WorksheetsUnit 6 Civilizations of the Americas
Total questions: 92
Worksheet time: 45mins
The Aztec usually used the (a) system to buy and sell goods in a market.
New Aztec emperors were often the nephews of the previous emperors and had been selected by a group of (a) .
The following tasks would have been handled by the social class of the (a) (s):
- study the sky
- teach boys in school
- tell the future
The pochteca, or professional traders, had many privileges. This suggests that the Aztecs
valued rare goods from faraway places.
believed that merchants were semidivine.
respected people who made a lot of money.
honored people who spoke many languages.
What was the difference between Aztec commoner farmers and peasants?
Farmers gave equal status to men and women; peasants respected women more than men.
Farmers were free from paying tax or tribute; peasants had to pay half their earnings.
Farmers belonged to a ward that lent them land to farm; peasants worked for nobles.
Farmers lived together in large stone lodges; peasants had separate mud huts.
If a woman was unhappy with her marriage, she could ask for a (a) .
Who would be expected to do the following work? Men or women?
- farming
- crafting
- building the house
(a)
What would an Aztec commoner boy be most likely to study at school?
how to be a soldier
how to build pyramids
the movements of the planets
the arts of neighboring cultures
What would be the main food item for the tortillas eaten by Aztec farmers?
(a)
What animals did some Aztec families raise?
goats
sheep
horses
turkeys
The Aztecs call themselves the “people of the sun” because their main god Huitzilopochtli was the god of the (a) and war.
Why did Aztec markets have guards and judges?
to collect taxes on every purchase
to make sure sellers behaved honestly
to prevent foreign goods from being sold
to keep the best goods for the royal family
The Aztecs sacrificed birds and humans because they believed the god Huitzilopochtli needed their (a) for nourishment.
The game patolli involved beans, colored stones, and a board with 52 squares. Moving five times around the board symbolized 260 days, a reference to the Aztec (a) .
The ball game ollamalitzli, which served a religious purpose, was played mostly by:
(a)
Mayan culture flourished in the region known as
Mesopotamia.
the Caribbean.
Mesoamerica.
the Midlands.
The first Mesoamericans to use a solar calendar were the
Aztecs.
Incas.
Maya.
Olmecs.
The Maya developed their own system of hieroglyphic writing during the
Anti-Classic period.
Classic period.
Post-Classic period.
Pre-Classic period.
Tikal, Copan, Chichén Itzá, and Palenque are four major Maya
cities.
dishes.
gods.
rulers.
Around what year did the Classic period end?
2000 B.C.E.
900 C.E.
500 C.E.
300 C.E.
Who was at the top of the social pyramid in each Maya city-state?
the nobles
the peasants
the priests
the ruler
Which members of Maya society knew how to read and write?
the merchants and artisans
the peasants
the ruler, nobles, and priests
the slaves
Which statement is true?
Maya traders traveled by sea, river, and well-constructed roads to trade with other city-states.
Maya artisans never painted images of people because they believed that would displease the gods.
Maya traders in the lowlands sold products such as silk and spices to people in the highlands.
all of the above
Who were considered the backbone of Maya society because they grew most of the food?
artisans
nobles
peasants
priests
When might slaves be sacrificed to the gods?
after being captured in war
upon the deaths of their owners
when the priests required it
whenever their owners wished
Which statement about daily life is true?
Women and girls prepared the food and cared for the home.
Men and boys cared for the small children and animals.
Women and girls worked hard tending the crops in the fields.
Men and boys gathered cotton, which they spun and wove into cloth.
What happened at the ceremony that marked the birth of a child?
The priest forecast the baby's future.
The priest gave the baby to another family to raise for four years.
The priest sacrificed the baby if it was a peasant.
The priest revealed who the baby's spouse would be.
Why did boys wear a white bead in their hair and girls wear a string of red shells around their waists?
They reminded children of their duty to their parents.
They were believed to protect children from danger.
They showed which clan the children belonged to.
They were symbols of children's innocence.
When arranging a marriage of their children, the families had to agree on
how much food and clothing would be given to the groom's family.
which set of parents the new bride and groom would live with.
how many years a young man would work for his new wife's family.
whether or not to use the services of the village matchmaker.
The Maya built their cities around religious and ceremonial centers because
religion was very important to the Maya.
these centers kept the Maya safe from enemies.
these were the only buildable sites in Mesoamerica.
all of the above
Why did the Maya honor their gods?
Their greatest concern was going to heaven after they died.
They feared that the gods who created the world could also destroy it.
They hoped to end the ritual sacrifice that their enemies practiced.
They wanted the gods to help them drive out the Europeans.
Priests used the Sacred Round to
assign duties, such as spinning, weaving, and cooking, to young men and women.
determine the best days to plant, hunt, cure, do battle, and perform religious ceremonies.
identify which families should be joined together through the marriages of their children.
sacrifice the captain and members of the losing team after a game of pok-a-tok.
The primary Maya food was
berries.
corn.
fish.
wheat.
How did Maya farmers adapt to the environment of the mountainous highlands?
They built terraces to make more land available for planting.
They constructed raised-earth platforms surrounded by canals to drain off rainwater.
They spread chemical fertilizers on their fields to maximize their crop yields.
They used slash-and-burn agriculture to clear new land for planting.
What happened that marked the end of the Classic period of Mayan history?
A meteor had destroyed the entire city of Chichén Itzá.
Europeans had arrived and conquered Maya civilization.
Maya had abandoned their large cities to the jungle.
The last of the Maya had died after a generation of warfare.
Where did Mayan cities continue to prosper during the Post-Classic period?
along the Pacific coast
in the highlands
on the Yucatán Peninsula
in the Petén Jungle
What kind of animal do you see in the center of this drawing about Aztec life?
bull
eagle
fish
horse
Aztecs believed that an eagle was
a god who would watch over and protect the Aztec people.
an omen signaling that Europeans would destroy their civilization.
a sign from the gods, telling them where to build their city.
the reincarnation of their first king.
The city that the Aztecs built on an island in Lake Texcoco was called
Tenochtitlán
Aztlán
Teotihuacán
Quetzalcoatl
How did the Aztecs live before building their city on the island in Lake Texcoco?
They were traders along the Silk Road.
They were farmers on the Yucatán Peninsula.
They were fishermen along the Gulf of Mexico.
They were wandering hunter-gatherers.
What is this eagle perching on?
a long snake
his wings
a prickly pear cactus
the sun
What event does this image commemorate?
the adopting of Quetzalcoatl as one of the Aztec's gods
the destruction of the Aztec Empire by Europeans
the founding of the shrine to Huitzilopochtli
the legendary founding of the Aztec empire
What means "the place of the fruit of the prickly pear cactus"?
Aztlán
Tenochtitlán
Quetzalcoatl
Teotihuacán
In which part of Mexico did the Aztecs build their empire?
in Baja California
in the Chiapas highlands
in the Valley of Mexico
in the Yucatán Peninsula
Which city on this map was the capital city of the Toltecs?
Chapultepec
Tenochtitlán
Teotihuacán
Tollán
Which location on this map shows the place where the Aztecs began building their great city in 1325 C.E.?
Teotihuacán
Chapultepec
Tollán
Tenochtitlán
Where did the Aztecs live just before building their city in Tenochtitlán?
Tollán
Culhuacán
Teotihuacán
Chapultepec
What advantages did the location of Tenochtitlán provide the Aztecs?
The lake provided fish and water birds for food, and the island was easy to defend.
The city was far away from other city-states in Mesoamerica, such as Culhuacán and Teotihuacán.
The mountain location provided protection against invaders from the lowlands.
all of the above
In this image, Aztecs are
finishing the construction of the Great Temple.
gathering together for a religious ritual.
watching a human sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli.
building a small island called a chinampa.
Why did the Aztecs build chinampas?
to establish a habitat for parrots, quetzals, and other exotic birds
to please the chief god Huitzilopochtli and rain god Tlaloc
to create more land for the expansion of Tenochtitlán
to provide a means of transportation across Lake Texcoco
What happened at the top of the Great Temple in front of the shrines?
Priests performed human sacrifices.
Wild animals prowled cages in the royal zoo.
People came to trade many kinds of goods.
Workers washed down the streets each day.
What is one example of a technological marvel at Tenochtitlán?
a horse-drawn tramcar system that carried passengers around the city efficiently
twin aqueducts that carried fresh water for irrigation from the Chapultepec springs
an elevator system to move priests to the top of the Great Temple
under-floor steam heating in the royal palace, Great Temple, and royal aviary
This image show several forms of tribute paid to the Aztecs. Why did cities pay tribute to the Aztecs?
Cities paid as a gesture of defiance against the Aztecs.
Most city dwellers thought of themselves as true Aztecs.
The Aztecs demanded payments after defeating them in war.
The rulers of all Mesoamerican cities were members of the Aztec royal family.
The center of Aztec life was
art
democracy
sport
warfare
What happened to soldiers that the Aztecs captured in battle?
Some became slaves, but most ended up as human sacrifices.
Most were required to marry Aztec women to produce more Aztec children
Some were allowed to stay, but most were exiled to locations in South America.
Most were killed immediately on the battlefield.
What was the greatest weakness of the Aztec Empire?
As a peace-loving people, the Aztecs were not skilled at warfare.
Its desert location meant that the Aztecs could not grow enough food for the population.
he Aztecs sacrificed their strongest warriors, leaving the weakest ones to defend the empire.
It had a lack of unity, because conquered people wanted their freedom.
Here are two facts about the Inca Empire. These facts explain why the Incas
had legends about their origin.
conquered many other groups.
used runners to carry messages.
built their capital in the mountains.
A set of strings tied into knots, called a quipu, was an aid for
finding the best route.
remembering information.
catching fish in the river.
understanding the calendar.
Much of the land that was once the Inca Empire is in which countries today?
Peru and Ecuador
Brazil and Paraguay
Mexico and Guatemala
Colombia and Venezuela
How did the Incas develop these advances?
learned them from the Maya
created them as original inventions
adapted them from the Chimus
learned them from Inti
According to Incan legend, the Inca tribe began when the sun god’s son
rose out of Lake Titcaca.
crossed the Pacific Ocean.
saw an eagle on top of a cactus.
stepped out from the eastern sky.
The Inca Empire reached its peak in the same period as which group on the timeline below?
Olmec culture
Classic Maya
Toltec civilization
Aztec Empire
The Incas lived for hundreds of years without spreading their civilization. What set off the expansion of their
empire?
a need for more trading partners
a priestly message from the gods
a sudden need for more farmland
an attack by a neighboring people
What did the Incas create to hold their empire together?
a central market
a network of roads
a group of trained warriors
a school for sons of commoners
What belongs in bottom row of this chart?
winners of major battles
scholars who did well in school
local leaders of conquered people
favorites chosen by the royal wives
The most important Incan food crop was unknown to the Maya or Aztecs. This Incan crop was
corn.
beans.
squash.
potatoes.
Two people who belonged to the same ayllu might often
obey different leaders.
work at different tasks.
live in different regions.
speak different languages.
Who got the remaining third of an ayllu’s crops?
the Sapa Inca
the local leader
needy neighbors
conquered armies
How would an Incan priest most likely use an oracle?
to collect taxes for the temple
to ask advice about the future
to study how to perform rituals
to sacrifice animals to the gods
When a Chosen Woman was 12 years old, she would most likely be
studying in a convent.
living with her family.
married to a commoner.
helping to govern a village.
After the Incas conquered a new area, why were local leaders and their sons brought to Cuzco?
to get sacred objects back
to be sacrificed to the sun god
to learn Incan law and language
to tell the emperor their concerns
What did the Sapa Inca typically do after a rebellion by a conquered tribe?
set the area free
return sacred objects
take families as slaves
replace the local leader
(Click to hide text)
(Click to hide text)
(Click to hide text)
