The Mayan Review Lesson One

What is slash and burn agriculture?

• Trees and plants were cut down and used to make medicine.

• Trees were cut down and the wood was used to make planter boxes.

• Trees and plants were cut down and burned, and the ash was used to fertilize the soil.

• Crops were planted around the trees and plants that grew in the rainforest.

Which concept did the Mayans understand before other civilizations?

• the number 0

• calendars

• hieroglyphs

• architecture

How did the environment affect agriculture for the Mayans?

• they lived deep in the rainforest where it was hard to grow crops. They had to find clever ways to farm.

• They lived high in the mountains, where they had to build terraces.

• The swampy environment was difficult to farm in.

• They were not able to grow crops due to a lack of water.

Why did Mayan commoners seek to please priests and nobles?

• they were afraid of being sacrificed

• they believed they could communicate with the gods

• they depended on them for food

• they believed they were gods in human form

What was one factor that may have caused Mayan cities to fall into ruin between 800 and 1000 bce?

• The Olmec invaded Mayan cities.

  
  

• The Spanish conquered the Maya.

  
  

• Mayan buildings were poorly constructed.

  
  

• Food shortages occurred due to drought.

How did the environment affect agriculture for the Mayans? 

• Mayan cities developed in locations where food could be grown

• Heavily forested environment made it hard to farm - Slash and Burn was developed

• Both A and B

How have modern scholars learned much of their information about the Maya?

• from printed books

  
  

• from oral history

  
  

• from glyphs carved in stone

  
  

• from Spanish records

The Maya had a class system that divided people into different levels of society

• True

• False

The Maya

• had a system of writing like hieroglyphics that represented sounds and also had a system for numbers

• spoke Nahuatl

• spoke Quechua

• built chinampas on Lake Texcoco

Who made up the majority of the population in the Maya society?

• Priests

• Warriors

• Craftsmen

• Farmers