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America-Vocab-SS
Study for the my test-30 min a night
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Strip of land that connects two landmasses | Isthmus |
| a region that includes the southern part of mexico and much of Central America | Mesoamerica |
| a culture that shapes and influences the customs and ideas of later cultures | mother culture |
| the earliest known mesoamerican culture which flourished from 1200 to 200 BC and was centered in what is now southeastern mexico | Olmec |
| Having a warm and rainy climate | tropical |
| an area of southeastern mexico that extends into the Caribbean sea and the gulf of mexico | Yucatan Peninsula |
| a book used by early mesoamerican civilizations to record important historical events | codex |
| a mesoamerican civilization which reached its height between 250 and 900 AD | Maya |
| an ancient carved stone marker commemorating an important date or great event | Steles |
| a civilization of nomadic hunters and gatherers who settled in the valley of mexico in the 1200 AD | Aztecs |
| human-made islands created by the Aztecs for planting crops | Chinampas |
| enforced payment or contribution | tribute |
| a runner in the Incan empire who carried messages up and down the length of the empire | chasqins |
| south american Indians who ruled an empire int he Andes mountains of south america from roughly 1200-1500 AD | Inca |
| was a Spanish conquistador who overthrew the Aztec empire | Hernan Cortes |
| the last of the Aztec empire | Montezuma II |
| the ninth Incan ruler who expanded the empire by conquering all of Peru and surrounding lands | Pachacuti |
| Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima | Francisco Pizarro |