Deck 8: Peoples and Civilizations of the Americas

Question 1

What caused the collapse of Teotihuacan ca. 650 CE?

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.

Answer 1

It is unclear what forces brought about the collapse.

Question 2

The Maya believed that the very survival of humanity was threatened every years.

A)two
B)twenty-two
C)fifty-two
D)200
E)2,000

Answer 2

fifty-two

Question 3

The Chavin dominated a densely populated region between 900 and 250 BCE that included large areas of

A)the Peruvian coastal plain.
B)the Sierra Madres.
C)the southern Brazilian coast.
D)the Caribbean islands.
E)None of these is correct.

Answer 3

the Peruvian coastal plain.

Question 4

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.
E)easy access to watering crops.

Question 5

What type of writing did the Maya have?

A)alphanumeric
B)cuneiform
C)petroglyphs
D)none
E)a form of hieroglyphic inscription

Question 6

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 7

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

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

Question 8

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 9

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 these are correct.
E)None of these is correct.

Question 10

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
E)None of these are correct.

Question 11

Religion in Teotihaucan was

A)polytheistic.
B)monotheistic.
C)Christian.
D)secular.
E)atheist.

Question 12

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 13

Which of the following groups was regarded by the Aztecs as a powerful and influential predecessor?

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

Question 14

Teotihuacan was located near what modern-day city?

A)Panama City
B)Mexico City
C)San Salvador
D)Santa Domingo
E)Guatemala City

Question 15

The first urban center of early Olmec civilization was

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

Question 16

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 17

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 18

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 BCE
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 19

The period from 1500 BCE to 200 CE in Mesoamerica is known as the

A)preclassical.
B)classical.
C)postclassical.
D)neoclassical.
E)None of these is correct.

Question 20

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
E)Cattle

Question 21

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 22

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 23

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

A)wari.
B)moche.
C)ayllu.
D)mita.
E)None of these are correct.

Question 24

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

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

Question 25

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

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

Question 26

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 27

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

A)climate change
B)warfare
C)plague
D)cannibalism
E)encroachment of the Spanish

Question 28

The Toltec influence gradually expanded to include modern day

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

Question 29

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 30

Llamas and alpacas were valued by the Incas for

A)wool.
B)food.
C)transportation.
D)All of the these are correct.
E)None of these are correct; they were sacred to Incan religion.

Question 31

Which of the following served as religious centers and pilgrimage sites?

A)Chavin de Huantar
B)Pueblo Bonito
C)Cahokia
D)The chief Olmec cities
E)All of these are correct.

Question 32

The Andean word for clan was

A)ayllu.
B)altepetl.
C)kormire.
D)matrilinear village.
E)mita.

Question 33

The text considers what kind of nonwritten activity to be a historical text?

A)Glyphs
B)Burials
C)Wars
D)Trade
E)Agriculture

Question 34

Tula and the Toltec state 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 these is correct.

Question 35

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.
E)None of these is correct.

Question 36

From around 100 CE the culture spread through the Ohio River Valley.

A)Anaszi
B)Mesa Verde
C)Hopewell
D)Mississippian
E)Cahokia

Question 37

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 38

The Moche civilization was probably destroyed by

A)natural disasters.
B)conquest.
C)religious ritual.
D)failure of trade.
E)social unrest.

Question 39

The Toltec political capital was

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

Question 40

Moche civilization was highly stratified and

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

Question 41

Describe the role of the militarism in the Toltec state.

Question 42

Instead of one unified political entity, Maya civilization developed as a complex network of .

Question 43

What was the Maya view of the cosmos?

Question 44

The two Andean cities that preceded the Incan civilization were

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

Question 45

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

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

Question 46

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

Question 47

What was the Maya writing system?

Question 48

Describe the importance of ayllu and mita in the development of the early Andean civilizations.

Question 49

Instructions: Answer the following question(s).
As Mesoamerican populations grew, political institutions gained in power. How did the power of these institutions affect Mesoamerican society?

Question 50

Which empire had its capital at Chan Chan?

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

Question 51

The "floating gardens" built at Teotihuacan were called .

Question 52

The Aztecs later claimed ties to what postclassical state?

Question 53

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 54

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

Question 55

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

Question 56

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.
E)None of these is correct.

Question 57

To what social class did Wac-Chanil-Ahua belong?

Question 58

The and their neighbors in the Southwest maintained a relatively egalitarian social structure.