Deck 6: Ancient Mesoamerica

Question 1

The calendar round in Mesoamerica did NOT

A) comprise a 52-year cycle.
B) include the ritual calendar of 260 days.
C) include the solar calendar.
D) feature the twelve constellations of the zodiac

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The system of agricultural production used by the Aztecs, which involved the creation of fields in swampy areas, is called

A) slash-and-burn.
B) well irrigation.
C) agricultural terracing.
D) chinampa farming.
E) canal irrigation.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Prior to the establishment of Monte Albán, the largest site in the Valley of Oaxaca with a danzante was

A) San José Mogote.
B) Cuicuilco.
C) San Lorenzo.
D) Tikal.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The Aztec practiced human sacrifice

A) in order to obtain much needed protein.
B) because hearts and blood were needed to maintain the order of the Universe.
C) because they were ordered to by Tlaloc, the goggle-eyed god.
D) as a means of population control

Question 5

Giant stone columns of warriors were found at which site:

A) Teotihuacán
B) Tenochtitlán
C) Tlatilolco
D) Tula

Question 6

The Aztec pochteca were specialists in

A) religion.
B) long-distance exchange.
C) human sacrifice.
D) chinampa farming.

Question 7

Which is true of Monte Albán?

A) It had more temples than any other prehispanic Mesoamerican site.
B) It had a residential pattern of houses built on terraces.
C) It had several large round temples.
D) The first chinampas are found there.
E) It was founded by peoples from Teotihuacán.

Question 8

Which of the following statements best characterizes Teotihuacán?

A) a highly nucleated city built on a grid plan with wide avenues, a market, many temples, and apartment-style dwellings
B) a large urban settlement in central Mexico buried by a volcanic eruption around 1 A.D.
C) a Triple Alliance capital city on an island in Lake Texcoco, surrounded by chinampas
D) a large hilltop settlement with defensive walls and separate neighborhoods, which may have been founded by competing groups who decided to form a confederacy

Question 9

Danzantes are

A) elaborate serpentine masks, which were buried beneath Olmec architecture.
B) Mixtec stone carvings, which probably represent ritual dancing.
C) Maya hieroglyphs related to maize festivals.
D) Monte Albán stone carvings that probably represent captives.

Question 10

We are now beginning to understand that the Maya did all of the following except:

A) engaging in warfare frequently.
B) occupying cities supported by numerous farming villages.
C) maintaining long distance trade connections with Teotihuacan.
D) forging and casting iron

Question 11

The study of the distribution of ancient communities on a landscape falls under the domain of

A) stratigraphic excavation.
B) provenience.
C) physical anthropology.
D) settlement pattern analysis.

Question 12

The talud-tablero style of architecture is typical of the site of

A) San José Mogote.
B) Cuicuilco.
C) Palenque.
D) Teotihuacán.
E) La Venta.

Question 13

The Culhua Mexica, or ____, inhabited the Basin of Mexico in the last years before the Spanish conquest.

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

Question 14

The massive basalt heads found at La Venta are thought to represent

A) were-jaguars.
B) danzantes.
C) portraits of early rulers.
D) captives.

Question 15

La Venta is

A) an Olmec ceremonial center on Mexico's Gulf Coast with a principal occupation from 800-400 B.C.
B) a site in central Mexico with rare examples of round architecture.
C) the source of valuable green obsidian.
D) the largest site in the Valley of Oaxaca before the establishment of Monte Albán.

Question 16

During the period from A.D. 950-1160, the most powerful city in central Mexico was

A) Teotihuacán.
B) Tula.
C) Cuicuilco.
D) Tikal.

Question 17

The following is NOT associated with the Zapotecs:

A) tombs
B) funerary urns
C) conquest glyphs
D) the Street of the Dead

Question 18

The dietary trinity of Mesoamerica consisted of

A) maize, beans, and squash.
B) potatoes, lima beans, and chili.
C) wheat, barley, and lentils.
D) acorn, mesquite pods, and maguey.

Question 19

One of the most important economic activities carried out at Teotihuacán was

A) obsidian working, as shown by the remains of possible obsidian workshops.
B) slash-and-burn agriculture, as shown by the remains of hundreds of chinampas.
C) the carving of jade ceremonial objects, as shown by jade debris and hundreds of broken jade figurines.
D) the production and distribution of fine earthenware ceramics

Question 20

San José Mogote was situated

A) on the Gulf Coast.
B) in the Basin of Mexico.
C) in the Petén.
D) in the Valley of Oaxaca.

Question 21

The Mesoamerican group with the most and longest written inscriptions are the

A) Maya.
B) Aztec.
C) Olmec.
D) Zapotec.
E) Mexica.

Question 22

Describe two kinds of agricultural intensification employed by ancient Mesoamericans.

Question 23

Mural art at Teotihuacán

A) glorified past rulers.
B) depicted ritual feasts and offerings.
C) portrayed major military battles.
D) helped predict eclipses.

Question 24

Select two archaeologists and discuss their contributions to Mesoamerican archaeology.

Question 25

Discuss the principal themes of Classic Maya writing.

Question 26

Three Gulf Coast sites were

A) San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Tres Zapotes.
B) Tikal, Palenque, and Copán.
C) El Mirador, San José Mogote, and Monte Albán.
D) Teotihuacán, Tenochtitlán, and Cuicuilco.

Question 27

The principal theme of Maya inscriptions on carved stone monuments appears to have been

A) accounting.
B) political/dynastic.
C) foretelling the future.
D) keeping track of time.

Question 28

Discuss the importance of systematic settlement pattern survey for highland Mesoamerican archaeology. Would this methodology be useful in other regions of the world?

Question 29

To date, no ball court is known from the site of

A) Chichén Itzá.
B) Monte Albán.
C) Tenochtitlán.
D) Teotihuacán.

Question 30

Discuss diachronic changes in the nature of nonresidential features and architecture in the Valley of Oaxaca.

Question 31

Discuss the past behaviors and processes that account for the cultural unit we know as ancient Mesoamerica.

Question 32

Although exchange linked most Mesoamerican cities with their hinterland, marketing has an especially crucial role at

A) Teotihuacán.
B) Tenochtitlán.
C) Monte Albán.
D) San Lorenzo

Question 33

Discuss the different residential patterns at Monte Albán and Teotihuacán and what interpretations can be drawn from them.

Question 34

Discuss and evaluate the different views of Aztec human sacrifice and cannibalism.