Aztec, Inca, And Maya

Question 1

Aztec Geography and Adaptation

Answer 1

Founded city Tenochtitlan in the middle of Texcoco (modern day Mexico City). Mesoamérica. Built raised roads over water. Chinampas were floating gardens. Created canals for transportation and irrigation.

Question 2

Tenochtitlan Achievments

Answer 2

Contained 80-250 thousand people
Canals served as road and routes of trade
Markets with 60,000 daily visitors
Huge pyramids sometimes lined with skulls

Question 3

Aztec Warriors

Answer 3

Aztecs called themselves Mexica
One ruler
Under monteczuma they expanded 1/3 of southern Mexico
25 million population peak
Tribute— made other neighboring tribes pay them in exchange for mercy

Question 4

Aztec Religion

Answer 4

Polytheistic
Gods of sun, moon, rain, etc.
Predicted that Quetzalcoatl (serpent god of creation) would return in the early 1500s
Attempted to please gods by human sacrifice, which wads intimidating to other tribes, most sacrifical tribe

Question 5

Aztec famine and sacrifice

Answer 5

In 1450, a famine struck due to poor weather and bad farming conditions
Priests began making sacrifices which helped the famine, but nobody knows why

Question 6

Aztec social structure

Answer 6

Royal family
Nobles - priests, military officers, govt. leaders
Merchants
Commoners
Slaves

Question 7

Hernan Cortes

Answer 7

Spanish conquistador who learned about Aztecs and their riches, and knew he had to conquer them to rule Mexico.
Other tribes joined him after being tired of tribute
He arrived in 1519 and Monteczuma thought he was Quetzalcoatl, but was jailed.
Aztecs left behind smallpox and in 1521 defeated the Aztecs.

Question 8

Incan geography

Answer 8

Cuzco valley in the andes mountains, city of cuzco was the capital built in the shape of a puma from above, in modern Peru

Question 9

Manchu Picchu

Answer 9

A Royal retreat for the inca rulers, built amid sacred mountain peaks. No tools or mortar, just perfectly fitting rocks.

Question 10

Incan achievements

Answer 10

Roads that connected the whole empire, went from sea level to 12,000 ft elevation
Runners carried and relayed mail within days across the empire, 250 miles in a day
Incan were skilled at masonry- precisely cut blocks without tools, fit together perfectly.
Suspension bridges connected mountains

Question 11

Incan language

Answer 11

Quechua. Was required for all business to be done spoken in Quechua.
History was only passed orally

Question 12

Incan agriculture

Answer 12

Terraces to grow crops
Potatoes, beans, and maize
Vertical economy— animals at the top and crops at the bottom

Question 13

Incan religion

Answer 13

Polytheism; sun, moons, animals, etc.
Pottery of golf and silver celebrating gods.

Question 14

Incan social structure

Answer 14

King— believed they never really died, preserved as mummies in fine cloth and mummies were put close together to visit each other
Nobles— king relatives
Commoners— included slaves

Question 15

Incan economy

Answer 15

Instead of taxes, Incans worked for the govt. (called mita.)
No merchants or markets— everything was evenly distributed
Mita jobs were farming, making cloth, and building bridges

Question 16

Francisco pizzarro

Answer 16

Atahualpa heard the Spaniards arrival and was forced to convert to Christianity but refused. Pizzarro captured him and killed thousands of incans. Atahualpa gave 24 tons of gold to spare him and his people, but he was killed anyways. Incans were weakened by disease, and by 1537 the Spaniards controlled the whole thing.

Question 17

Mayan geography

Answer 17

Yucatán peninsula
125,000 sq miles in the highland mountains and lowland valleys
200 CE villages become cities

Question 18

Mayan cities / temples

Answer 18

Cities built around religious centers
Limestone pyramids topped with temples, where priest-kings had rituals.
Palenque major power city that bordered high and low lands.

Question 19

Mayan economy

Answer 19

Based on agriculture
Terraces
Burned trees and plants to clear land for farming and dug water systems (irrigation)
Grew corn, beans, and squash
Traded between regions and received jade, feathers, and cacao beans.
Cacao beans used as money
Obsidian was also used as money

Question 20

Mayan religion and leadership

Answer 20

Polytheistic
To prevent disaster, gods needed blood.
Priest-kings like Pacal killed animals and people as offerings
Pacal ruled for 68 years, was a priest and warrior.
Bloodletting
Palenque built a Temple for Pacal’s achievements

Question 21

Maya Achievements (HAM)

Answer 21

Hieroglyphs, carved on stone columns and record books called a codex
Astronomy, knew exact moon phases, 365-day calendar, 120-day religious calendar
Mathematics, created numerous systems based on units of 20, used 0

Question 22

Mayan ball game

Answer 22

Ollamalitzli
Represented fight between dark and light
Ball through a stone ring only hit by hips
1st to score wins
Anything could be Bet
Losers sacrificed and losing captain be headed

Question 23

Mayan collapse

Answer 23

Unknown
Lasted 600 years
By 900 CE their city was abandoned
Possible reasons:
Too big population for farming system
Long periods of drought
Warfare
Invaders from central mexico

Question 24

Trephination

Answer 24

Done by Incan priests, surgery in while a hole is made in the skull, considered to help injured and for most it did

Question 25

Quipus

Answer 25

Incan knotted set of strings to record info and send messages

Question 26

Triangular trade

Answer 26

Slaves from Africa to America, America to Europe, and goods from Europe to Africa