| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Mesoamerica | the name for areas of Mexico and Central America |
| Olmec | known for their architecture – the giant heads |
| Teotihuacán | "Place of the Gods" |
| Yucatan Peninsula | the geographic area where the Mayans lived |
| Maya | lived in the Yucatan Peninsula; played the ball game; supreme god was Itzamna |
| Tikal | major Mayan city |
| Hieroglyphs | picture writing system |
| Toltec | warlike people who had a capital at Tula |
| Chichen Itza | major city/capital of both the Toltec and Maya |
| Aztec | major Mesoamerican civilization with a capital at Tenochtitlan; taken over by the Spaniards led by Hernan Cortes |
| Huitzilopochtli | the Aztec sun god |
| tribute | goods or money paid by conquered peoples to their conquerors |
| Quetzalcoatl | the feathered serpent god that the Aztecs thought would come back someday |
| Hernan Cortes | the Spaniard who brought down the Aztecs; the Aztecs mistakenly thought he was Quetzalcoatl |
| Montezuma | Aztec ruler |
| maize | corn |
| Moche | one of the first civilizations in South America; they had no written language; pottery shows they were warlike |
| Inca | an empire that spoke Quechua; built Machu Picchu; and was taken over by the Spaniards led by Francisco Pizarro |
| Cuzco | capital of the Inca |
| Pachacuti | ruler of the Inca |
| Quechua | language of the Inca |
| Machu Picchu | old peak; Incan city that was used for priests and nobles |
| quipu | Incan system of writing |
| Francisco Pizarro | the Spaniard who took over the Inca |
| Atahuallpa | victorious son of the deceased emperor who was captured and assassinated by Pizarro |
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