1. The first colonization of America by people from Asia probably began about
a. 150,000 years ago.
b. 5,000 years ago.
c. 40,000 years ago.
d. 10,000 years ago.
2. One revolutionary result of the development of agriculture was
a. the appearance of the state.
b. the feasibility of the division of labor.
c. an improvement in the status of women.
d. the abandonment of hunting.
3. A serious weakness of slash-and-burn farming was that it
a. led to overpopulation.
b. required a strong central authority.
c. soon exhausted the soil.
d. encouraged tribal warfare.
4. The word "Indian" is a misnomer, because of two reasons:
a. Because Columbus made a mistake thinking he was in Asia and because the name was easy for him to pronounce.
b. Because Columbus made a geographical mistake and because not one of the peoples in the Americas had a word in its language which could be translated as "Indian."
5. Two examples of sedentary peoples in the Americas were:
a. Chichimecs and Zapotec.
b. Tupi and Guarani
c. Aztec and Tlaxcalans.
6. By 1502 the Aztec had spread their empire:
a. from the center of Mexico to the northernmost tip of North America.
b. From the Center of Mexico to Central America
c. From the fringes of the arid northern plateau to the lowlands of Tehuantepec, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
7. A factor that greatly aided Aztec imperial expansion was
a. the highly productive chinampa system of agriculture.
b. Aztec superiority in weapons and military technique.
c. belief in the sacrifice of war prisoners for the survival of the universe.
d. the geographical advantages of the Valley of Mexico for defense and offense.
8. The main integrating force in Aztec society was the
a. military.
b. merchant class.
c. artisans.
d. priesthood.
9. The Maya agricultural system was based on
a. slash-and-burn farming.
b. chinampa farming.
c. large imports of grain from central Mexico.
d. a mix of slash-and-burn farming and more intensive agricultural methods.
10. Our knowledge of Maya history has been much enhanced by the discovery
a. that many of the sculptured glyphs record important events in the lives of Maya rulers.
b. of native codices containing much historical material.
c. that Maya writing was truly syllabic and could easily be deciphered.
d. of a Spanish translation of Maya oral historical traditions.
11. The central Andean area in Inca times was characterized by
a. large amounts of arable land.
b. a very limited number of edible plants.
c. a rich variety of environments, making possible extensive food production.
d. a forbidding environment of coastal deserts, bleak plateaus, and snowcapped mountains.
12. The two basic groups in society among the Nahuatl speaking people were:
a. dependents and slaves
b. nobles and slaves
c. nobles and commoners
d. merchants and commoners
13. There was no private property among the commoners of the Inca society
a. T
b. F
14. The emperor credited with many reforms and innovations in the Inca state is
a. Topa Inca.
b. Pachacuti Inca.
c. Atahualpa.
d. Huascar.
15. The Incas possessed
a. pictographic writing.
b. alphabetic writing.
c. a system of communicating by signs.
d. a record-keeping device called the quipu.
16. The Inca state may best be described as a
a. totalitarian state.
b. socialist state.
c. welfare state.
d. class-structured state in which commoners were exploited by the rulers and nobility.
17. A serious weakness of the Inca Empire was
a. chronic discontent and revolts on the part of conquered peoples.
b. the difficulty of maintaining control over such a vast area.
c. the emergence of a military caste that challenged the supremacy of Inca rulers.
d. the rise of a feudal nobility that threatened Inca centralized authority.
18. Many activities thought to reflect the benevolence of the Inca state actually were
a. invented by pro-Inca chroniclers writing after the conquest.
b. traditional village cooperative functions taken over by the Inca state for its own ends.
c. examples of the "divide-and-rule" policy of Inca rulers.
d. designed to prevent rebellions on the part of conquered peoples.
19. The ayllu was a
a. kinship group, the members of which married within the group.
b. kinship group, the members of which married outside the group.
c. territorial group, the members of which recognized no kinship bonds.
d. group of people from the interior of the empire resettled in the newly conquered province.
20. A Calpulli was:
a. the favorite fruit tree of the Aztecs
b. The smallest unit of social organization made of one single family
c. A very important religious ceremony among the commoners.
d. A hamlet
21. Social stratification was most developed in the
a. band.
b. state.
c. chiefdom.
d. tribe.
22. Economic life in Aztec Mexico rested on a base of
a. large-scale trade with the Inca Empire.
b. hunting and fishing.
c. intensive and extensive agriculture.
d. craft industry.
23. Before the Spanish conquest, gender parallelism in the Andean world guaranteed women
a. the right to share in political decisions of the Inca state.
b. leadership positions in the ayllu.
c. access to land, herds, water, and other material resources.
d. a subordinate role in the gendered hierarchy of Inca society.
24. The Triple Alliance was an agreement to share the spoils of conquest among
a. Texcoco, Tenochtitlán, and Tlacopán, facilitating Aztec domination of Mesoamerica.
b. Texcoco, Tenochtitlán, and Tlacopán, facilitating Inca domination of Mesoamerica.
c. Spain, Portugal, and England, thereby facilitating European domination of Mesoamerica.
d. Inca, Aztec, and Maya lords, thereby facilitating imperial domination of Mesoamerica.
25. From the point of view of Spanish administration, the two very important aspects that distinguish sedentary from non-sedentary and semi-sedentary were:
a. That the sedentary groups already knew how to plant crops and they were magnificent textile manufacturers.
b. That their local merchants provided goods from all around the sedentary areas and thus the Spabniards cold introduce that trade to Europe.
c. That the sedentary peoples had social stratification and tribute mechanisms, both systems that Spaniards are going to readily exploit.