Civilizations of Americas

Why did farmers in Mesoamerica move their farms from time to time?

• As their families grew larger, farmers needed larger farms.

• Conquering armies confiscated their land and forced them to leave.

• Heavy rains flooded their fields, forcing them to find new land.

• The soil would wear out and could no longer support farming.

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.

Why did the Incas build terraces?

• to improve travel and communication through the empire

• to allow them to build homes on the sides of mountains

• to make it easier to climb high mountains

• to increase the amount of fertile farmland

The Incas used quipus to

• preserve their history.

• keep records of people and goods.

• decide when to plant crops.

• divide work among peasant families.

What is considered the greatest example of Incan engineering?

• the chinampas

• the road network

• the ayllu system

• the food storehouses

What event marked the start of the downfall of the Incan Empire?

• A drought made it impossible to feed all the people of the empire.

• Two sons of the emperor fought a civil war for control of the empire.

• Spanish conquerors arrived and took control of the Incan capital.

• A volcano wiped out the majority of the population in Incan cities.

Scientists have learned about the Ancestral Pueblo mostly by studying

• oral history.

• written records.

• mounds.

• housing and artifacts.