Aztec, Maya, and Inca Empires - Introductory

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. deity
    a supernatural being worshipped as controlling the world
  25. dynasty
    a sequence of powerful leaders in the same family
  26. emperor
    the male ruler of an empire
  27. festival
    a day or period of time set aside for celebration
  28. Francisco Pizarro
    Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541)
  29. glyph
    a symbolic character, especially one carved or incised
  30. Hernando Cortes
    Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547)
  31. hieroglyphic
    belonging to a writing system using pictorial symbols
  32. 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
  33. jade
    a semiprecious gemstone that is usually green
  34. kingdom
    the domain ruled by a monarch
  35. litter
    conveyance consisting of a chair or bed carried by bearers
  36. llama
    a cud-chewing, South American animal related to the camel
  37. Machu Picchu
    Inca fortress city in the Andes in Peru discovered in 1911
  38. maize
    corn
  39. 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
  40. Mesoamerica
    Mexico and Central America
  41. Montezuma II
    the last Aztec emperor in Mexico who was overthrown and killed by Hernando Cortes (1466-1520)
  42. noble
    of or belonging to hereditary aristocracy
  43. obsidian
    glass formed by the cooling of lava without crystallization
  44. peasant
    one of a class of agricultural laborers
  45. polytheism
    belief in multiple gods
  46. priest
    a person who performs religious duties and ceremonies
  47. pyramid
    a polyhedron having a polygonal base and triangular sides
  48. Quetzalcoatl
    an Aztec deity represented as a plumed serpent
  49. quipu
    Incan device made of knotted cords for calculating
  50. ritual
    the prescribed procedure for conducting religious ceremonies
  51. sacrifice
    the act of killing in order to appease a deity
  52. slavery
    the practice or system of owning people as property
  53. solar calendar
    a calendar based on solar cycles
  54. stela
    an ancient upright stone slab bearing markings
  55. temple
    a place of worship
  56. terrace
    make land into level shelves, as for cultivation
  57. textile
    artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting fibers
  58. trade
    the commercial exchange of goods and services
  59. tribute
    payment by one nation for protection by another
  60. warrior
    someone engaged in or experienced in warfare
Created on Wed Jan 25 10:30:36 EST 2017 (updated Mon Apr 03 11:53:34 EDT 2017)

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