Deck 8: Peoples and Civilizations of the Americas

Question 1

​The makers of the "giant head" carvings in Mesoamerica were part of which civilization?​

A) Olmec
B) Toltec
C) Zapatac.
D) Oaxacan
E) ​Chavin

Answer 1

Olmec

Question 2

Which of the following groups was the earliest Mesoamerican civilization?

A) Toltecs
B) Olmec
C) Maya
D) Aztecs
E) Oaxacans

Answer 2

Olmec

Question 3

The cultural core of early Olmec civilization was located at​

A) San Lorenzo and La Venta.
B) La Venta.
C) Teothuacan.
D) Tres Zapotes.

Answer 3

San Lorenzo and La Venta.

Question 4

The feathered serpent culture god Quetzalcoatl was believed to be

A) god of the sun
B) god of the storm
C) god of fertility
D) god of eternal life
E) god of agriculture and the arts.

Question 5

Which Mesoamerican group practiced human sacrifice in the region of the Yucatan peninsula?

A) Maya
B) Anasazi
C) Olmec
D) Toltec
E) All of these

Question 6

The Chavin dominated a densely populated region between 900 B.C.E. and 250 B.C.E. that included large areas of:

A) the Peruvian coastal plain
B) the Andean foothills
C) the southern Brazilian coast
D) a and b above
E) b and c above

Question 7

Scholars refer to the period 1500 B.C.E.to 200 C.E. in Mesoamerica as the preclassical period. The most important civilization in this period was the

A) Olmec
B) Maya
C) Aztec
D) Anasazi

Question 8

What type of writing did the Maya have?

A) Alphanumeric
B) Cuneiform
C) Petroglyphs
D) None
E) a form of hieroglyphic inscription

Question 9

Women in Maya society were

A) Granted rights only while serving in temples.
B) Rulers by ancient tradition and ritual
C) Allowed to live in segregated communities
D) Not allowed any rights in the patrilinear society
E) Central to the religious and economic life of every home

Question 10

Urban architecture of Teotihuacan was dominated by

A) merchant access
B) proximity to water
C) religious architecture
D) surrounding agricultural fields
E) military fortifications

Question 11

When the Maya captured commoners, they typically enslaved them for hard labor, while this group almost always became sacrificial victims.

A) all prisoners of war
B) drafted commoners who "lost" the lottery
C) slaves who were old or no longer valuable
D) captured nobility from other areas

Question 12

Religion in Teotihaucan was:

A) polytheistic
B) monotheistic
C) Christian
D) Secular
E) Atheist

Question 13

Which was not part of the Maya reckoning of time?

A) The ritual calendar of 260 days, with 13 months of 20 days
B) The solar calendar of 365 days in 18 months of 20 days, plus five bad days
C) The long count calendar which began in 3114 B.C.E.
D) A lunar calendar of 344 days per year in 13 months of 28 days, with an extra month added in once every four years
E) They didn't use any of these.

Question 14

Though Maya society was organized in this family system, some rulers traced their lineage from both males and females.

A) Matrilineal
B) Patrilineal
C) Unilateral
D) Communal parenting
E) Dictatorship

Question 15

What caused the collapse of Teotihuacan ca. 650 C.E.?

A) Lack of fortification left them open to conquest by the Spanish.
B) Volcanic activity
C) Rival cities in competition for resources
D) Governmental corruption
E) It is unclear what forces brought about the collapse.

Question 16

Chinampas were raised fields constructed along lakesides in Mesoamerica which provided the benefit of:

A) organic agriculture.
B) centralized farming space.
C) taking up less habitable space for humans and livestock
D) year-round agriculture was possible.
E) easy access to watering crops

Question 17

First bred in the mountainous regions of Peru, these animals were the only domesticated beasts of burden in Mesoamerica.

A) llama
B) dogs
C) horses
D) oxen

Question 18

Giant Olmec heads sculpted from basalt and sometimes standing 11 feet tall, are believed to represent:

A) rulers
B) warriors
C) ballplayers
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 19

What type of agriculture was practiced by the Maya in the cooler highlands?

A) Slash and burn
B) Three-field crop rotation
C) Terraced landscaping and irrigation
D) None; they relied on trade for economic development
E) Swidden

Question 20

What were the main dietary staples among the Maya?

A) Grain
B) Corn and beans
C) Fish
D) Dairy products and meat from livestock
E) Potatoes and manioc

Question 21

The Andean mountain agriculture supported which products?

A) Quinoa and potatoes
B) Corn and beans
C) maize, cotton and fish
D) Grains and dairy products
E) Meat, grains, and potatoes

Question 22

Which of the following groups developed based on long-distance trade?

A) Anasazi
B) Hopewell
C) Mississipian
D) Hohokam
E) Chumash

Question 23

Located near the modern Mexican city of Puebla, this state developed at about the same time as Teotihuacan.

A) Anasazi
B) Lima
C) Cholula
D) Chichen Itza
E) none of the above

Question 24

The Moche civilization was probably destroyed by

A) weather.
B) conquest.
C) religious ritual.
D) failure of trade.
E) earthquakes.

Question 25

The apex of Toltec power coincided with the development of an alliance with this state.

A) Teotihaucan
B) Texcoco
C) Culhuacan
D) Tikal
E) Tula

Question 26

The Toltec influence - extending from their capital of Tula - gradually expanded to include modern day:

A) Arizona.
B) Peru.
C) Brazil.
D) Central America.

Question 27

Andean civilization was

A) centralized and urban.
B) isolated and mountainous.
C) a center of trade and high-yield agriculture.
D) a major fishing enterprise.
E) in the lowlands with fertile plains for farming.

Question 28

Cahokia was

A) a Maya city.
B) a Mound Builder city.
C) the center of Four Corners Pueblo peoples.
D) in the Andes.
E) a pyramid in Mexico.

Question 29

Labor in Andean civilization was divided according to

A) ethnicity.
B) gender.
C) class.
D) the will of the overlord.
E) levels of skill.

Question 30

The Tula and Toltec states went into steep decline as a result of internal power struggles and:

A) external military threat from the north.
B) famine resulting from crop failure.
C) natural disasters.
D) disease.
E) none of the above.

Question 31

The Andean labor system based on shared obligations to help kinsmen was called:

A) wari
B) moche
C) ayllu
D) mita

Question 32

Some scholars claim that the similarities in decorative motifs, architecture and urban planning between the Maya and the Toltec was because the Maya were conquered by the Toltec, while more recent scholarship suggests:

A) Religious priests on pilgrimage fostered the exchange.
B) They were linked by long-term cultural exchanges.
C) Exchanges of elite family members occurred.
D) Attacks by other states caused the interactions and similarities.

Question 33

The important family structure in Andean civilization was the

A) ayllu.
B) altepetl.
C) kormire'.
D) matrilinear village.
E) mit'a.

Question 34

One of the earliest examples of chiefdoms in North America was with the

A) Anaszi.
B) Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellers.
C) Hopewell.
D) Mississippian culture.
E) Cahokia.

Question 35

The major states in the postclassic periods were those of the

A) Toltecs and Aztecs
B) Aztecs and Incans
C) Moche and Anasazi
D) Hopewell and Olmec
E) Chavin and Moche

Question 36

Social and political organization in the North American tribes was dependent on

A) conquest.
B) tribute systems.
C) chiefdoms.
D) thanes.
E) shamans.

Question 37

What factor most likely led to the abandonment of Chaco Canyon?

A) Weather
B) Warfare
C) Plague
D) Cannibalism
E) Encroachment of the Spanish

Question 38

The Anasazi lived in these structures, as pictured in the textbook.

A) kivas.
B) pueblos.
C) mound houses.
D) cliff dwellings.
E) yurts.

Question 39

Llamas and alpacas were valued by the Incas for

A) wool.
B) food.
C) transportation.
D) all of the these.
E) none of these; they were sacred to Incan religion.

Question 40

Moche civilization was highly stratified and

A) democratic.
B) oligarchic.
C) a military dictatorship.
D) a monarchy.
E) theocratic.

Question 41

Identify the following term(s).
Moche

Question 42

Identify the following term(s).
llama

Question 43

Identify the following term(s).
Anasazi

Question 44

The two Andean cities that precede the Incan civilization are

A) Chanchan and Teotihuacan.
B) Wari and Tiwanaku.
C) Tenochtitlan and Toledo.
D) Kilwa and Mombasa.
E) Dos Pilas and San Lorenzo.

Question 45

After 900 c.e. and surviving for over 400 years, this empire controlled 600 miles of the Pacific coast from Ecuador to central Peru.

A) Toltec
B) Chimu
C) Tula
D) Cuzco
E) Lima

Question 46

Identify the following term(s).
Chavin

Question 47

Identify the following term(s).
Maya

Question 48

Identify the following term(s).
mit'a

Question 49

Identify the following term(s).
chinampas

Question 50

Identify the following term(s).
Teotihuacan

Question 51

Identify the following term(s).
Chimú

Question 52

One of the essential technological and agricultural breakthroughs for the Tiwanaku was/were:

A) dams and dikes.
B) advanced accounting system.
C) raised fields and irrigation ditches.
D) oxen and other beasts of burden.

Question 53

As Mesoamerican populations grew, political institutions gained in power. How did the power of these institutions affect Mesoamerican society?

Question 54

Identify the following term(s).
Olmec

Question 55

Identify the following term(s).
chiefdom

Question 56

Wari clearly shared elements of culture and technology with which state?

A) Tiwanaku
B) Tula
C) Tenochtitlan
D) Teotihuacan
E) Lima

Question 57

Identify the following term(s).
Toltecs

Question 58

Identify the following term(s).
Wari

Question 59

Identify the following term(s).

-Tiwanaku

Question 60

Identify the following term(s).
ayllu

Question 61

Using Map (in the textbook) 8.5, explain the importance of the three zones of geography (coastal, foothills, mountains) in the development of the early South American civilizations.

Question 62

Describe the importance of ayllu and mit'a in the development of the early Andean civilizations.

Question 63

Using Map (in the textbook) 8.1, describe the geographic similarities and differences between the Olmec and the Chavin civilizations.

Question 64

Explain the development of the Anasazi and the Hopewell cultures in North America. What aspects were similar and where did they differ?

Question 65

What indications are present in the story of Lady Wac-Chanil-Ahua's marriage that indicate social standing of her family? How does this demonstrate the competition for resources in the Americas?

Question 66

The first apartment-type living structures were found in _______________.

Question 67

Mesoamerican cities were among the greatest in the world. Describe Teotihuacan as well as Tula, and the other great cities described in the chapter. What made them great? Describe a city near to where you live and compare it to Mesoamerican cities.

Question 68

What was the influence of religion on politics in the Mesoamerican world?

Question 69

How does geographic conditioning influence the different technologies found in the regions of Mexico, Central America and the Andes?

Question 70

Using Map (in the textbook) 8.3, examine the relationship between the Toltec state and the Mayan cultural areas of the Yucatan peninsula.

Question 71

The primary reason for the achievements of the classic era was _______________.

Question 72

Using Map (in the textbook) 8.2, describe the role geography played in the fact that the Maya never developed a unified and integrated state.

Question 73

Compare the technologies used in different regions of MesoAmerica.

Question 74

Looking at the plazas of Teotihaucan and Tikal shown in pictures on 199 and 201 respectively, what role does religion play in contributing to the urban architecture?

Question 75

What were the cultural and technological contributions of the Maya?

Question 76

Using Map (in the textbook) 8.4, describe the various North American civilizations and what role geography and topography played in their development.

Question 77

What were the major differences between the Maya and Toltec civilizations?

Question 78

What was the Maya view of the cosmos?