Mayan Life
This Maya drink was enjoyed thick and frothy, often combined with chili peppers, honey, or water.
What is chocolate?
Large structures built for the gods, and where humans
What are pyramids?
These giant, organized gatherings, like the one at Tlatelolco, were where thousands of Aztecs met to trade goods.
What are markets?
The most important Aztec god, who was the god of the sun and war.
Who is Huitzilopochtli?
The Inca built these step-like platforms on the sides of mountains to create flat land for farming.
What is terrace farming?
This largest group in Maya society was responsible for growing all the food, like maize, and providing the labor to build the great temples and palaces.
Who were the farmers (or commoners)?
These natural sinkholes provided the Maya with fresh water in the porous limestone of the Yucatán Peninsula and were also seen as sacred sites.
What are cenotes?
These man-made "floating gardens" were built on Lake Texcoco to grow crops and feed the massive population of Tenochtitlan.
What are chinampas?
The name of the alliance formed by the city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan, which became the foundation of the Aztec Empire.
What is the Triple Alliance?
This was the most important staple crop for the Inca, who learned to grow hundreds of varieties in the high-altitude mountains.
What are potatoes?
Large structures built for the gods, and where humans
What are pyramids?
The Maya used this agricultural technique to clear dense jungle by cutting down trees and plants and then setting fire to the area to fertilize the soil.
What is slash-and-burn agriculture?
This staple crop, which the Aztecs believed was a gift from the gods, was the most important food in their diet and was used to make tortillas.
What is maize (or corn)?
The magnificent capital city of the Aztec Empire, built on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco.
What is Tenochtitlan?
This famous "lost city" is a perfect example of Inca engineering, built high in the Andes mountains.
What is Machu Picchu?
Along with being used to make a prized chocolate drink, these beans were so valuable they were often used as a form of currency (money) in the marketplace.
What are cacao beans?
The Maya civilization was primarily located on this large peninsula in southeastern Mexico, known for its flat, limestone landscape.
What is the Yucatán Peninsula?
The Aztecs believed their sun god, Huitzilopochtli, needed this to stay strong and rise every day.
What is human sacrifice (or blood)?
This was the form of tax or payment that conquered city-states were forced to pay to the Aztec Empire, often in goods like food, feathers, or gold.
What is tribute?
The name for the Inca labor tax, where commoners paid the government by working on state projects for a part of the year.
What is the mita?
The complex Maya writing system used hundreds of these picture-symbols to represent words or syllables.
What are hieroglyphs (or glyphs)?
This dark volcanic glass, found in the Maya highlands, was extremely valuable because it could be chipped to make razor-sharp tools and weapons.
What is obsidian?
This was the title for the Aztec emperor, who was treated as a god and held supreme power over the empire.
What is the Huey Tlatoani (or "Great Speaker")?
This famous "feathered serpent" god was worshipped by the Aztecs and many other Mesoamerican cultures.
Who is Quetzalcoatl?
The title of the all-powerful Inca emperor, who was believed to be a living god and the "Son of the Sun."
Who is the Sapa Inca?