Deck 14: The Americas to the Fifteenth Century

Question 1

When Pachacuti Inca instituted the practice of split inheritance in the 1450s,he ensured that Peru would become

A) divided.
B) weakened.
C) an empire.
D) a kingdom.
E) more unified.

Answer 1

an empire.

Question 2

In the Americas,maize (corn)

A) was one of the "three sisters" of early agriculture.
B) could only support a small family.
C) was, along with chiles and pumpkins, one of the earliest cultivated foods.
D) became domesticated at Tehuacán, near modern Mexico City, about 1500 B.C.E.
E) was cultivated in pits dug into the ground.

Answer 2

was one of the "three sisters" of early agriculture.

Question 3

Which of these did the Inca NOT develop?

A) roads
B) a military
C) monumental architecture
D) writing
E) irrigation systems

Answer 3

writing

Question 4

Compare and contrast the Maya,Teotihuacan,Aztec,and Incan empires.

Question 5

The later Mayan civilization seems to have been centered around

A) Mexico City.
B) Mexico's west coast.
C) Tel Amarna.
D) Teotihuacán.
E) the Yucatan Peninsula.

Question 6

Elaborate on the significance of trade for North American civilizations.

Question 7

In what major ways did North American and South American civilizations differ?

Question 8

The most notable accomplishment of the Maya was in the science of

A) astronomy.
B) geography.
C) horticulture.
D) botany.
E) chemistry.

Question 9

Mayan ruins have been compared to that of

A) Sumeria.
B) China.
C) India.
D) Egypt.
E) Japan.

Question 10

Although the name "Teotihuacán" means "Place of the Gods," the city actually

A) contained no major religious structures.
B) provided homes even for ordinary people such as farmers.
C) was not used as a residence by the priests.
D) consisted only of several barrios.
E) existed exclusively as a hub of commerce.

Question 11

Compare and contrast the development of the Aztec and Incan Empires,how do you think this aided/hindered the conquest of these peoples by the Spaniards.

Question 12

The non-ethical,fear-inspiring religion of the Mayans has been compared to that of

A) Egypt.
B) the Aztecs.
C) the Hebrews.
D) Sumeria.
E) the Indus valley.

Question 13

The Mayan civilization of Mexico

A) remains obscure because its written language has not been deciphered.
B) was more advanced in the area of mathematics than was Europe at the time.
C) never reached the level of advancement as that of the earlier Olmecs.
D) has now had its entire written language deciphered.
E) at one time reached a population of approximately 48 million people.

Question 14

Which of the following Meso American civilizations do we have the most information on?

A) Aztecs
B) Anasazi
C) Inca
D) Maya
E) Teotihuacan

Question 15

Mayan religion contained all of the following except

A) a heaven.
B) a hell.
C) a cosmology.
D) ethics.
E) priests.

Question 16

Mayan cities probably served mainly as centers of

A) religion and government.
B) trade and commerce.
C) transportation hubs.
D) communication.
E) learning and religion.

Question 17

Discuss the role of geography and the environment on early American civilizations.

Question 18

The Moche in South America

A) practiced metallurgy.
B) made unusually realistic pottery.
C) created elaborate ceremonial centers.
D) All of the options are correct.
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 19

The Inca leaders most often maintained control of those they conquered by

A) making them move to unfamiliar areas.
B) taxing them heavily.
C) placing military forces over them.
D) exacting military service from them.
E) stamping out armed resistance before it could get a strong foothold.

Question 20

Explain the significance of Chaco Canyon.

Question 21

Your text asserts that one of the greatest achievements of the Incan period was

A) their intensive and very successful agricultural system.
B) the fortress-city of Machu Picchu.
C) their system of roads, which was the greatest in the western hemisphere.
D) the complete unification of their widespread empire.
E) the construction of Cuzco, built completely of stone but without mortar.

Question 22

At the bottom of the social hierarchy in Aztec society were

A) women.
B) merchants.
C) warriors.
D) serfs.
E) priests.

Question 23

The basic unit of Incan society was the ____________________.

Question 24

The Aztec were probably the most accomplished pre-Columbian culture in the area of

A) military organization and culture.
B) mathematics.
C) architecture.
D) commerce.
E) the establishment of centers of learning.

Question 25

The Cahokia civilization was

A) related to the Mississippian civilization.
B) derived from the ancestral Puebloan civilization.
C) founded by the Toltecs.
D) based primarily on hunting and gathering.
E) centered in the Four Corners region.

Question 26

The Hopewell tradition is known for all of the following EXCEPT

A) they did not farm.
B) they engaged in trade from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico.
C) they were a diverse group of societies.
D) they had craftspeople living within their societies that created beautiful works of art.
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 27

The kivas were

A) hunting tools.
B) storage containers.
C) ball courts.
D) underground ceremonial centers.
E) agricultural tools.

Question 28

The Aztecs believed that human sacrifices were necessary for the

A) sun god to continue to bless their crops.
B) gods to give them victory against their enemies.
C) moon to continue its orbit.
D) rains to fall.
E) children to be born healthy.

Question 29

The Hohokam civilization

A) are one of the Woodland civilizations in North America.
B) had ball courts similar to Mesoamerican courts.
C) apparently only ate large mammals.
D) did not farm.
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 30

Which of the following was not true of Pueblo Bonito?

A) It was the largest of Chaco Canyon's Great Houses, with over 600 rooms.
B) It is believed that Pueblo Bonito was used for ceremonial and astronomical purposes.
C) It contained two dozen kivas, or stone altars.
D) Some of the Great Houses, including Pueblo Bonito, may have stood as much as five stories high.
E) The Great Houses were constructed over a period of about three centuries.

Question 31

Which of the following statements was true of Aztec society?

A) Officials of the emperor were wealthy landowners who purchased their offices so that they could then govern much like European feudal lords.
B) The majority of Aztecs were serfs and slaves, though those numbers fluctuated on a regular basis due to warfare.
C) Warriors recruited from the ranks of freemen could, after capturing at least four prisoners for ritual sacrifice, begin to keep some of the spoils of war for themselves.
D) Those who cared for the fields and the empire's network of roads were exempted from military service.
E) From decoded Aztec written records, we have learned that Aztec women had much more freedom than did many European women living during the same time period.

Question 32

Which of the following was an explanation for the end of Cahokia?

A) Environmental degradation
B) Overpopulation
C) Climatic change
D) All of the options are correct.
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 33

____________________ was the language of the Inca Empire.

Question 34

Some of the features of the ancient Incan society that are similar to those of modern America included

A) a highly regimented government.
B) a very strong class system.
C) a respect for written history.
D) elements of a welfare state.
E) the growing importance of the written and spoken languages.

Question 35

Aztec religion can best be described as

A) mathematical.
B) intellectual.
C) mystical.
D) bloody.
E) spiritual.

Question 36

The Aztec method of rule over subject peoples was

A) assimilation.
B) shared administration.
C) extermination.
D) tolerance.
E) terror.

Question 37

Aztec religion,society and government were uniquely shaped by ____________________.

Question 38

One would have traveled to Chaco Canyon to

A) gain information on lunar cycles.
B) live as a Pueblo.
C) be in a regional center.
D) participate in a religious ceremony.
E) all of the options are correct

Question 39

From artifacts found in Chaco Canyon,scholars theorize that Chaco was

A) a center for religious rituals.
B) a regional trade center.
C) a source of turquoise.
D) both a trade center and a source of turquoise.
E) both a religious and a trade center.

Question 40

____________________ was the mysterious mountaintop Inca city discovered in 1911.

Question 41

The largest and most important mound-builder settlement is ____________________,which is located near ____________________ in Illinois.

Question 42

The ____________________ in ____________________ is the site of the Mayan site,Chichén Itzá.

Question 43

Teotihuacan's ____________________ of the ____________________ is larger than Egypt's Great Pyramid.

Question 44

____________________ was the New World's largest city in the 1400s.

Question 45

Upper class Aztec women appear to have had more ____________________ and ____________________ than women in Europe at the same time.

Question 46

The two cradles of agriculture in the Americas were in ____________________ and ____________________.