Early Civilization

Question 1

What were the Mayan people noted for?

Answer 1

Their Hieroglyphic script (the only known fully developed writing system in pre-Columbian Latin America)

Question 2

What was the first major civilization in Central America?

Answer 2

The Olmecs

Question 3

What famous sculpture did the Olmecs create?

Answer 3

“The Olmec Colossal heads”

Question 4

Which was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America?

Answer 4

The Incas

Question 5

Who conquered the Incas?

Answer 5

Francisco Pizarro

Question 6

Who was Francisco Pizarro?

Answer 6

A Spanish born native, the bastard son of an infantry colonel

Question 7

Who led the Incan expansion to the north?

Answer 7

Tapas Inca Yapunqui

Question 8

Who did Francisco Pizarro first kill upon his landing and how?

Answer 8

Pizarro first killed Atahulpa, by garroting him to death.

Question 9

What was a garrote (specifically the one used to kill Atahulpa)

Answer 9

A garrote was a stationary column like structure with a rope (or some kind of string) and a spike near the top of the column. The victim would be slowly pulled back into the column, where the spike would pierce the back of his head, while being strangled.

Question 10

Where did the Incan civilization arise?

Answer 10

Around the Cusco area, Peru.

Question 11

Around what year did the Conquest of different civilizations take place?

Answer 11

1492

Question 12

What was the crusading mentality?

Answer 12

Convert or die; Crusaders were ruthless and brutal

Question 13

What was the largest capital city in the world from 1300-1500AD?

Answer 13

Tenochtitlan, Aztecs

Question 14

Where was Tenochtitlan built?

Answer 14

Tenochtitlan was built on an island in lake Texcoco, it used wooden stake like objects to support its foundations.

Question 15

Who conquered the Aztecs?

Answer 15

Hernan Cortes

Question 16

What were the floating gardens of Tenochtitlan called?

Answer 16

Chinampas

Question 17

What is semi-sedentary?

Answer 17

The Forrest dwelling people who practiced “Shifting Cultivation”. A practice where semi-sedentary people built villages, but moved them frequently allowing cleared land to be reabsorbed into the forest.

Question 18

What are fully sedentary people?

Answer 18

Permanently settled people usually settled on high plateaus or forests.

Question 19

What was used as fertilizers for ancient civilizations in the Americas?

Answer 19

Guano, which are bird droppings, filled with nitrite.

Question 20

When was Tenochtitlan captured?

Answer 20

1521

Question 21

How did Hernan Cortez conquer the Aztecs?

Answer 21

He recruited disloyal tribes to his forces, swelling his numbers.

Question 22

What was the capital of Spain at the time of conquest?

Answer 22

Toledo

Question 23

Which civilization laid the foundation for civilizations to come?

Answer 23

The Olmecs

Question 24

When did Pizarro conquer the Incas, and what was the first city in the newly established area?

Answer 24

1535, Lima was the first established city

Question 25

When was the last Inca stronghold taken?

Answer 25

1572

Question 26

What was the Inca economy based on?

Answer 26

Bartering and taxation

Question 27

At the time who had the largest military in Europe?

Answer 27

The Spanish

Question 28

Who founded the Incan capital Cusco and when?

Answer 28

Marco Capac Inca in 1438