Test - Module 13 - Civilizations of the Americas

The earliest Native Americans lived as ___.

hunters and food gatherers

The most important resource for this native American culture was the sea/ocean, differences in wealth led to the creation of social classes, and families displayed their rank and wealth by giving away food, drink, and gifts is a ___.

potlatch

What led to the decline of both the Aztec and Inca Empires?

Both the Aztecs and Inca Empire's declined because they were eventually conquered by the Spanish who invaded those areas of Central and South America with their superior technology and weapons.

The main achievement of the Northeastern tribes were ___.

the alliance such as the Iroquois League was created to help to develop a trade network and to keep the peace between Native Americans fghtingover the same land and natural resources

A natural object used by Native American clans to identify and unify a clan or group are called ___.

totems

Reason 3 of body paragraph.

Advancing math, the Maya introduced the concept of zero, in order to help with their calendar and astronomical work

Historians believe the first Americans came from ___.

Asia

Thesis statement of essay.

Despite other great Mesoamerican civilizations like the Aztecs and Incas, the Mayans were the most advanced and successful civilization because of their writing system, calendar system, math developments, and architecture.

Explain three reasons why the Mayan Civilization declined?

Drought - The area/region of Central America during the time period of the Mayans decline dealt with a lack of water which led to crops not growing, which led to not enough food and water for the population. As a result of the drought, the Mayans left the civilization that they built to survive. Overpopulation - There were too many people within the Mayan Civilization and not enough water and food to feed them. THe Mayans left their own civilization in order to survive. Over use of their natural resources - The Mayans overused their land so the land became unable to sustain growing crops for food. The overuse of land and their natural resources led to the Mayans having to leave their civilization to survive. Warfare - The Mayans were fighting in more wars toward the end of their civilization because they were fighting over natural resources; food and water that they needed to survive. Loss of faith in their religion/belief system - When the crops weren't growing, when the people of the Mayan civilization were starving, and when the Mayans were losing wars, the people lost faith in their God-King/ leader and in their religion.

This culture of the Southwest was one of the earliest and most successful in the region, were influenced by the Anasazi to the north, and by the Mesoamerican people to the south. These were the ___.

Hohokam

Why do historians compare the Incan government system to a modern welfare state?

Incas are often considered a modem welfare state because they made sure to take care of the elderly and sick within their empire/civilization.

How did Native American cultures view the land that they lived on?

Native Americans believed that land could not be bought or sold. They viewed nature and the land that they lived on as sacred.

Which Mesoamerican civilization was perhaps best known for their advanced calendar, engineering, astronomy, and ominous prediction for when the world would end?

The Mayans

Villages of apartment-style compounds made of adobe, stone, and clay were called ___.

Pueblos

Which ancient civilization developed the first written language of the Americas called glyphs?

The Mayans

Which civilization's capital was Tikal and they built many pyramids with one of the most famous being Chichen Itza?

The Mayans

What made the Mayas and Aztecs barbaric civilizations?

The Mayas and Aztecs were both barbaric civilizations because they performed human sacrifices to their Gods.

Which ancient civilization developed a causeway that allowed their people and products to travel from the capital city of Tenochtitlan across the lake to the mainland?

The Aztecs

Which ancient civilization was based on warfare and used slaves as sacrifices to the gods on a daily basis?

The Aztecs

Which Mesoamerican civilization had to live with the most difficult environment because they were always dealing with volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and dry land that wasn't good for agriculture?

The Incas

Which ancient civilization created a "City in the Sky" called Machu Picchu on the Andes mountains?

The Incas

Which ancient civilization didn't have a written language but kept records and sent messages with a cord or string of knots called quipu.

The Incas

Within this ancient civilization's social class structure, which created an ancient welfare state and cared for the elderly and sick?

The Incas

Where did the civilizations of the Mayas, Incas, and Aztecs develop?

The Incas were located in South America along the Andes Mountains from Southern Peru to Argentina. The Mayans were located in present-day South eastern Mexico, Northern Guatemala, El Salvador, and Yucatan Peninsula. The Aztecs were located in present-day mexico (Valley of Mexico-Mexico City).

Reason 4 of body paragraph.

The Maya created great structures like Chichen Itza which were the structures were built so well, that they were able to last many years after the civilization's decline.

Reason 2 of body paragraph.

The Maya developed a great and accurate calendar which helped to identify the best times to plant crops, attack enemies, and crown new rulers.

Reason 1 of body paragraph.

The Maya developed the most advanced writing system in the ancient Americas. Consisting of about 800 hieroglyphic symbols, or glyphs, the Maya used their writing to record important events in which they would carve into stone or put in a bark-paper book.

Which Mesoamerican civilization that had no central leader and developed city-states with separate god kings for each one?

The Mayans

How were the Mayas and Aztecs similar in their features of civilization? In what way were they different? *(Discuss one similarity and one difference)

The Mayas and Aztecs were similar in their features of civilization in that both of their governments were theocracies (a God King that controls the government and religion), both of their religions were polytheistic had human sacrifices, the Sun God was their main God, and their architecture/engineering were similar in the building of their pyramids and temples. Both the Mayas and Aztecs were different in their features of civilization in that the Mayas had a separate God-King for each city-state while the Aztecs had one king/emperor rule over their entire empire. The Mayans performed bloodletting and human sacrifices to their Gods periodically, while the Aztecs were constantly at war to use their enemies/prisoners of war for human sacrifices on a daily basis.

One of the most important resources connected to the Pacific Northwest Native Americans were ___.

The fish and whales that they used as resources from the ocean/sea.

Present-day connection.

Today, Maya's achievements in things such as engineering and astronomy laid the groundwork for today's knowledge in subjects such as those, and have also helped us to learn and discover more.

Explain the main similarities between Native American cultures.

Trade - Each Native American tribe no matter what region of North America that they settled in took part in a trade network for the products and resources that they needed. Religion - Each Native American tribe believed in nature spirits and believed in many gods (polytheism). View of nature and the land - Each Native American tribe view of nature and the land that they lived on was similar. They didn't believe that you could own the land and believed in respecting the land and nature that they lived on. All Native Americans tribes believed that they came from a common ancestor and used totems as their identity for their clans. Family as a social unit was important to all Native American Tribes.