Social Studies Flashcards
_________ crossed the ice bridge to get to America.
Paleo Indians
Where did the Mayans live?
Yucatan Peninsula
When the Europeans arrived, most of the Mayans lived where?
Guatamala
How did the Mayan leaders get their position?
They were inherited
Describe where the Mayans lived.
Hot
very few animals
not a lot of rivers
Describe the Mayan Empire
There was never a Mayan Empire
What do you call the time in which the Mayans had many accomplishments.
Classical Age
What did the Mayans do in order to gain protection from drought, famine and war?
Offered sacrifices
Describe the Mayan hierachy
King Priest Nobles Farmers Slaves
What as the main Mayan diet?
Maze
The Mayan number system was based on what number?
20
What housing structure did most Mayans live in?
huts
Where did Master Mayans live?
Temples
What was the name of the Mayan ball game and describe how it was played.
Por-a-tok, if you lost you died, Prisoners were used to play the game
Describe the Mayan belief system.
They believed in many gods (sun, corn, moon)
Majority of the Mayan people did what for a living.
Farmers
Where did the Aztecs live?
Mid-1100’s AD they migrated to central Mexico
What is the Aztec capital? When was it founded?
Tenochtitlan, 1325 AD
Where was the Aztec religion formed?
Mexico
Did the Aztecs sacrifice to gods?
yes, they used sharp blades and sacrificed people
Describe the Aztec diet.
Lime, tomatoes, cashews, potatoes
Describe the Aztec conflict with the Mayans.
There was no conflict, the Aztec were peaceful people
How did the Aztec expand their land?
The were worriers and fought
What did the earliest Americans do for a living?
they were hunter-gatherers
What were the earliest Americans main crop?
Maze
How did the Anasazi grow their crops?
they used irrigation to increase food production in the dry climate
Describe the Anasazi housing
- They lived in pit houses dug into the ground
- Later they built pueblos
- often built complex houses on cliff walls to defend against attacks
- they built kivas (sacred areas) at the centers of the community
What may have caused the Anasazi to abandon their villages?
Drought, disease and raids by other tribes
Describe how the Native Americans of the North were different than the ones in the South in how they survived.
The North Americans of the North were hunters and fishers, the ones of the South were hunters and fishers and also gatherers
Totem pole
carved of animals or ancestor spirits
Describe how the Native Americans of the Great Plains survived
They were nomadic hunters, survived on abundant wildlife of grasslands
How did the Native Americans of Great Plains live?
lived in tepees made of animal hides
Who were the Iroquios League
an alliance of many groups that defended one another
Where did the Incas live?
Andes Mountains of Peru
What was the name of the capital of the Inca City?
Cuzco
List the areas that were a part of the Incas Empire.
Northern Ecuador
Central Chile
What was the name of the Inca language?
Quechua
List two technological advancement of the Incas?
calculator
paved roads
What was Mita?
mandatory public service in the society of the Inca Empire, people took turns providing labor for free (eg. building highways)
How did the Incas keep records?
a system called quipu using knotted strings
What animals did the Incas use as a beast of burden?
Llamas, alpaca and guinea pigs
Why did the Incas create terraces?
built to make most efficient shallow soil to enable irrigation of crops
When did Africa first attract the Europeans? What attracted them to Africa?
15th century when Vasco da Gama rounded the cape of Good Hope