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Mayan Civilization

Total questions: 34

Worksheet time: 1hrs 7mins

Name
Class
Date
1.
What was the name of the peninsula where the Mayans largely lived?
a)
Baja California Peninsula
b)
Iberian Peninsula
c)
Florida Peninsula
d)
Yucatan Peninsula
2.

The Mayans lived in which area of the world:

a)

South America: Peru and Ecuador

b)

Mexico and Central America

c)

North America: Southern United States and Mexico

d)

Africa: Zimbabwe and Lesotho

3.
Which of the following Mayan social class had the most population and did the hardest work?
a)
King
b)
Farmers and Slaves
c)
Priests 
d)
Merchants and Artisans
4.
Which sentence below most accurately describes Mayan religion?
a)
Religion was central to Mayan culture as they worshiped many gods and made many sacrifices, including human sacrifices. 
b)
The Mayans were largely catholic because of the Spanish influence. 
c)
Religion was central to the Mayan culture as Mayans had a single god that they worshipped. 
d)
Mayans were Christians that made many sacrifices, including human scarifices. 
5.
Which of the following is/are possible explanation(s) for the disappearance of the Mayas?
a)
Population outgrew area to farm 
b)
Warfare from outside
c)
Severe drought
d)
All of the above
6.
What was the noble class of Mayan society?
a)
The farmers and warriors
b)
Farmers and slaves
c)
Priests and the Merchants
d)
Priests and warriors
7.
Which of the following is TRUE about how a person's social class effected his or her life?
a)
A person's social class determined his/her religion. 
b)
A person's social class determined which Mayan city a person lived in. 
c)
A person's social class determined what they wore. 
d)
A person's social class did not affect their job/occupation. 
8.

What two contributions did the Mayans make to the modern world?

a)

Hieroglyphics

b)

Pueblo villages

c)

Floating gardens

d)

Math and the number zero

e)

Cities of gold

9.

What was the Mayan religion like?

a)

They believed in one god

b)

They believed in many gods (polytheistic)

c)

They didn't believe in any gods

d)

They didn't believe in animal or human sacrifices

10.

How did the Mayans farm?

a)

The cut terraces into the hillside

b)

They grew gardens on top of mesas

c)

They planted crops on floating gardens

d)

They used special fertilizers and watering systems

11.

What was the social structure of the Mayans?

a)

Farmers on top; warriors and nobles on bottom

b)

President on top; farmers and priests on bottom

c)

Powerful kings and nobles on top; poor peasants and slaves on bottom

d)

Elected officials on top; priests and traders on bottom

12.

What was true about the Mayan calendar?

a)

The calendar wasn't accurate

b)

The Mayans were not concerned about dates

c)

The Mayans used the wrong stars to calculate their calendar

d)

The calendar had 365 days

13.

How did the Mayan people communicate?

a)

They used hieroglyphics

b)

They used sign language

c)

They only used oral language and story telling

d)

Each city-state spoke its own language

14.

Why were the Mayans considered "mysterious"?

a)

They chose not to communicate with their neighbors

b)

They abandoned their cities and disappeared

c)

They didn't leave anything for people today to see or study

d)

They didn't want to be seen or heard

15.
Where did the Mayan civilizations exist?
a)
modern day Guatemala
b)
modern day Mexico
c)
Yucatan Peninsula
d)
all of these are correct
16.
"Each picture stood for an object and/or a sound."  This refers to the Mayan writing system that we call ___________. 
a)
Sanskrit
b)
Hieroglyphs
c)
Arabic
d)
Cyrillic
17.
Three famous theories of the disappearance of Mayans from their cities are: people died from famine and drought, disease killed them, and
a)
warfare destroyed the population
b)
space invaders snatched them
c)
zombies settled in downtown areas
d)
global warming
18.

Here is an example of Mayan hieroglyphics. Both the Egyptians and the Mayans used hieroglyphics as a type of writing to represent _______________________.

a)

birds and other animals.

b)

sounds, words, and ideas.

c)

their gods.

d)

prayers from the gods.

19.

The Mayans had a great civilization that lasted 700 years. They made advances in what three areas? Select all three.

a)

Astronomy

b)

Writing

c)

Mathematics

d)

Unrecorded history

20.

Mayan people tried to ___________________ the gods.

a)

run away from

b)

help

c)

please

d)

Anger

21.

The Mayans created a n__________________ system

a)

number

b)

no war

c)

naughty

d)

notorious

22.

Mayans were the first people to have a symbol for _________

a)

One Million

b)

Infinity

c)

Zero

d)

Soccer

23.

Choose the groups who are in the upper class.

a)

Slaves

b)

Warriors

c)

Nobles

d)

Priests

e)

Farmers

24.

Which two statements accurately describe characteristics of the Maya government?

a)

It was led by nobles and priests

b)

Common people held positions of power.

c)

A city and its surrounding lands were self-governing.

d)

A strong central government was led by an emperor.

25.
What is the type of farming used in the rainforest where the vegetation was cut away then started on fire to clear the land for planting crops?
a)
slash and burn
b)
terraced farming
c)
raised platform farming
26.

When were the Mayan cities abandoned?

a)

900 A.D.

b)

350 B.C.

c)

900 B.C.

d)

350 A.D.

27.

Why would the Maya make sacrifices to their gods?

a)

to please the gods and get a good harvest

b)

to use the temple

c)

to establish the power of their city-state

28.

Which shows the correct Maya class system?

a)

King, priests & warriors, merchants & craftspeople, farmers & slaves

b)

Kings, priests, warriors, then farmers

c)

Kings, warriors, priests & merchants, farmers

d)

Kings, priests, farmers, slaves

29.

We know the Maya built flat-topped pyramids. At the top of these pyramids were ______________.

a)

Statues

b)

Temples

c)

Moss Covered Rooms

d)

Nothing was at the top

30.

The Mayans wrote books called

a)

codex

b)

novels

c)

columns

31.

The Mayan calendar had (a)   months

32.

In the Mayan number system a dash represents what number?

a)

1

b)

10

c)

5

d)

20

33.

Which of the following choices are TRUE about the Mayan Caste System? SELECT ALL THAT ARE TRUE

a)

there are three classes, upper, middle and lower

b)

Mayans were born into a class and could never change

c)

Mayans were able to move between classes

d)

The lower class had ALL the luxuries

34.

Which of the following statements are TRUE about the Mayans religion:

a)

they believed in one god

b)

they believed if they worshiped correctly they went to heaven

c)

they believed in an underworld called the Place of AWFUL

d)

they thought making sacrifices would please the gods

e)

according to Mayan legend, the gods created heaven and earth first, then animals and finally humans