Deck 11: The Americas Before Columbus

Question 1

In the Americas, maize (corn)

A) replaced beans as the foundation of the native diet.
B) could support a family of four for a year.
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 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following statements was true of Pre-Columbian Peru?

A) The El Niño effect usually improved fishing prospects for the year.
B) The inhabitants established early on a major cotton textile industry.
C) Early Peruvians isolated themselves from trade and exchange with outsiders.
D) Food shortages were often worse in Peru than in Mesoamerica, due to more mountainous terrain.
E) Earliest settlers to the area appeared along the rivers flowing from the Peruvian mountains.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Compare and contrast the Aztec and Inca Empires. Explain the rapid conquest of these peoples by the Spaniards.

Answer 3

Answer not provided.

Question 4

Which of these was least important as a part of Andean religion?

A) river spirits
B) blood sacrifices
C) reverence for ancestors
D) kipu cords
E) acceptance of rulers as demigods.

Question 5

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 6

Discoveries of tool kits from the archaic Period indicate that

A) hunting and gathering had become less important that previously.
B) big game still provided a fair percentage of the people's food.
C) the people used specialized hunting and gathering tools.
D) tools from the period were designed more for processing plants than for use on animals.
E) people did not eat animals such as mice, rats, and snakes.

Question 7

Descendants of the first wave of Asian migrants to the New World probably settled as far as

A) the American Southwest.
B) eastern Canada.
C) Alaska.
D) southern South America.
E) Mexico City.

Question 8

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 9

Explain the significance of Chaco Canyon.

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

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 12

Olmec civilization apparently contained all of the following features except

A) pyramids.
B) advanced agriculture.
C) a complex system used for record keeping.
D) an advanced calendar used for planting.
E) stonework that rivaled some Egyptian stonework.

Question 13

Agree or disagree: The Maya were ancient America's 'most advanced' peoples.

Question 14

Explain the basis of Inca civilization, and evaluate its spectacular rise.

Question 15

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 16

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

Question 17

In your opinion, was Inca society "socialistic" or "dictatorial"? Neither? Justify your stand.

Question 18

The Clovis culture was

A) the earliest hunting culture of which we have evidence.
B) a hunting-gathering culture that arose in central Mexico.
C) the originator of the use of the atlatl.
D) the first group of migrants to the New World.
E) begun during the Archaic Period, when finding sufficient fruits and berries became problematic.

Question 19

In what ways did Aztec civilization differ from that of the Maya? Evaluate each from a modern ethical standard.

Question 20

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 21

The primary basis for the existence and success of Peru's first states was

A) the ayllu, or plan of government.
B) a food surplus due to successful agricultural techniques.
C) tribute received from conquered tribes.
D) both a and b
E) both a and c

Question 22

____________________ ____________________ was the mysterious mountaintop Inca city discovered in 1911.

Question 23

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 24

In studying the "Great Houses" of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, scholars have discovered that even as early as 800 - 1150, members of the Puebloan culture

A) were growing corn, squash, and beans, which improved their nutrition considerably.
B) were experiencing an increase in rainfall and resultant groundwater levels.
C) had begun to replace their woven cooking vessels with clay pots.
D) were able to predict the annual solar cycles as well as the less frequent lunar ones.
E) had begun to use the Great Houses mainly as burial chambers.

Question 25

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 26

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 27

Which of the following was not true of the Olmec civilization?

A) The Olmecs developed a vast trade network extending as far south as Costa Rica.
B) Olmec religion centered on the worship of feline gods.
C) The Olmec were known for their highly developed masonry skills, as evidenced in the Great Pyramid.
D) The Olmec were the most advanced of the Pre-Columbian Amerindians.
E) The Olmec left behind large stone sculptures of heads, leaving us to ponder their purpose.

Question 28

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 29

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 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 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 32

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 33

____________________ was the language of the Inca Empire.

Question 34

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 35

Aztec religion can best be described as

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

Question 36

The earliest Mesoamerican cultures were located

A) in the Central Valley of Mexico.
B) in Mexico's river valleys.
C) in Guatemala's rain forest.
D) in southern Mexico.
E) at the convergence of the Eastern and Western Sierra Madres.

Question 37

The second wave of migrants to North America probably

A) came from Southeast Asia by boat.
B) settled in western Canada.
C) came from northeast Asia.
D) were ancestors of the Inuit Eskimo peoples.
E) moved across southern Canada as far as the Great Lakes region.

Question 38

The Aztec method of rule over subject peoples was

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

Question 39

Folsom points are associated with

A) big game hunting.
B) New Mexico.
C) hunting and gathering societies.
D) atlatls.
E) the agricultural revolution.

Question 40

The basic unit of Incan society was the ____________________.

Question 41

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

Question 42

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

Question 43

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

Question 44

The earliest known Pre-Columbian civilization was that of the ____________________.

Question 45

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

Question 46

The ____________________ ____________________ was a large, notched, leaf-shaped spearhead used to kill large animals.

Question 47

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