vocabulary list covers religion, government, architecture, and other aspects of these ancient cultures, as well as the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. adobe
    clay from which bricks are made
  2. alliance
    an agreement establishing an association between groups
  3. alpaca
    domesticated mammal with long silky fleece
  4. Andes
    a mountain range in South America running 5000 miles along the Pacific coast
  5. archaeologist
    an anthropologist who studies prehistoric culture
  6. astronomy
    the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies
  7. Aztec
    a member of the Nahuatl people who established an empire in Mexico that was overthrown by Cortes in 1519
  8. barter
    exchange goods without involving money
  9. bola
    a rope with weights attached to the ends
  10. bureaucracy
    a government administered primarily by nonelective officials
  11. cacao
    a tropical tree producing beans used to make chocolate
  12. calendar
    a system of timekeeping that defines divisions of the year
  13. canal
    long and narrow strip of water for boats or for irrigation
  14. causeway
    a road that is raised above water, marshland, or sand
  15. ceremony
    a formal event performed on a special occasion
  16. chief
    the head of a tribe or clan
  17. city-state
    an independent nation comprised of a single town
  18. civilization
    a society in an advanced state of social development
  19. codex
    a written manuscript, typically from ancient times
  20. commoner
    a person who holds no title
  21. conquest
    the act of defeating and taking control of
  22. conquistador
    a 16th-century Spanish conqueror of Peru and Mexico
  23. culture
    all the knowledge and values shared by a society
  24. Cuzco
    a town in the Andes in southern Peru
  25. deity
    a supernatural being worshipped as controlling the world
  26. dynasty
    a sequence of powerful leaders in the same family
  27. emperor
    the male ruler of an empire
  28. festival
    a day or period of time set aside for celebration
  29. Francisco Pizarro
    Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541)
  30. glyph
    a symbolic character, especially one carved or incised
  31. Hernando Cortes
    Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547)
  32. hieroglyphic
    a writing system using picture symbols
  33. Huayna Capac
    the Incan ruler under whom the Incan empire reached its widest extent (died in 1525)
  34. Inca
    the small group of Quechua living in the Cuzco Valley in Peru who established hegemony over their neighbors in order to create an empire that lasted from about 1100 until the Spanish conquest in the early 1530s
  35. inti
    the basic unit of money in Peru
  36. jade
    a semiprecious gemstone that is usually green
  37. kingdom
    the domain ruled by a monarch
  38. litter
    conveyance consisting of a chair or bed carried by bearers
  39. llama
    a cud-chewing, South American animal related to the camel
  40. Machu Picchu
    Inca fortress city in the Andes in Peru discovered in 1911
  41. maize
    corn
  42. Maya
    a member of an American Indian people of Yucatan and Belize and Guatemala who had a culture (which reached its peak between AD 300 and 900) characterized by outstanding architecture and pottery and astronomy
  43. measles
    a contagious viral disease marked by distinct red spots
  44. Mesoamerica
    Mexico and Central America
  45. Montezuma II
    the last Aztec emperor in Mexico who was overthrown and killed by Hernando Cortes (1466-1520)
  46. Nahuatl
    a member of any of various Indian peoples of central Mexico
  47. noble
    of or belonging to hereditary aristocracy
  48. obsidian
    glass formed by the cooling of lava without crystallization
  49. Olmec
    a member of an early Mesoamerican civilization centered around Veracruz that flourished between 1300 and 400 BC
  50. peasant
    one of a class of agricultural laborers
  51. peccary
    nocturnal gregarious pig-like wild animals of North America and South America
  52. polytheism
    belief in multiple gods
  53. priest
    a person who performs religious duties and ceremonies
  54. pulque
    fermented Mexican drink from juice of various agave plants especially the maguey
  55. pyramid
    a polyhedron having a polygonal base and triangular sides
  56. Quechua
    a community of South American Indians in Peru who were formerly the ruling class of the Incan Empire
  57. Quetzalcoatl
    an Aztec deity represented as a plumed serpent
  58. quipu
    Incan device made of knotted cords for calculating
  59. ritual
    the prescribed procedure for conducting religious ceremonies
  60. sacrifice
    the act of killing in order to appease a deity
  61. slavery
    the practice or system of owning people as property
  62. smallpox
    a contagious viral disease caused by the Variola major virus
  63. solar calendar
    a calendar based on solar cycles
  64. stela
    an ancient upright stone slab bearing markings
  65. temple
    a place of worship
  66. terrace
    make land into level shelves, as for cultivation
  67. textile
    artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting fibers
  68. Toltec
    a member of the Nahuatl speaking people of central and southern Mexico
  69. trade
    the commercial exchange of goods and services
  70. tribute
    payment by one nation for protection by another
  71. vicuna
    small wild cud-chewing Andean animal similar to the guanaco but smaller; valued for its fleecy undercoat
  72. warrior
    someone engaged in or experienced in warfare
  73. Yucatan Peninsula
    a peninsula in Central America extending into the Gulf of Mexico between the Bay of Campeche and the Caribbean Sea
  74. Zapotec
    a member of a large tribe of Mesoamericans living in southern Mexico whose civilization flourished around 300 to 900
Created on Wed Jan 25 09:18:21 EST 2017 (updated Mon Apr 03 11:58:40 EDT 2017)

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