Potbelly sculptures, stelae, and frog-shaped altars can be primarily found in _____.
A. the Pacific coastal plain
B. the Maya lowlands
C. the Gulf lowlands
D. Cuicatln Caada
More colossal heads were built at _______ than at any other Olmec site.
A. San Lorenzo Tenochtitln
B. La Venta
C. Tres Zapotes
D. Cobata
The Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal:
A. is where the vestal virgins lived while they learned how to weave intricate designs
B. was thought to resemble a convent by early Spaniards visiting the site
C. was the residence for the priestesses that presided over royal ceremonies
D. is a misnomer, since these buildings likely functioned as temples
During the Terminal Formative, Teotihuacan:
A. was a small farming village
B. already had its main ceremonial buildings
C. was at its peak in terms of population
D. was one among many small ceremonial sites in the Basin of Mexico
It was the year _____ when the Aztec huetlatoani Motecuzoma II met the Spanish
conquistador Hernan Corts in the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan.
A. 1492
B. 1513
C. 1519
D. 1521
A cenote is:
A. a natural sinkhole that typically fills up with water
B. a human alter ego in the form of an animal
C. a white road
D. a pit dug into the bedrock for water storage
The Nahuatl word for city-state that translates literally as “water-hill” is:
A. Chapultepec
B. Tenochtitlan
C. tlatoani
D. altepetl
MATCHING 2
1) Snaketown
2) Ixtln del Ro
3) Guasave
4) Casas Grandes
5) Pueblo Bonito
A. Mogollon site involved in trade with Mesoamerica
B. Chaco Canyon site where chocolate was found
C. Site with a huge circular pyramid at its center
D. Hohokam site with ball courts
E. Mexican Aztatln culture site on the Pacific Coast
MATCHING 1
1) Palenque
2) Tikal
3) Calakmul
4) Copn
5) Bonampak
A. Largest lowland Maya site of the Classic period
B. Capital of “18-Rabbit,” a ruler decapitated by his rival polity, Quirigua
C. Location of Structure 1, whose murals portray the life of the Maya elite
D. Site that split into two factions around ad 650
E. Houses the grand tomb of Pakal I
Xitle and Popocatpetl are:
A. large Late Formative centers in the Basin of Mexico
B. deities who are married to each other
C. types of decorated serving ware
D. active volcanoes
During Mesoamerica’s Initial Formative era, inhabitants of the Tropical Lowlands:
A. and the Western Highlands exploited their environments in a similar fashion
B. produced numerous elite pottery vessels for feasting
C. built larger villages than people who lived in the Western Highlands
D. had little or no social complexity evident in their villages
When a math system, such as the one employed by the Maya, is based on units of 20, it
is called:
A. decimal
B. tricimal
C. vigesimal
D. double decimal
The indigenous species most often associated with ancient Mesoamerican royalty was
the:
A. deer
B. jaguar
C. bear
D. ocelot
If you were from Tula, you most likely lived in:
A. an apartment compound
B. a residence in a house group with lots of room around it
C. a small individual house
D. a gender-segregated compound
The site orientation at La Venta:
A. was shared with other Mesoamerican sites
B. coincides with the summer solstice
C. is 8 degrees east of south
D. was unique
In the Guatemala highlands during the Middle/Late Formative:
A. Kaminaljuy experienced a decline in population
B. cacao was imported to grow at higher elevations
C. access to jade sources was controlled by Kaminaljuy
D. the largest mound at Kaminaljuy was constructed
The Maya writing of the Classic period:
A. is a great source of Maya history, detailing events at dozens of sites
B. provides a complete picture of ruling dynasties throughout the lowlands
C. does not reveal anything about the ancient Maya
D. records only a fraction of Maya history
The southern Arizona site that was established in about ad 450 was:
A. Alta Vista
B. Cerro Moctehuma
C. Snaketown
D. Teuchitln
The wheel in ancient Mesoamerica:
A. was not used, since there was no domesticated beast to pull carts
B. was used only by the elites, who drove wheeled vehicles along the numerous
sacbeob
C. has been found on ritual objects
D. has not yet been documented archaeologically
The Olmec site that is strategically located on the hill of Loma del Zapote and
overlooks the confluence of two rivers is:
A. El Manat
B. El Azazul
C. Potrero Nuevo
D. San Lorenzo Tenochtitln
It is likely that maize domestication:
A. occurred first in the Old World and then spread to the Americas
B. happened immediately after the Ice Age
C. had little impact on cultural developments in Mesoamerica
D. took place by 6,000 years ago in Middle America
The statement that best characterizes Teotihuacan is that it was:
A. a highly nucleated city built on a grid plan with a wide avenue, a market, many
temples, and apartment-style dwellings
B. a large urban settlement in central Mexico that was buried by a volcanic eruption
around 1 ad
C. a Postclassic city that was part of the Aztec Triple Alliance
D. a large hilltop settlement with defensive walls and separate neighborhoods
It was during the _____ period that the Olmec culture arose.
A. Classic
B. Archaic
C. Formative
D. Postclassic
The Early Formative Copacha culture of West Mexico is best known for:
A. the extensive excavations there, which have revealed large farming villages
B. practising early brain surgery, as evidenced in the burial remains
C. building the earliest ball court in Mesoamerica
D. its gourd-shaped ceramics
Cannibalism was practiced in Aztec society by:
A. all those who could afford it
B. nobles or warriors who had taken captives
C. the general population
D. only the huetlatoque
During the Late Postclassic _______ the northern Maya lowlands.
A. the site of Tulum became the regional capital in
B. Cozumel Island dominated regional politics in
C. a number of independent provinces existed in
D. the Aztecs conquered
Both “tributary provinces” and “strategic provinces” were part of the Aztec empire. The
difference between them was that:
A. tributary provinces sent regular payments to the empire whereas strategic provinces
sent only “gifts”
B. goods and services were part of the regular payment of tributary provinces, but
strategic provinces had no obligations
C. labor and military cadres came from strategic provinces whereas tributary provinces
provided only goods
D. tributary provinces sent only “gifts” to the empire whereas strategic provinces sent
regular payments
To understand the complexity of the world’s cultural history from our origins to
present-day societies:
A. anthropologists may employ societal typologies
B. archaeologists rely on historical information for interpretation
C. archaeologists categorize only the earliest societies
D. chronology and dating methods are not important factors
It was during the Initial Formative that:
A. ceramics were first used in Mesoamerica
B. sedentism was first adopted by Mesoamericans
C. a few signs of status difference emerged in Mesoamerican societies
D. agriculture was first adopted in Mesoamerica
San Lorenzo Tenochtitln:
A. was an important trading site of the Teotihuacanos
B. peaked from about 1200 to 900 bc
C. has been completely covered over by silt from flooding which led to its demise
D. was most important from 900 to 600 bc