Mapping Mesoamerica
The body of water located north of Mesoamerica.
What is the Gulf of Mexico?
The volcanic material used to make daggers and arrowheads.
What is obsidian?
In addition to death or servitude, an unusual punishment practiced by Maya society.
What is a haircut?
The main purpose of the Mexica's Flower Wars.
What is to take prisoners?
The name of the disease brought by the Spaniards that decimated Tenochtitlán's population by ~40%.
What is smallpox?
A natural sinkhole or pit that exposes groundwater when limestone bedrock collapses. The Maya believed them to be portals to the underworld, and used them as sources of freshwater.
What is a cenote?
The recovery period of slash & burn agriculture to allow soil to recover.
What is crop rotation? OR What is fallow land?
TRIPLE PLAY!
What are the Pre-classic, Classic, and Post-Classic periods.
DAILY DOUBLE!
What is a "Macuahuitl"?
The military tactic employed by Hernán Cortés during his return to Tenochtitlán, utilizing brigantines (warships) to control the lake, and splitting his forces into three regiments to block the causeways.
What is a siege?
The type of geography the Mexica resided in, characterized by high elevation, mountainous regions, and numerous lakes.
What is highlands plateau?
The Nahuatl term for a professional transporter. Trained to carry up to 50 pounds of material across vast distances.
What is "Tlamemeh"?
The way the Maya traded goods and services without moneys, with the value of products based on the distance transported from its origin.
What is the barter system?
QUADRUPLE PLAY!
What are earthquakes, floods, droughts, and volcanic eruptions?
The name of the Mexica king of Tenochtitlán that Hernán Cortés takes prisoner during his conquest of Mesoamerica.
Who is Moctezuma II?
DAILY DOUBLE!
What is Karst topography?
The process by which atmospheric gas is converted to nutrients for soil, performed by the beans of the "3 sisters".
What is nitrogen fixation?
The interconnecting belief of the structure of the universe, the gods, and the spiritual forces that inhabit it.
The god of war and the sun told the Mexica to look for this sign during their nomadic period.
What is an eagle battling a snake on a cactus?
The percentage of Spaniards that made up Hernán Cortés' army.
What is ~5%? OR What is ~10%?
The two types of forest of the Yucatan Peninsula, defined by the amount of precipitation that occurs throughout the year.
What are Dry Forest and Moist Forest?
The two major sites associated with the Olmecs.
What are San Lorenza and La Venta?
The process of designing and managing the use of land within a city for development and meeting community needs.
What is zoning? OR What is city planning?
Two ritual processes Mexica shamans claimed "fed" the gods, imbuing them with the strength to battle the forces of darkness and prevent the world from ending.
What are bloodletting and heart extraction?
Hernán Cortés' Maya and Mexica translators, acquired in Cozumel and Potonchan respectively.
Who are Geronimo de Aguilar and La Malinche?