Mayan city-states - Located in the dense forests of Petén
The Petén is the northern region of Guatemala, mostly consisting of deep rainforest. Most of the Mayan city-states where located here.
Beringia - a land bridge connecting Asia and Alaska during the Ice Age
This is the land bridge that was used by the Asian peoples who crossed to the Americas, and first inhabited this continent.
Quipu - a rope with knotted cords that served as a calculator
The Quipu was the item used to calculate in the Incan Empire, in Central South America.
Hohokam - a Native American society located in the Southwest
The Hohokam specifically lived in what is today Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora. They adapted to the desert climate by large irrigation system.
Hernán Cortés - a Spanish soldier who defeated the Aztec
Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador who arrived in Mexico in 1519, and defeated the Aztec Empire with the help of other tribes.
Hunter-gatherers - moved constantly in search of food
A Hunter-gathering society is one that does not practice agriculture, they live off hunting wild game, and gathering fruits and vegetables. These societies are always nomadic, or semi-nomadic, staying in a specific place only as long as there is reliable food supply. If the food supply runs out, they move elsewhere.
Christopher Columbus - landed on the island of Hispaniola in 1492
Columbus was a Spanish sailor who landed on Hispaniola in 1492. He is credited with discovering the Americas for European society.
Adobe - A mudbrick of Spanish origin
Adobe is the Spanish word for mudbrick. Is a type of brick widely used in Spanish architecture, and was transferred to the Spanish Americas.
Olmec - developed a trading empire that flourished between 1200 B.C. and 400 B.C.
The Olmec is one of the earliest Native American civilizations. They flourished in Mexico, and were in that sense the precursos of the Aztecs. Their empire was located in the modern Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco.
Francisco Pizarro - a Spanish soldier who defeated the Inca
Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador who arrived in modern-day Peru in 1532. He defeated the Inca Empire, and its last emperor: Atahuallpa.
