Deck 14: The Americas to the Fifteenth Century

Question 1

What was one of the methods the Inca leaders used to help maintain control of those they conquered?

A)By making the conquered people move to unfamiliar areas.
B)By taxing them heavily to keep them poor and dependent on the Inca.
C)By placing military forces over them to enforce obedience.
D)Forcing them to serve in large numbers in military service from the Inca.
E)Using spies to help stamp out all resistance before it could get a strong foothold.

Answer 1

By making the conquered people move to unfamiliar areas.

Question 2

Which of these did the Inca NOT develop?

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

Answer 2

writing

Question 3

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.

Answer 3

Sumeria.

Question 4

What other great civilization's ruins have been compared to the ruins of the Mayan civilization?

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

Question 5

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 6

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.

Question 7

At the bottom of the social hierarchy in Aztec society were

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

Question 8

What was the basis for the Aztec religion?

A)It was based on pure mathematical calculations.
B)The Aztec religion was influenced by logic and intellect.
C)It was more mystical than other religions.
D)The Aztec religion was based on human sacrifice.
E)It was thought to be a spiritual journey toward enlightenment.

Question 9

Among the pre-Columbian Amerindians, the Aztec were probably the most accomplished in which of the following areas?

A)Military organization and warfare.
B)Mathematics.
C)Architecture.
D)Commerce.
E)The establishment of centers of learning.

Question 10

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 11

What was the main method the Aztec used to rule over subject peoples?

A)Assimilation.
B)Shared administration.
C)Extermination.
D)Tolerance.
E)Terror.

Question 12

What large geographical feature seems to have been the general center of the later Mayan civilization?

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

Question 13

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 14

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 15

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 16

What were the "three sisters" of food crops in the Mesoamerican civilizations?

A)Maize, squash, and beans.
B)Corn, peppers, and cabbage.
C)Potatoes, maize, and turkeys.
D)Cocoa, beans, and wheat.
E)Corn, pasta, and rice.

Question 17

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

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

Question 18

Which of the following was NOT a part of the Mayan religion?

A)A concept of a heaven.
B)A belief in a hell.
C)An understanding of a cosmology.
D)A sense of ethics.
E)A class of religious leaders who were priests.

Question 19

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 20

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 21

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 22

____________________ was the mysterious mountaintop Inca city discovered in 1911.

Question 23

In the early centuries of the Common Era, the area around what is today Utah. Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona was settled, and saw the emergence of new civilizations. This area is known as the ____________________.

Question 24

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 25

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 26

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 27

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

Question 28

What would prompt a pre-Columbian Amerindian to travel to Chaco Canyon?

A)To gain more information on lunar and solar cycles.
B)To engage in trade.
C)To be in a regional center.
D)To participate in a religious ceremony.
E)All of the options are correct

Question 29

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

Question 30

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 31

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 32

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

Question 33

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

Question 34

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 35

What were kivas?

A)Hunting tools.
B)Storage containers.
C)Ball courts.
D)Underground ceremonial centers.
E)Agricultural tools.

Question 36

The Hohokam civilization was able to raise maize, beans, and squash in the relatively dry desert by means of ____________________, which in some cases involved distances up to sixteen miles from the Salt River.

Question 37

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

Question 38

What was the relationship between Cahokia and the other Amerindian civilizations of that general period?

A)Cahokia seems to be related to the Mississippian civilization.
B)Cahokia was derived from the ancestral Puebloan civilization.
C)Cahokia was founded by the Toltecs.
D)Cahokia was the first to grow maize and taught the other civilizations about the new food source.
E)Cahokia was geographically centered in the Four Corners region.

Question 39

____________________ was the language of the Inca Empire.

Question 40

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

Question 41

Term for identification: Inca

Question 42

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

Question 43

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

Question 44

Term for identification: Chichén Itzá

Question 45

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

Question 46

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 47

Term for identification: Tenochtitlan

Question 48

Term for identification: Monk's Mound

Question 49

Term for identification: Four Corners Region

Question 50

Term for identification: Mississippian civilization

Question 51

Term for identification: kivas

Question 52

Discuss the various Middle and Late Woodlands Civilizations. Elaborate on the Hopewell tradition, population growth, food supplies, trade, Mississippian civilization, and Cahokia.

Question 53

Term for identification: Quechua

Question 54

Discuss the significance of trade for the pre-Columbian North American civilizations.  Include information on the possible trade aspects of Chaco Canyon and the Southwest Amerindian groups as well as the trade aspects of the Woodland Civilizations.

Question 55

Term for identification: Hopewell tradition

Question 56

Term for identification: Chaco phenomenon