Write Vocabulary on PAGE 2 chinampas : Artificial islands in Lake Texcoco Conquistadors : Conquerors, especially the 16th-century Spanish explorers who fought and defeated Native American civilizations of Mexico, Central America, or Peru maize : A grain domesticated from wild grasses in southern Mexico seven thousand years ago, which evolved into modern-day corn Mesoamerica : The region of southern Mexico and northern Central America

Quetzalcoatl : The plumed serpent god of the Aztecs smallpox : A deadly disease of humans caused by a highly contagious virus Tenochtitlán : The capital city of Mexico’s powerful Aztec Empire, located where Mexico City now stands Teotihuacános : A tribe of people who lived in the city-state of Teotihuacán located near today’s Mexico City Toltec : A militaristic tribe that established an empire in Mexico’s central highlands in the 10th century

voladores : Mexican performers of an ancient ceremony consisting of an airborne dance Zapotec : An early Mesoamerican culture whose capital city, Monte Albán, lies in the present day Mexican state of Oaxaca Cuzco : The capital of the Inca Empire Manco Inca : The Inca emperor who organized a resistance and fought the Spaniards from 1536 until his death in 1544 Francisco Pizarro : The Spanish conquistador who successfully defeated the Inca Vilcabamba : A heavily forested, remote mountainous area of Peru to which Manco Inca retreated in the midst of the Inca rebellion