| Alternative family | Individuals who live together for economic, political, social, or religious reasons |
| Culture | The behaviors, beliefs, customs, and attitudes of a group of people |
| Deforestation | Cutting down or clearing away forests |
| Extended family | Father, mother, children, and the families of the children when they grow up |
| History | The study of the past |
| Myth | A story told by people to explain their past |
| Nuclear family | Father, mother, and children |
| Rain Forest | Lush green regions that receive more than 140 inches of rain per year |
| Cartographer | Mapmaker |
| Climate | The general pattern of weather in an area over time |
| Diffusion | The spread of ideas, values, languages, and inventions of one culture into another culture |
| Inset | A map that appears within a larger map and shows some of the same area |
| Legend | Explains the symbols used on a map |
| Monsoon | Wind system in Southeast Asia that brings heavy rains |
| Projection | Way of transferring the curved surface of the earth onto a flat map |
| Regions | Areas having similar characteristics that differ from surrounding areas |
| Scale | The relationship between distance on a map and actual distance on the earth |
| Thematic map | Shows information on a special theme or subject |
| Topography | Referring to the surface, or physical, features of an area |
| Archaeology | The recovery and study of artifacts, ruins, bones, and fossils of the past` |
| Artifact | A human-made object of archaeological or historical importance |
| Excavation | The process of digging up the remains of the past |
| Fossil | The remains or imprint of a human, animal, plant, or insect |
| Kitchen midden | Rubbish, including bones and artifacts, left by people of the past |
| Megalith | Large stone used in prehistoric buildings or monuments |
| Oral Tradition | Stories, myths, and legends passed on by word of mouth from generation to generation |
| Prehistory | The history of humans before writing |
| Primary source | Information about people or events recorded at the time of the people or events |
| Radiocarbon dating | A system for determining the age of a once-living remain based on the regular diminishing of carbon over time |
| Sarcophagus | Stone coffin |
| Secondary source | Information about people or events recorded long after the time of the people or events |
| Band | Small, loosely organized groups of perhaps 20 to 30 individuals |
| Glaciers | Huge sheets of ice and snow |
| Hunter-gatherer | People who hunt wild animals and gather wild plants |
| Technology | All the tools, methods, and materials that people use to control and improve their lives |
| Agriculture | Farming |
| Civilization | Complex society with food, labor specialization, government, social levels, and culture |
| Domesticate | Make plants or animals more useful to humans |
| Environment | All the living and nonliving things that make up one’s surroundings |
| Famine | Terrible shortage of food that can cause starvation |
| Irrigation | Bringing water to fields through canals, ditches, or pipes |
| Self-sufficient | Not dependent upon others for survival |
| Shrine | Sacred places where people worship |
| Surplus | Extra |
| Administrator | Manager |
| Artisan | A worker who is skilled at making a particular good by hand |
| Astronomer | Scientists who study and record the movements of stars and planets |
| City-state | A self-governing unit made up of a city and its surrounding villages and farmland |
| Code | A complete and organized set of laws |
| Cuneiform | The earliest type of writing, meaning "wedge shaped" |
| Empire | A nation and the city-states and nations it has conquered |
| Epic | A long poem about a hero |
| Exile | Forced absence from their country |
| Fluvial | Civilization built on a river or in a river valley |
| Nomad | People who move with their flocks and herds |
| Oceanic | Civilization built on an ocean |
| Pictograph | Pictures that stand for ideas or words |
| Plain | An area of flat, open land that is lower than a plateau |
| Plateau | A broad area of high, flat land |
| Polytheism | Belief in many gods |
| Thalassic | Civilization built on a lake or sea |
| Access | Ability to reach |
| Afterlife | Life that continues after death |
| Cataract | Waterfalls and rapids that mark the southern border of ancient Egypt |
| Delta | A triangle of marshy wetlands at the mouth of a river |
| Dynasty | A series of rulers from the same family |
| Embalm | Treat the body to protect it from decay |
| Hieroglyphics | Egyptian writing |
| Mummy | Preserved body (of a person or animal) |
| Obelisk | An enormous granite pillar with pictures and writing engraved on the sides |
| Papyrus | A long, thin reed that grows along the Nile, used for making paper |
| Pharaoh | Originally meaining the palace, later a term for the Egyptian king |
| Tribute | Gifts to a king, ruler, or country |