Deck 13: Highland Mesoamerica

Question 1

The Oaxacan settlements in the valley eventually spread to the hillside slopes where they …

A) had a better defensive position.
B) gained an economic advantage over their lowland neighbors.
C) were cooler in the summer.
D) All of these.

Answer 1

gained an economic advantage over their lowland neighbors.

Question 2

The early people of Oaxaca developed regional trade with the lowland …

A) Maya.
B) Yucatan peninsula.
C) Olmec.
D) Toltec.

Answer 2

Olmec.

Question 3

The term used by archaeologists to describe the seven political groupings in the Valley of Oaxaca in about 400 BC is …

A) divine kingships.
B) chiefdoms.
C) tribes.
D) city-states.

Answer 3

chiefdoms.

Question 4

Most residents of Monte Alban lived …

A) in crowded quarters close to the main or market plazas.
B) in buildings separate from the buildings that housed the elites.
C) in small houses on the flattest land.
D) in small houses erected on stone-faced terraces built against the steep terrain.

Question 5

Cuicuilco and Teotihuacán were rival city states in conflict with one another when Cuicuilco was destroyed by …

A) invading lowlanders.
B) Teotihuacán's military.
C) a volcanic eruption.
D) a tropical hurricane.

Question 6

What did Teotihuacán's urban planners use in laying out their city?

A) Creation myth.
B) A list of the drawbacks in the Monte Alban plan.
C) A sense of future needs.
D) All of these.

Question 7

Archaeological evidence suggests that Teotihuacán was grouped into wards based on both …

A) kin ties and elite status.
B) … kin ties and occupation.
C) religious status and occupation.
D) trade and military status.

Question 8

What was the name of Teotihuacán's broad main street?

A) Passageway to the Sacred Cave.
B) Avenue of the Dead.
C) Avenue of the Kings.
D) Avenue of the Sun and Moon.

Question 9

Within Teotihuacán's urban population, the barrios formed …

A) tightly knit communities.
B) religious factions.
C) loosely knit communities.
D) religious centers.

Question 10

To understand Teotihuacán's military activities, one must also understand …

A) the highland economic system.
B) its ideology.
C) its factionalism.
D) All of these.

Question 11

If a building, a complex of buildings, or a city is built as a symbolic representation of the place where the cosmos and time began, then it is sacred and its existence validates the origin myth associated with it. To break the potency of its symbolism and invalidate the origin myth, its conquerors must …

A) sack the city.
B) remove its citizens.
C) destroy and desecrate its sacred elements.
D) purify its barrios.

Question 12

After the collapse of Teotihuacán, the political vacuum in the Valley of Mexico was filled over the next 500 years by the …

A) Toltecs.
B) Aztecs.
C) Zapotec.
D) Maya.

Question 13

What animals were symbolically important in Toltec ideology and art?

A) Eagles.
B) Blue macaws.
C) Jaguars.
D) Serpents.

Question 14

The great military leader of the Aztecs who expanded their borders to Guatemala was …

A) Ahuitzotl.
B) Tezozomoc.
C) Itzcoatl.
D) Moctezuma.

Question 15

At the height of Aztec civilization, according to their creation legend, how many suns had preceded their current one?

A) Zero.
B) One.
C) Three.
D) Four.

Question 16

In Aztec civilization, anyone who died the "flowery death" …

A) died of old age.
B) died of disease.
C) died on the sacrificial stone.
D) died in war.

Question 17

Every inhabitant of Teotihuacán was a member of a calpulli, which …

A) was a kin-based group of families.
B) acted as intermediary between the individual and state.
C) held land communally and allocated it to members.
D) was all of these.

Question 18

How many Spanish soldiers took down the Aztec empire?

A) 300
B) 600
C) 6000
D) 10000

Question 19

Ancient Toltec legends foretold the return of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl in the year 1 Reed (1519) and the Spanish conquistador, Cortez, landed at Vera Cruz in 1519. This coincidence deeply disturbed the fatalistic Aztecs because of their belief that each act of war was imbued with …

A) courage and bravery.
B) … symbolic meaning.
C) military strategy.
D) events from the past.

Question 20

The Spanish conquered Mexico in ten years, with most Aztecs dying because of …

A) slavery.
B) military battles.
C) exotic diseases.
D) None of these.

Question 21

Give examples of the artifacts symbolic of social rank in the Mesoamerican Highlands and indicate how they compare with those found in assemblages from the Mesoamerican Lowlands. Are there shared traits or motifs? Are there significant stylistic differences? What does this type of analysis tell you about the autonomy or interdependence of these two regions of Mexico?

Question 22

In studying the city plan of the Teotihuacán, what would archaeologists learn from its sacred landscape, how the city was laid out, the lines of sight to sacred ceremonies, and where various elements of the society were housed?

Question 23

Apply the Marcus model of Mesoamerican state expansion and collapse to Teotihuacán and the Toltecs and explain the likely consequences.

Question 24

Describe how the religious beliefs of the Axtecs pervaded in all aspects of social life.

Question 25

Some archaeologists believe it is possible for features of a culture to be dysfunctional or maladaptive. Relate this to the Aztec state and discuss how it helps (or does not help) explain why it was relatively easy for a small number of Spaniards to topple the state and take control.