Civilizations of the Americas

What concept did the Maya know about before Europeans?

• Number Zero

• How to use horses in war

• How to build a pyramid

• Human sacrifice

How do we know about Maya society today?

• Only from Spanish eye witness accounts

• Only from Aztec accounts

• From the glyphs they carved on stone and in books

• From oral histories passed down

What was the disadvantage of slash and burn farming?

• It would cause deadly forest fires

• It would lead to war

• The soil would wear out and farmers would have to move on

• When it rained the fields would flood

What was at the center of Maya cities?

• Farms

• Pyramids, palaces and plazas

• canals

• military forts

What factors led to the fall of the Maya?

• drought

• disease

• war with the Aztecs

• war with the Portuguese

The Maya believed that their kings and priests could

• be worshipped as gods

• communicate with the gods

• forbid human sacrifice

• defeat the Spanish

The Maya build observatories to study the sky in order to

• help decide when to use slash and burn farming

• decide when it is best to declare war

• to build complex calendars

• to help decide where to build their temples

The first Mesoamericans had to learn how to

• farm in the tropical forest

• build dams

• create island farms

• build aqueducts

Match the following

• artificial islands used for farming

• Valley of Mexico

• Built by the Aztecs to supply fresh water

• social class that most Aztecs were

• commoners

• Purpose of human sacrifices

• Keep the chief sun god strong

• aqueducts

• Aztecs settled here because of the fertile volcanic soil

• Chinampas

Who helped to choose Aztec kings?

• Commoners

• Priests

• Members of the nobility

• Triple Alliance