Chapter 15 - Ancient American Civilizations Flashcards
Ch 15: Why was Diaz, author of “True History of the Conquest of New Spain” astounded when he reached the Aztec city of Iztapalapa?
The palace where the soldiers stayed was spacious and luxurious.
Ch 15: Tenochtitlan was the capital of what empire?
Aztec
Ch 15: What is at L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland?
Evidence of pre-Columbian European contact with indigenous peoples of the Americas by Norse Vikings.
Ch 15: What are the 4 regional cultural areas of the Americas?
Mesoamerican, South American, Southwestern, and Native American.
Ch 15: What do the Mayan and Mississippi culture sites have in common?
Stepped pyramids.
Ch 15: What were the three main crops of the indigenous peoples of the Americas?
Maize, squash, and beans.
Ch 15: First large city of the Americas founded by the Olmec Civilization?
Monte Alban in the Oxaca Valley, Mexico.
Ch 15: Earliest example of monumental “earthen” construction was built by Native Americans in what is now this US state?
Louisiana
Ch 15: Where is Woodhenge? Ancient and present day.
Cahokia on flood plain of Mississippi River near St. Louis.
Ch 15: What Native American city was more populous than London during its peak (located near present day St. Louis)?
Cahokia
Ch 15: Anasazi is the old term used to describe these peoples who created the most sophisticated architecture north of Mexico. What’s the new term?
Ancestral Pueblos
Ch 15: Before the construction of the pueblos, the Ancestral Pueblos lived where?
Mesas - flat tops of mountains.
Ch 15: Circular pits called _______ were mostly used for communal rituals and gatherings.
Kivas
Ch 15: The ceremonial center of the Ancestral Pueblos where great gatherings were held for special ceremonies was here.
Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon
Ch 15: The most commonly accepted change of construction locations from mesas to hollow cliffs by the Ancestral Pueblos is ___________ due to _________.
Climate change due to deforestation.
Ch 15: What was the first complex culture of Mesoamerica (later inherited by the Maya)?
Olmec Civilization.
Ch 15: What was the most striking aspect of Olmec architecture?
Giant bodiless heads.
Ch 15: The Calzada de los Muertos, or Avenue of the Dead, is associated with which Oaxaca Valley city (no definitive ethnic group ID’d/associated, but was later discovered by the Aztecs)?
Teotihuacan
Ch 15: Calzada de los Muertos, or Avenue of the Dead, is not alighted with true north-south axis - what structure lies there, and why is it aligned so uniquely? (no definitive ethnic group ID’d/associated, but was later discovered by the Aztecs).
The Pyramid of the Sun is there, and it’s aligned so that the sun sets twice a year, in May and July, directly over the pyramid.
Ch 15: Which indigenous American culture is broken into periods pre-classic, Early Classic, and Classic?
Mayan
Ch 15: Tikal and Calakmul were the two most powerful city-states of which peoples?
Mayan
Ch 15: The Maya inherited some of their culture from the _________.
Olmec
Ch 15: Mayan culture was divided into what 2 general geopolitical areas? Where were the Mayan pyramids located?
Guatemalan highlands and lowlands. The Mayan pyramids were in the Guatemalan lowlands.
Ch 15: How do Mayan tombs differ from tombs in Egyptian pyramids?
The tombs are burred beneath the structure, not within the pyramid.
Ch 15: Which number was sacred to the Maya, and where do we see this number in relation to architecture?
The number 9. It’s the number of terraces of their stepped pyramids.
Ch 15: In Mayan belief, ______ are essential for the dead because of the presence of the k’uh.
Bones.
Ch 15: What cool shit happens at the Mayan Pyramid of Kukulcan (AKA El Castillo) during the equinoxes?
The serpent god Kukulcan can be seen in the shadows/lights cast on the pyramid.
Ch 15: The earliest monumental “stone” works of architecture were built by these peoples (earlier than the Egyptians or Mesopotamians).
Caral
Ch 15: The Caral Pyramids were being constructed around the same time as these structures.
The first Egyptian pyramids.
Ch 15: This empire was the largest in all the Americas by the time Europeans arrived.
Inca
Ch 15: The greatest architectural legacy of this civilization included fine stonework using dry masonry technique so carefully done that a sword couldn’t fit between stones.
Inca
Ch 15: Macchu Picchu is architecture of which indigenous American civilization?
Inca
Ch 15: The monumental stone architecture of the Americas came from these 3 prodigious cultures.
Aztec, Maya, Inca
