Ancient Americas

The Maya based their calendar on careful observations of

• the planets, sun, and moon

• the change in seasons

• yearly precipitation patterns

• the migration of birds

The Maya civilization was

• the earliest form of utopianism known to exist

• a peaceful state that produced some remarkable technological advances

• composed of city-states, each governed by a hereditary ruling class

• destroyed by floods, leaving scant evidence of its existence

The decline of the Maya occurred

• several hundred years before the Spanish arrived

• just a few years before the Spanish arrived

• just a few years after the Spanish arrived

• several hundred years after the Spanish arrived

Which of the following was true of the Aztecs?

• They had many forms of government, from small tribes to complex societies

• They practiced human sacrifice for religious offerings

• They were governed by city-state kings

• They traded with North American tribes

The Aztec capital of _____, was built on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco.

• Mexico City

• Teotihuacan

• Tenochtitlan

• Chichen Itza

"When we beheld so many cities and towns on the water, and other large settlements built on firm ground, and that broad causeway running straight and perfectly level to the city of Tenochtitlan, we were astonished because of the great stone towers and temples and buildings that rose up out of the water."

-Bernal Diaz, quoted in The Conquest of New Spain

From his first view of Tenochtitlan, Diaz could conclude that

• slave labor had been used to build the stone towers

• the native peoples were water worshippers

• he saw evidence of a developed civilization

• the native peoples had a strong king

Since the Inca lacked a writing system, they

• never attained a high level of cultural development

• passed their cultural and religious history down through elaborate smoke signals

• kept records by using a system of knotted strings called the quipu

• conquered the Maya and adopted their written language

What was the language taught to the people conquered by the Inca?

• Spanish

• Quechua

• Machu Picchu

• Quipan

Machu Picchu was

• the official language of the Incan Empire

• a city built by the Inca and serves as its finest example of architecture

• the Incan ruler who transformed the simple village of Cuzco into the might Inca empire

• the moon god from whom it was believed all Inca rulers were descended

The decline of the Incan Empire can be traced to a

• natural disaster

• struggle between rivals for the Incan throne when the Spanish arrived

• weak emperor who was unable to hold the empire together

• war between the Inca and a powerful Mesoamerican people