Vocabulary Mission #1 Prehistory and Native American History before European Contact (30,000 B.C. – A.D. 1492)

Radiocarbon Dating Definition: – Method of determining how old biological objects are by measuring the radioactivity left in a special type of carbon.

Ice Age Definition: – A period of extremely cold temperatures when part of the planet’s surface was covered with massive ice sheets.

glacier Definition: – A huge ice sheet.

Nomad Definition: – A person who continually moves from place to place, usually in search of food.

Agricultural Revolution Definition: – Period when early Americans learned how to plant and raise crops.

maize Definition: – One of the first crops grown by early Americans, known today as corn.

civilization Definition: – A highly organized society marked by knowledge of trade, government, the arts, science, and, often, written language.

obsidian Definition: – A dark glass formed by the cooling of molten lava.

kiva Definition: – Circular ceremonial room built by the Anasazi.

Pueblo Definition: – Spanish for village, term used by early Spanish explorers to denote large housing structures built by the Anasazi.

kachina Definition: – A good spirit that the Pueblo people believed brought messages from the gods to their town each year.

Slash-and-burn agriculture Definition: – Farming technique in which land is cleared and made fertile by cutting down and burning forests.

longhouse Definition: – Large, rectangular building with barrel-shaped roofs covered in bark, used by some Native Americans.

wigwam Definition: – Conical or dome-shaped dwelling built by Native Americans using bent poles covered with hides or bark.

Kinship group Definition: – Large group of extended families.

Feudalism Definition: – Political system in which powerful leaders gave land to nobles in exchange for pledges of loyalty and service.

manorialism Definition: – Economic system in which peasants provide services to a feudal lord in exchange for protection.

Renaissance Definition: – French for rebirth, a period in Europe from 1350 to 1600 during which a rebirth of interest in the culture of ancient Greece and Rome occurred.