Pre-AP World Vocabulary

Question 1

Paleolithic Age

Answer 1

(750,000 BCE - 10,000 B.C.E.) Old Stone Age. A period of time in human history characterized by the use of stone tools and the use of hunting and gathering as a food source.

Question 2

Neolithic Revolution

Answer 2

(10,000 - 8,000 BCE) The development of agriculture and the domestication of animals as a food source. This led to the development of permanent settlements and the start of civilization.

Question 3

Pastoralism

Answer 3

A type of agricultural activity based on nomadic animal husbandry or the raising of livestock to provide food, clothing, and shelter.

Question 4

Foraging

Answer 4

Behavior associated with recognizing, searching for, capturing, and consuming food.

Question 5

Animism

Answer 5

Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.

Question 6

Patriarchal

Answer 6

Relating to a society in which men hold the greatest legal and moral authority.

Question 7

Ziggurats

Answer 7

Temples built by Sumerians to honor the gods and goddesses they worshipped.

Question 8

Cuneiform

Answer 8

A form of writing developed by the Sumerians using a wedge shaped stylus and clay tablets.

Question 9

Pharaoh

Answer 9

A king of ancient Egypt, considered a god as well as a political and military leader.

Question 10

Code of Hamurabi

Answer 10

Set of 282 laws drawn up by Babylonian king Hammurabi dating to the 18th century BC, the earliest legal code known in its entirety.

Question 11

Polytheism

Answer 11

The belief in or worship of more than one god.

Question 12

Hieroglyphics

Answer 12

An ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds.

Question 13

Oracle Bones

Answer 13

The earliest known Chinese writing is found on these from ritual activity of the Shang period.

Question 14

Mandate of Heaven

Answer 14

A political theory of ancient China in which those in power were given the right to rule from a divine source.

Question 15

Monotheism

Answer 15

Belief in one God.

Question 16

Theocracy

Answer 16

A government controlled by religious leaders.

Question 17

Torah

Answer 17

The first five books of Jewish Scripture, which they believe are by Moses, are called this.

Question 18

Hittites

Answer 18

A people from central Anatolia who established an empire in Anatolia and Syria in the Late Bronze Age. With wealth from the trade in metals and military power based on chariot forces, they vied with New Kingdom Egypt over Syria.

Question 19

Phoenicians

Answer 19

A maritime people who built multi-tiered ships and spread their alphabet to others including the Hebrews, Romans, and Greeks.

Question 20

Chaldeans

Answer 20

The new Babylonian led by king Nebuchadnezzar who built the “hanging gardens”.

Question 21

Chavin

Answer 21

A pre-Incan South American civilization developed in Peru; famous for their style of architecture and drainage systems to protect from floods.

Question 22

Olmec

Answer 22

The first Mesoamerican civilization. Between ca. 1200 and 400 B.C.E., these people of central Mexico created a vibrant civilization that included intensive agriculture, wide-ranging trade, ceremonial centers, and monumental construction.

Question 23

Book of the Dead

Answer 23

A collection of spells and prayers that Egyptians studied to obtain life after death.

Question 24

Epic of Gilgamesh

Answer 24

An epic poem from Mesopotamia, and among the earliest known works of literary writing.

Question 25

Egalitarian

Answer 25

A group based on the sharing of resources to ensure success with a relative absence of hierarchy and violence.