Topic 1 Vocabulary: The Early Americas and European Exploration

a thick sheet of ice

• glacier

• surplus

• culture

• tribe

extra; condition that exists when income (or supplies) exceeds spending (or need)

• surplus
• culture
• tribe
• clan

an entire way of life developed by a people

• culture
• tribe
• clan
• League of the Iroquois  

a community of people that share common customs, language, and rituals

• tribe
• clan
• League of the Iroquois  
• civilization

a group of two or more related families

• clan
• League of the Iroquois  
• civilization
• city-state

the alliance of the Iroquois nations

• League of the Iroquois  
• civilization
• city-state
• Renaissance

a society–or a people sharing a language, territory, and economy–that has certain basic features

• civilization
• city-state
• Renaissance
• Silk Road

a political unit that controls a city and its surrounding land

• city-state
• Renaissance
• Silk Road
• colony

the burst of learning in Europe from the late 1300s to about 1600

• Renaissance
• Silk Road
• colony
• circumnavigate

a network of overland trade routes linking China to the Middle East

• Silk Road
• colony
• circumnavigate
• Columbian Exchange