Aztec Geography/Culture
What is the name of the valley where the Aztec Empire arose?
Valley of Mexico
The ruins of who's city was a pilgrimage site for the Aztecs?
Teotihuacán
What made it possible for the Olmecs and the Maya to create permanent settlements?
Farming/Agriculture
Maya priests led rituals and offered sacrifices. What was another role of the priests?
tell the future
What showed that war was at the center of Aztec life?
All Aztec men were trained as soldiers
What was one benefit of settling on land surrounded by Lake Texcoco?
It was easy to defend
What does the picture on the Mexican flag symbolize?
A legend about how Aztecs knew where to build their city
Maya who lived in many different communities over a wide area shared the same...
calendar
How was the jaguar important to the Maya?
Religion
This pattern of events happened with a number of city-states:
• The Aztecs invited them to be an ally.
• They had 60 days to respond.
• If they refused, the Aztecs declared war.
This process enabled the Aztecs to
Expand their empire
What did the Aztecs build in the center of Tenochtitlán?
A large plaza where they held special festivals
When the Aztecs fled south from Chapultepec in 1319, how did the Culhuas near their new home respond?
They paid the Aztecs to fight for them
One skill that the Maya adapted from the Olmecs was a way to...
write using pictures/hierglyphics, farming
What was an important use of the Sacred Round?
determine when to plant crops
Which agricultural technique did the Maya use to farm in the mountains?
terraces
Why did the Aztecs of Tenochtitlán build chinampas?
To enlarge their land area
What weakness in the Aztec Empire did the Spanish take advantage of when they invaded Mexico?
Because conquered peoples kept their own customs, the empire lacked unity
When the Mayans first married, where did they live?
Wife's parents
When the cities of the southern lowlands collapsed, what took their place?
jungle
What was the biggest problem with slash-and-burn agriculture?
wore out the soil
What was the basis of the Aztec Empire?
tribute (people paid goods to the Aztec government)
By forming the Triple Alliance, what was the Aztec leader Itzcoatl able to do?
Defeat the Tepanecs
When did the Maya first give a girl tools for spinning and weaving?
3 months old
Write the Mayan Social classes, in order
Ruler
nobles
merchants/artisans
peasants
slaves