MesoAmerica Learning Contract

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Across
  1. 2. A traditional Japanese gate, usually found at the entrance to a Shinto shrine, marking the boundary between the sacred space and the profane world.
  2. 5. The largest empire in pre-Columbian America, located in the Andes Mountains of South America, known for its highly centralized government, extensive road systems, and lack of a writing system.
  3. 7. A narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas; specifically, the Isthmus of Panama or Central America that connects North and South America.
  4. 9. A record-keeping device used by the Incas consisting of a main cord with smaller, knotted strings attached, used to record numerical values and likely other information.
  5. 10. The capital city of the Aztec Empire, founded in 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco, which is now the site of modern-day Mexico City.
  6. 11. A Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico from 1300 to 1521, forming a powerful empire (Triple Alliance) known for its capital Tenochtitlan, engineering, and religious practices.
  7. 12. A Mesoamerican civilization (c. 2000 BCE–1697 CE) located in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras, renowned for its advanced writing system, art, architecture, mathematics, and astronomy.
  8. 13. "Floating gardens" created by the Aztecs, which were artificial islands constructed by piling mud and vegetation on rafts to increase farmland in the shallow lakes of the Valley of Mexico.
Down
  1. 1. A tiered, tower-like structure with multiple eaves common to Japanese Buddhist temples, often used to house sacred relics.
  2. 3. A major mountain range along the western coast of South America, which served as the home and logistical challenge for the Incan Empire.
  3. 4. An agricultural technique involving cutting "steps" into steep mountainsides to create flat land for farming, used extensively by the Inca to grow crops in the Andes.
  4. 6. The capital city of the Incan Empire, located in modern-day Peru.
  5. 8. The native, animistic religion of Japan that focuses on the worship of kami (spirits/deities) found in nature and ancestors.
  6. 11. The belief that non-human entities—including animals, plants, rocks, rivers, and weather systems—possess a distinct spiritual essence or soul.