Aztec & Maya Test

Question 1

At the beginning of the documentary is a depiction of the important Maya city of Tikal, which had a population of 40,000. It reached its peak in 750 A.D. and was abandoned within a century thereafter. What message do these Maya ruins reveal?

Answer 1

It shows how fragile society and empires really are

Question 2

What question about the ancient Maya has haunted archaeologists?

Answer 2

Why did they abandon their cities?

Question 3

Where are the Maya originally believed to have come from?

Answer 3

Descendants of Greeks and lost tribe of Egypt. Today they really believe they are from Siberia.

Question 4

What time frame is considered to be their “classical period?” How many centuries did they thrive?

Answer 4

250 AD -950, 400 most powerful but sudden decline

Question 5

In which present-day countries did the empire of the Maya exist?

Answer 5

Belize, Guatemala, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Honduras, Southern Mexico

Question 6

Before they were identified as a unique Maya civilization, from where did explorers of the region believe the Maya originated?

Answer 6

Greeks, lost tribe of Egypt, fugitives from Atlantis

Question 7

The Maya had an “independently invented” writing system. What do you think is meant by an “independently invented” writing? How many independent writing systems does the documentary say the world has produced?

Answer 7

5 independent Writing Systems in the history of the World. It means that the language is not based on any other language

Question 8

Why did the world of the classic Maya become a mystery despite the fact that they had a sophisticated writing system?

Answer 8

A European came and burned all of their books and only 4 books remained? A Russian soldier grabbed a book in Berlin when they burned all of them. A European Bishop came to teach them Christian religion but the Maya did not care to learn it and kept sacrificing and the European got mad so he burned all of their pieces of parchment which were their books

Question 9

To what subject was the Maya mathematical system directly tied or linked? By what amount of time is the Maya calculation off from the modern-day calculation of the moon’s cycles?

Answer 9

Astronomy, 33 seconds off

Question 10

What is the exact date that the Maya predicted the world (really the end of their present calendar) would end?

Answer 10

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Question 11

Why were women and children subjected to physical deformity? What types of manipulation were mentioned in the documentary?

Answer 11

To make them look more like they wanted them to. Skulls being deformed and jewels put into teeth

Question 12

What did the Maya believe about the blood of kings? Why was bloodletting practiced by Maya kings and queens?

Answer 12

Blood must be paid to their Gods and it was the king and queens that had to do it. This would cause the sun to rise, the rains to fall, and the corn to grow. King’s blood is more potent than other people’s because they were offspring of deities and when they died they came back more powerful

Question 13

What does the documentary speculate may have caused the downfall of the Maya civilization and the abandonment of their cities – what caused the Maya to lose faith in their king’s blood power?

Answer 13

Their crops might have started dyeing and the king’s blood stopped working. 14 years of drought so they could have left because the king’s blood stopped working. Losses in wars, crop failure, and overpopulation. The people lost faith in their kings and religion and so they abandoned their temples and cities

Question 14

The first Aztecs were farmers who migrated from the north to the central part of this area.

Answer 14

Mexico

Question 15

According to Aztec legend, the gods told the migrating Aztecs to search for this bird perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak.

Answer 15

Eagle

Question 16

The Aztecs settled on a swampy island in the middle of this lake.

Answer 16

Lake Texcoco

Question 17

In 1325 the Aztecs began to build their capital and do this to nearby towns.

Answer 17

Conquered, forced to pay tribute

Question 18

The Aztecs demanded this kind of payment from the people they conquered.

Answer 18

Regular Tributes. Asked for sacrifices. Food, Gold, Silver, Slaves

Question 19

The cotton, gold, and food that the Aztecs received as tribute from conquered peoples made the Aztecs very what?

Answer 19

Wealthy

Question 20

Through conquest and the creation of an empire, the Aztecs controlled a vast one of these.

Answer 20

Territory

Question 21

By the early 1400s the Aztecs ruled the most powerful state in this area.

Answer 21

State of Mexico

Question 22

By 1500 the Aztec empire ruled over this many people.

Answer 22

5 million

Question 23

At its height, the Aztec empire stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to this body of water.

Answer 23

Pacific Ocean

Question 24

This was the name of the Aztec capital.

Answer 24

Tenochtitlan

Question 25

The Aztecs built these raised roads to connect their island city to the shore.

Answer 25

Causeways

Question 26

The Aztecs built these to link different parts of their city.

Answer 26

Canals

Question 27

Aztec farmers created these by growing crops on large rafts anchored to trees.

Answer 27

Chinampas

Question 28

This was the name for the “floating gardens” of the Aztecs.

Answer 28

Xochimilco

Question 29

This huge pyramid stood at the heart of Tenochtitlan and was used for sacrifices.

Answer 29

Templo Mayor (Main Temple)

Question 30

This was comprised of warriors, priests, and nobles who chose the Aztec emperor from among the members of the royal family.

Answer 30

Council of Nobles for Moctezuma. 600 nobles, warriors, and priests

Question 31

The Aztec believed that the sun god Huitzilopochtli battled these forces every night.

Answer 31

Forces of Darkness

Question 32

To give the sun strength each day to rise again, the Aztecs offered this kind of sacrifice.

Answer 32

Ritual Blood Sacrifice and Human Hearts

Question 33

Most of the victims of Aztec sacrifice were slaves or these people.

Answer 33

Captives Warriors

Question 34

To supply people to be sacrificed, the Aztecs would wage frequent battles with these peoples.

Answer 34

Everyone around them but Tlaxcala in particular

Question 35

The Aztecs would offer thousands of these each year for sacrifice.

Answer 35

Human Sacrifices blood and hearts

Question 36

In the late 1400s these people from Europe arrived in the Americas.

Answer 36

Spaniards/Spanish

Question 37

Name for Spanish soldiers who arrived in the Americas.

Answer 37

Conquistadors

Question 38

This man arrived in Mexico in 1519 leading a group of conquistadors in search of gold.

Answer 38

Hernan Cortes

Question 39

He was the Aztec emperor at the time of the arrival of Cortes.

Answer 39

Moctezuma II

Question 40

Montezuma believed that Cortes was this Aztec god who had promised to return in 1519.

Answer 40

Quetzalcoatl

Question 41

Cortes was able to make these with people the Aztecs had conquered.

Answer 41

Alliances

Question 42

These two things brought from Europe gave the Spanish an advantage over the Aztecs.

Answer 42

Weaponry and Horses, Smallpox – horses, war dogs, guns armor, alliances with Indian warriors, Smallpox

Question 43

In 1521 Cortes conquered the Aztecs and this Spanish city was built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan.

Answer 43

Mexico City

Question 44

Where did the Maya civilization live? The island of Texaco or Texcoco The Central Valley of Mexico South America by the Andes Mountains The Yucatan Peninsula

Answer 44

The Yucatan Peninsula

Question 45

Which of the following modern day countries are not part of where the Mayan civilization was located? Belize Mexico Hondrus Peru

Answer 45

Peru

Question 46

Which group was NOT considered part of the Mayan nobility? architects scholars farmers merchants

Answer 46

Farmers

Question 47

Most of the Mayan population was made up of nobility slaves peasants merchants

Answer 47

Peasants

Question 48

What was the most important crop to the Mayans? apples maize avocado chili pepper

Answer 48

Maize

Question 49

What type of farming was used in the mountains? slash and burn no farming was possible chinampas terraced

Answer 49

Terraced

Question 50

What type of agriculture allowed the Mayans to make more land for farming? slash and burn terraced farming no farming was possible this way chinampas

Answer 50

Slash and Burn

Question 51

What people of the Mayans social class lived in houses with palm leaf roofs? nobles and priests merchants and architects farmers and laborers kings and their families

Answer 51

Farmers and Laborers

Question 52

Who of the Mayan social class lived in stone houses merchants farmers nobility architects

Answer 52

Nobility

Question 53

What unique accomplishment did the Mayans have that was different then every other Mesoamerican civilization? they built their capital on a lake they built massive temples in the Andes mountains they made agriculture they made their own writing system

Answer 53

They made their own writing system

Question 54

When and where did Aztecs live? In Mesoamerica in 1300 A.D. - 1521 A.D. In South America in 1900 A.D. - 1999 A.D. In Mesoamerica in 1500 A.D. - 1521 A.D.

Answer 54

In Mesoamerica in 1300 A.D. - 1521 A.D.

Question 55

What was the capital city of the Aztec empire? Tenochtitlan Cancun Belize

Answer 55

Thenochtitlan

Question 56

How many months has the Aztec calendar had? 18 months 30 months 40 months

Answer 56

18 months

Question 57

What is the name of the unique and agricultural system of the Aztec? Chinampas Pochtecas Maguey

Answer 57

Chinampas

Question 58

How did this Aztec empire fall? Spanish people conquered the empire in 1521 English people conquered the empire in 1900 French people conquered the empire in 1600

Answer 58

Spanish people conquered the empire in 1521

Question 59

How many days each month of the Aztec calendar had? 20 days 18 days 30 days

Answer 59

20 Days

Question 60

The Aztecs had lived in the territory of modern ... Canada Mexico Peru

Answer 60

Mexico

Question 61

What was the language of the Aztec empire? Chinese Hindi Nahuatl

Answer 61

Nahuatl

Question 62

What was the major sustaining crop of the Aztecs? Cattle Maize Wheat

Answer 62

Maize

Question 63

What was the term for Aztec royalty? Czar Pharaoh Tlatoani

Answer 63

Tlatoani