The Early Americas
This agricultural breakthrough allowed nomadic hunters to settle down and build the first American civilisations.
What is farming? (corn/maize)
Native tribes living in this flat region relied heavily on the buffalo for food, clothing, tools, and shelter.
What are the Great Plains?
This ancient network of overland trade routes connected East Asia to the Mediterranean region.
What is the Silk Road?
This word summarizes the primary motive driving Spanish explorers to travel to the Americas.
What is Gold? (accept spice, and God)
Formed during ice-ages as sea levels fall.
What is a land bridge?
The Inca used this system of knotted cords to keep detailed records of goods, taxes, and population counts.
What is a quipu?
Southwestern tribes like the Pueblo built multi-storey homes out of this sun-dried clay brick to survive desert heat.
What is adobe?
In Medieval Europe, land was granted by lords in exchange for military service and loyalty under this social system.
What is feudalism?
The global transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and ideas between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
What is the Columbian Exchange?
Some of the first non-native people to discover the American landmass and leave behing records.
Who are the Vikings?
The Aztec constructed these raised roads across water to connect their island capital of Tenochtitlan to the mainland.
What are causeways?
Native cultures in the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys built massive earthen structures for burials and temples, earning them this nickname.
Who are the Mound Builders?
This period of cultural "rebirth" in Europe sparked scientific curiosity and a renewed desire for trade and exploration.
What is the Renaissance?
Indigenous populations were severely reduced after European contact primarily due to a lack of natural immunity against these.
What are Eurasian diseases (e.g., smallpox)?
This navigational tool allowed sailors to determine their latitude at sea by measuring the position of stars.
What is an astrolabe?
To farm on steep Andes mountainsides, the Inca carved flat steps into the rock known as this.
What is a terrace?
Native groups in the Pacific Northwest hosted these to show off wealth.
What is a potlatch?
He ruled a West African empire, famous across the world for its control of gold and wealth.
Who is Mansa Musa?
Although killed in the Philippines, his surviving crew completed the first successful voyage to circumnavigate the globe.
Who is Ferdinand Magellan?
It was invented in 105CE that changed the world, as well as the way knowledge spread.
What is paper?
The Aztec created artificial floating gardens in shallow lake beds to grow crops, known by this term.
What are chinampas?
Five distinct tribes in the Eastern Woodlands formed this famous political alliance to maintain peace and joint defense.
What is the Iroquois League.?
This series of medieval religious wars brought Europeans into contact with Middle Eastern luxury goods, creating a demand for direct trade.
What are the Crusades?
European nations spent over a century searching for a non-existent sea passage through North America to reach Asia directly. They eventually found this instead.
An extra amount of food beyond what is immediately needed, allowing members of a society to specialise in jobs other than farming.
What is a surplus?