Deck 1: Ancient America

Question 1

The central Andean area in Inca times was characterized by

A) large amounts of arable land.
B) a very limited number of edible plants.
C) a rich variety of environments, making possible extensive food production.
D) a forbidding environment of coastal deserts, bleak plateaus, and snowcapped mountains.

Answer 1

a rich variety of environments, making possible extensive food production.

Question 2

The emperor credited with many reforms and innovations in the Inca state is

A) Topa Inca.
B) Pachacuti Inca.
C) Atahualpa.
D) Huascar.

Answer 2

Pachacuti Inca.

Question 3

Many activities thought to reflect the benevolence of the Inca state actually were

A) invented by pro-Inca chroniclers writing after the conquest.
B) traditional village cooperative functions taken over by the Inca state for its own ends.
C) examples of the "divide-and-rule" policy of Inca rulers.
D) designed to prevent rebellions on the part of conquered peoples.

Answer 3

traditional village cooperative functions taken over by the Inca state for its own ends.

Question 4

Our knowledge of Maya history has been much enhanced by the discovery

A) that many of the sculptured glyphs record important events in the lives of Maya rulers.
B) of native codices containing much historical material.
C) that Maya writing was truly syllabic and could easily be deciphered.
D) of a Spanish translation of Maya oral historical traditions.

Question 5

The Incas possessed

A) pictographic writing.
B) alphabetic writing.
C) a system of communicating by signs.
D) a record-keeping device called the quipu.

Question 6

The Postclassic period in Ancient America was characterized by the

A) rise of genuine cities and chronic warfare.
B) introduction of maize and other domesticated plants.
C) decline of commerce.
D) growing importance of the priestly class.

Question 7

One revolutionary result of the development of agriculture was

A) the appearance of the state.
B) the feasibility of the division of labor.
C) an improvement in the status of women.
D) the abandonment of hunting.

Question 8

A serious weakness of slash-and-burn farming was that it

A) led to overpopulation.
B) required a strong central authority.
C) soon exhausted the soil.
D) encouraged tribal warfare.

Question 9

Olmec civilization was characterized by

A) a highly developed calendrical system.
B) chronic warfare among Olmec states.
C) the carving of stone sculpture that featured colossal heads.
D) the practice of human sacrifice and ritual cannibalism on a massive scale.

Question 10

The dominant Mesoamerican state in the Classic period was

A) Monte Albán.
B) Teotihuacán.
C) Tula.
D) La Venta.

Question 11

Recent scholarly estimates of pre-Conquest populations for the Americas

A) point to much smaller populations than were accepted previously.
B) point to much larger populations than were accepted previously.
C) range between 8 and 10 million.
D) range between 100 and 150 million for the Americas.

Question 12

The Mochica culture of Classic Peru was noted for

A) a very simple social organization.
B) the absence of metallurgy.
C) its peaceful nature.
D) a pottery characterized by realistic modeling.

Question 13

A factor that greatly aided Aztec imperial expansion was

A) the highly productive chinampa system of agriculture.
B) Aztec superiority in weapons and military technique.
C) belief in the sacrifice of war prisoners for the survival of the universe.
D) the geographical advantages of the Valley of Mexico for defense and offense.

Question 14

The Classic period in Ancient America lasted from

A) A.D. 2500 to about 1500 B.C.
B) A.D. 1 to about A.D. 1000.
C) A.D. 1000 to about A.D. 1500.
D) A.D. 9000 to 2500 B.C.

Question 15

The first colonization of America by people from Asia probably began about

A) 150,000 years ago.
B) 5,000 years ago.
C) 40,000 years ago.
D) 10,000 years ago.

Question 16

The ayllu was a

A) kinship group, the members of which married within the group.
B) kinship group, the members of which married outside the group.
C) territorial group, the members of which recognized no kinship bonds.
D) group of people from the interior of the empire resettled in the newly conquered province.

Question 17

The Maya agricultural system was based on

A) slash-and-burn farming.
B) chinampa farming.
C) large imports of grain from central Mexico.
D) a mix of slash-and-burn farming and more intensive agricultural methods.

Question 18

The Inca state may best be described as a

A) totalitarian state.
B) socialist state.
C) welfare state.
D) class-structured state in which commoners were exploited by the rulers and nobility.

Question 19

A serious weakness of the Inca Empire was

A) chronic discontent and revolts on the part of conquered peoples.
B) the difficulty of maintaining control over such a vast area.
C) the emergence of a military caste that challenged the supremacy of Inca rulers.
D) the rise of a feudal nobility that threatened Inca centralized authority.

Question 20

The main integrating force in Aztec society was the

A) military.
B) merchant class.
C) artisans.
D) priesthood.

Question 21

The Triple Alliance was an agreement to share the spoils of conquest among

A) Texcoco, Tenochtitlán, and Tlacopán, facilitating Aztec domination of Mesoamerica.
B) Texcoco, Tenochtitlán, and Tlacopán, facilitating Inca domination of Mesoamerica.
C) Spain, Portugal, and England, thereby facilitating European domination of Mesoamerica.
D) Inca, Aztec, and Maya lords, thereby facilitating imperial domination of Mesoamerica.

Question 22

Social stratification was most developed in the

A) band.
B) state.
C) chiefdom.
D) tribe.

Question 23

IDENTIFICATION
Quetzalcóatl

Question 24

IDENTIFICATION
Teotihuacán

Question 25

IDENTIFICATION
Preclassic or Formative period

Question 26

IDENTIFICATION
Chichén Itzá

Question 27

IDENTIFICATION
Tikal

Question 28

IDENTIFICATION
Nezahualcoyotl

Question 29

Economic life in Aztec Mexico rested on a base of

A) large-scale trade with the Inca Empire.
B) hunting and fishing.
C) intensive and extensive agriculture.
D) craft industry.

Question 30

IDENTIFICATION
Olmec

Question 31

IDENTIFICATION
Calpulli

Question 32

IDENTIFICATION
chinampa

Question 33

IDENTIFICATION
Classic period

Question 34

IDENTIFICATION
mayeque

Question 35

IDENTIFICATION
Postclassic period

Question 36

Before the Spanish conquest, gender parallelism in the Andean world guaranteed women

A) the right to share in political decisions of the Inca state.
B) leadership positions in the ayllu.
C) access to land, herds, water, and other material resources.
D) a subordinate role in the gendered hierarchy of Inca society.

Question 37

In the classic Mesoamerican world, networks of commercial trade linked the great cities of

A) Texcoco, Tenochtitlán, and Tlacopán.
B) Cuzco, Tenochtitlán, and Tikal.
C) Tikal, Palenque, and Chichén-Itzá.
D) Monte Albán, Teotihuacán, and Tikal.

Question 38

IDENTIFICATION
Pleistocene

Question 39

IDENTIFICATION
Archaic stage

Question 40

IDENTIFICATION
Cuzco

Question 41

If Spanish conquerors had not arrived in Mexico in the early 1500s, how would the Aztec Empire have evolved in the next hundred years?

Question 42

IDENTIFICATION
Pachacuti

Question 43

IDENTIFICATION
ayllu

Question 44

IDENTIFICATION
gender parallelism

Question 45

Summarize the salient features of the Preclassic, Classic, and Postclassic stages of the history of Ancient America.

Question 46

Discuss the relationship between geographical environment, the type of agricultural system adopted, and the kind of social and political organization developed in various parts of Ancient America.

Question 47

IDENTIFICATION
curaca

Question 48

What roles did women play in Aztec and Inca societies and how was this affected by the expansion of their respective empires?

Question 49

How has the research of recent decades altered the traditional view of Maya civilization?

Question 50

IDENTIFICATION
Triple Alliance

Question 51

IDENTIFICATION
Chibcha

Question 52

IDENTIFICATION
chiefdom

Question 53

IDENTIFICATION
Mochica

Question 54

What strategies did the Inca rulers employ to maintain the loyalty and obedience of conquered peoples? How successful were these strategies?

Question 55

IDENTIFICATION
tribe

Question 56

IDENTIFICATION
band