Aztecs

Nahuatl

Uto-Aztecan language of Mexico

• codicesBound handwritten volumes
• metateStone grinding platform
• maizeCob-bearing cereal crop

cacao · ballcourt · aqueduct · marketplace · tribute · pictograph · tortilla · tamale · amaranth

macuahuitl

Aztec obsidian-edged war club

• obsidianGlassy igneous rock
• captiveOne held by force
• tacticsMethods to achieve goals

ambush · raid · siege · valor · combat · battlefield · conquest · shield · spear · dart

sacrifice

Giving up something precious

• bloodlettingTherapeutic withdrawal of fluid
• offeringSomething presented or given
• priestOne who performs sacraments

propitiation · incense · copal · flaying · captive · calendar · divination

Montezuma

Aztec ruler, sixteenth century

• tributeOffering of respect
• hegemonyDominant group's control
• expansionIncrease in scope

vassal · province

Quetzalcoatl

Aztec feathered serpent god

• underworldRealm of the departed

Cortes

Iberian legislative assemblies

• conquistadorSpanish colonial soldier-explorer
• smallpoxDeadly pustular viral infection
• SpanishLanguage of Iberia

invasion · colonization · defeat · fall · resistance · encomienda · subjugation · Alvarado · cavalry · firearms

• Americas HistoryAmerican Revolution, colonial era, colonization, Columbus, conquistadors
• historical peoplesBabylonians, Celts, Egyptians, Gauls, Goths
• Lost CivilizationsAtlantis, Pompeii, Troy, Babylon, Mycenae
• Mesoamerican peoplesOlmec, Toltec, Mayan, Zapotec, Nahuatl
• historyancient civilizations, past events, historian, epochs, era
• ancient civilizationsAncient Egypt, Sumer, Ancient Greece, Egypt, Persia