We can find evidence for conflict in Classic Maya society in:
A. massive defensive earthworks
B. indigenous texts which document political situations
C. preserved artworks showing scenes of confrontation
D. All of the above
Segmentary states within an empire:
A. are composed of various factions that are very different from one another
B. are fragile because the empire needs each in order to survive
C. are characterized by weak leaders
D. can easily become independent
The city of Teotihuacan
A. was carefully planned
B. grew in a haphazard fashion
C. was completed within a century
D. sported temples built from gold
MATCHING 2
1) Isthmian Zone
2) Chiapas and Guatemala Highlands
3) Maya Lowlands
4) Southeast Mesoamerica
5) Intermediate Area
A. Culturally similar to South America
B. Olmec heartland
C. Location of Cern, a village covered by volcanic ash
D. Modern Guatemala City
E. Yucatn Peninsula
The translation of the genus name for the cacao tree, from which chocolate is derived,
is:
A. “money of the Aztecs”
B. “food of the gods”
C. “divine chow”
D. “addiction of the aphrodisiac”
The colossal heads of the Olmecs:
A. may have portrayed the rulers of a site
B. were built from local white clay that was fired to harden it
C. numbered in the tens of thousands and were found everywhere
D. were portraits of a Mother Goddess
Found inside Structure E-III-3 at Kaminaljuy was:
A. an elaborate tomb with human sacrifices and offerings
B. an offering of sacrificed animals, including numerous jaguars and deer
C. a bench that rulers used as a throne
D. a secret passage built to access another part of the site
The coa is the:
A. Aztec name for a digging stick
B. Olmec name for rubber
C. earliest pottery vessel form
D. Mayan name for maize
As the government of Tenochtitlan-Tlatelolco evolved, the calpulli:
A. diminished all over the Basin of Mexico
B. remained strong in the city but was less influential in rural areas
C. suffered a diminished role in city government but retained its importance in the
hinterlands
D. was given more power by the government
The outcome of the Tepanec War in the 1420s was that:
A. the Tepanecs won single-handedly and took over the Basin of Mexico
B. the Tepanecs and Aztecs blocked all other groups
C. the Mexica defeated the Tepanecs
D. the Tepanecs, Aztecs, and other city-states in the Basin of Mexico banded together to
form a coalition
The site of Paso de La Amada in Chiapas, Mexico, is best known for:
A. its ball court ” the first known in Mesoamerica
B. being the area where maize was first domesticated
C. having an ancient men’s house
D. inventing pottery
The ancients who lived at San Lorenzo Tenochtitln:
A. constructed monuments from local stone
B. built the most important Formative site in Mesoamerica
C. peaked in population at the end of the Formative period
D. located their center atop a high mountain for defensive purposes
Numerous workshops at Xochicalco suggest that the center’s main craft activity was:
A. obsidian blade production
B. the manufacture of shell-necklaces
C. the production of Coyotlatelco pottery
D. the construction of feather headdresses
The term “Aztec” that has been developed by modern scholars:
A. is derived from the homeland of Aztln
B. comes from the main river that runs through the highlands
C. refers to the Aztatln
D. is also the name for a mountain chain near Mexico City
The significance of the Tierras Largas site in Oaxaca is that it exemplifies:
A. an Olmec ritual site
B. the continuity of village life through the centuries
C. an emerging capital of a complex society
D. the largest Early Formative site in Mesoamerica
MATCHING 1
1) Paso de la Amada
2) San Jos Mogote
3) El Caln
4) Matanchn
5) Ocs and La Victoria
A. Earliest New World monumental structure
B. Archaic-style complex with no ceramics
C. Mokaya culture
D. Earliest Mesoamerican ball court
E. Men’s house
Domesticated maize:
A. emerged by 10,000 bc
B. occurred in the highlands of Oaxaca and other places in Mesoamerica
C. derived from its wild ancestor, maguey
D. occurred in lowland areas
The type of arch used in Mesoamerican architecture is:
A. identical to the type of arch used in the Old World
B. a corbelled vault
C. a true arch with a keystone
D. the most stable type of arch
There were many sacrificial victims at the 1487 rededication of the Templo Mayor. A
low estimate of their number is:
A. 35,000
B. 20,000
C. 1,000
D. 100
The longest example of Mesoamerica’s oldest glyph writing is found at:
A. La Venta
B. Cerro de las Mesas
C. Tres Zapotes
D. La Mojarra
Glottochronology is a:
A. sacrificial practice involving the cutting of the tongue
B. method for tracing the connections between languages
C. way of making the best rubber balls for the ball game
D. method of dating remains of written languages
When the Tenochca ruler Itzcoatl ascended to the throne in 1428, the new office of
“Woman Snake” was:
A. given to the principal wife of the ruler to ensure that women had a voice in
government
B. established for the ruler’s closest advisor
C. created to give equality to women in Aztec society
D. that of the high priestess of the tlatoani
After excavating the apartment compound Tlajinga 33 at Teotihuacan, researchers
concluded that the city’s inhabitants specialized in producing:
A. utilitarian San Martn orange ceramics
B. stone vessels to export to Oaxaca
C. wooden lintels to be used in construction
D. green obsidian blades
The absolute dating system used by Mesoamericans to anchor each date in successive
order from a starting point is called the:
A. Calendar Round
B. solar year
C. Divinatory Almanac
D. Long Count
The name “Mexica” comes from the:
A. Toltecs of Tula
B. Maya of Tikal
C. Aztecs of Tenochtitlan
D. the Olmecs of La Venta
The cultural region of Michoacn supplied Tula with:
A. turquoise
B. obsidian
C. copper
D. feathers
By _____, the entire Oaxaca Valley was under the control of _____.
A. ad 100 / Cuicatln Caada
B. 100 bc / Yucuita
C. ad 250 / Monte Albn
D. 100 bc / Monte Albn
MATCHING 2
1) Chacmool
2) Tzompantli
3) Coyotlatelco
4) Teuchitln
5) Temascal
A. Northwestern Frontier tradition of displaying human skulls on a rack
B. Translates to mean “sweat bath”
C. Example of the Northwestern Frontier tradition of circular architecture
D. Type of pottery that features buff-colored vessels with red designs
E. Name for a statue of a reclining male figure
A major deity revered at Teotihuacan was the:
A. Storm God
B. Fire God
C. Death God
D. Corn God
Choose the correct statement regarding technology in ancient Mesoamerica.
A. Metals were completely unknown to ancient Mesoamericans.
B. Wheels were present, but had uses that were limited to a few tools and ritual items.
C. Pottery was invented during the Classic period.
D. Pottery was replaced by metal containers during the Classic period.
Late Formative settlement in the Puebla region:
A. continued as in previous periods
B. encompassed growth and intensification of agriculture
C. depended on foraging in this dry environment
D. lost almost all of its population to the city of Teotihuacan
The Mexica calpulli was:
A. a type of ward or neighborhood
B. a long-distance merchant who traveled all over Mesoamerica
C. an administrative position held by commoners
D. another way of saying chinampa
Mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers, giant ground sloth and other large animals that lived
during the Pleistocene are collectively known as:
A. megadonts
B. megafauna
C. megamammals
D. magnanimals
The Sacred Cenote (or Well of Sacrifice) at Chichn Itz:
A. is a large sinkhole made sacred by the ancient inhabitants
B. also served as an observatory
C. was a massive construction project undertaken to provide bathing facilities
D. served as an outdoor amphitheater