Topic #6 Lesson #1 The Maya

Which answer best describes slash and burn agriculture?

• Trees and plants were cut down and used to make medicines to treat various illnesses.

  
  

• Trees were cut down, and the wood was used to make planter boxes to grow crops.

  
  

• Crops were planted around the trees and plants that grew heavily in the rainforest.

  
  

• Trees and plants were cut down and burned, and the ash was used to fertilize the soil.

What was one factor that may have caused Mayan cities to fall into ruin between 800 and 1000 bce?

• The Olmec invaded Mayan cities.

  
  

• The Spanish conquered the Maya.

  
  

• Mayan buildings were poorly constructed.

  
  

• Food shortages occurred due to drought.

Which concept did the Maya understand before Europeans did?

• architecture

  
  

• calendars

  
  

• hieroglyphics

  
  

• the number zero

How have modern scholars learned much of their information about the Maya?

• from printed books

  
  

• from oral history

  
  

• from glyphs carved in stone

  
  

• from Spanish records

Why did Mayan commoners seek to please priests and nobles?

• They were afraid of being sacrificed to the gods.

  
  

• They believed priests and nobles could communicate with the gods.

  
  

• They believed priests and nobles were gods in human form.

  
  

• They depended on priests and nobles to supply them with food.

How did the environment affect agriculture for the Mayans? 

• Mayan cities developed in locations where food could be grown

• Heavily forested environment made it hard to farm - Slash and Burn was developed

• Both A and B