meso america Flashcards
andes
a major mountain system that runs the length of the Pacific coast of South America. It extends more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km), with a continuous height of more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Its highest peak is Aconcagua.
quechua
a member of an American Indian people of Peru and parts of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador.
the language or group of languages of the Quechua.
ADJECTIVE
relating to the Quechua people or their language.
sacrifice
an act of slaughtering an animal or person or surrendering a possession as an offering to God or to a divine or supernatural figure:
“they offer sacrifices to the spirits” · [more]
synonyms: ritual slaughter · offering · oblation · immolation
VERB
offer or kill as a religious sacrifice:
“the goat was sacrificed at the shrine”
synonyms: offer up · immolate · slaughter
francisco pizarro
Francisco Pizarro-Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541).
stone heads
A memorial stone set at the head of a grave.
2. also head stone Architecture See keystone.
maize
technical or chiefly British term for corn.
longcount
a system of dating in the Maya calendar according to the time in numbers of baktuns, katuns, tuns, uinals, and days elapsed since an arbitrary point prior to 3000 b.c.
machu pichu
a fortified Inca town in the Andes Mountains in Peru that the invading Spaniards never found. It is noted for its dramatic position, perched high on a steep-sided ridge.
copan
an ancient Mayan city, the ruins of which are in western Honduras near the Guatemalan frontier.
cusco
Cusco, often spelled Cuzco, is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cusco Province. In 2013,
popol vuh
An epic first written down in the sixteenth century but probably based on older traditional material, describing the cosmogony, mythology, and history of the Quiché Maya of Guatemala.
caral
a religious folk song or popular hymn, particularly one associated with Christmas:
“singing Christmas carols around the tree” · [more]
synonyms: Christmas song · hymn · canticle
VERB
(caroling)
sing Christmas songs or hymns, especially in a group:
“a night of Christmas caroling was traditional” · [more]
sing or say (something) happily:
“she was cheerfully caroling the words of the song”
synonyms: Christmas song · hymn · canticle
calendar
a chart or series of pages showing the days, weeks, and months of a particular year, or giving particular seasonal information.
observatory
a room or building housing an astronomical telescope or other scientific equipment for the study of natural phenomena.
a position or building that gives an extensive view.
pyramids
a monumental structure with a square or triangular base and sloping sides that meet in a point at the top, especially one built of stone as a royal tomb in ancient Egypt.
an object, shape, or arrangement in the form of a pyramid:
“a pyramid of logs”
a system of financial growth achieved by a small initial investment, with subsequent investments being funded by using unrealized profits as collateral.
meso america
region of Central America and southern North America that was occupied by several civilizations, especially the Maya, in pre-Columbian times
glyph
a hieroglyphic character or symbol; a pictograph:
“flanges painted with esoteric glyphs”
architecture
an ornamental carved groove or channel, as on a Greek frieze.
olmec
a member of a prehistoric people inhabiting the coast of Veracruz and western Tabasco on the Gulf of Mexico (c. 1200–400 bc), who established what was probably the first Meso-American civilization.
a people living in the same general area as the prehistoric Olmec during the 15th and 16th centuries.
aztec
a member of the American Indian people dominant in Mexico before the Spanish conquest of the 16th century.
the extinct language of the Aztecs, a Uto-Aztecan language from which modern Nahuatl is descended.
hernan cortes
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century.
montezuma
Moctezuma II (c. 1466 – 29 June 1520), otherwise spelled as a number of variant spellings including Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma and referred to in full by early Nahuatl texts as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin (Moctezuma the Young), was the ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlan, reigning from 1502 to 1520.
yucatan peninsula
a peninsula in southeastern Mexico that lies between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
tikal
an ancient Mayan city in northern Guatemala. It flourished ad 300–800.
chichenitza
a site in northern Yucatán, Mexico, the center of the Mayan empire after ad 918 until about 1200. Its pyramids, temples, and other structures have been partly restored.
lake texcoco
Lake Texcoco was a natural lake within the Anáhuac or Valley of Mexico. Lake Texcoco is most well known as where the Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan, which was located on an island within the lake.
tenochtitlan
the ancient capital of the Aztec empire, founded c. 1320. In 1521, the Spanish conquistador Cortés destroyed it and established Mexico City on its site.
chavin
the ancient capital of the Aztec empire, founded c. 1320. In 1521, the Spanish conquistador Cortés destroyed it and established Mexico City on its site.
inca
a member of a South American Indian people living in the central Andes before the Spanish conquest.
the supreme ruler of the Inca.
