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General I
Ideology
Concepts
Development & Change
General II
100

Have any royal tombs been found at Teotihuacan?

No

100

Where was the oldest "feathered serpent/avian serpent" image found? Name the site and region

Oxtotitlan Cave, Guerrero

100
What is conspicuous consumption? Give an example in Mesoamerica?
What is a flashy show of your wealth and power? large pyramid of Sun at Teotihuacan
100

List three characteristics of  the Archaic Period

egalitarian, began to make ceramics, semi-sendentary seasonal settlements, more diverse "toolkit", cultivation of plants sometimes leading to domestication of plants

100

What are the three hypotheses/interpretations of the danzantes? Which is correct? Where are they located? 

dancers, swimmers, and sacrificial victims

sacrificial victims is correct

Monte Alban

200

Who destroyed many of the Maya codices? 

How did he attempt to atone for his actions? 

Who is Bishop de Landa?

What is wrote Relación de las Cosas de Yucatan?

200
What is a shaman? Describes the long-term importance of shamanism in Mesoamerica.
What is a spiritual guide that interacts with natural elements and/or supernatural forces on behalf of others? Shamans become rulers in later periods.
200
Define direct historical approach. Is it useful in Mesoamerica? Why?
What is working from present back through time to investigate the significance of collected data?
200
List three characteristics of the Paleoindian period.
What is mobile, hunted megafauna, and lived in micro-bands?
200

What is Nixtamalization?

a traditional cooking process that uses an alkaline solution, such as pickling lime or wood ash, to cook and soak corn, transforming it into a more digestible and nutritious food product called nixtamal

300

What is Strontium Isotope Analysis? What can we tell from it about humans? Give an example we discussed in class. 

By comparing the strontium signature of a biological sample, such as bone or tooth enamel, to regional geological maps or 'isoscape' data, researchers can establish an individual's place of origin, migration patterns, and even aspects of their diet. Teeth in apartment compounds at Teotihuacan indicate that up tp 20% people living at Teo grew up somewhere else

300
What does the Earth Monster represent when a figure is placed inside its open mouth?
What is the entrance to the underworld?
300
What culture is often referred to as the Mother Culture? What evidence supports this idea? What evidence counters it? Give 3 examples.
What is (1) Pro: Ballgame “invented” by Olmec? Con: earlier ball court found (Paso de la Amada, Chiapas- 1400BCE)? (2) Pro: San Lorenzo had hierarchical settlement system that integrated settlement? Con: every major chiefly center exhibited settlement hierarchy? (3) Pro:Olmec had extensive trade networks that surpassed other cultures? Con: No quantitative data to support /were Olmec in charge?
300
List two reasons for the decline of Teotihuacan.
What are external competition from other large sites and lower agricultural yields due to cooler climate?
300

What can we learn from pottery about ancient Mesoamerica?

markers of places, markers of trade, subsistence (what was being cooked/stored), socioeconomic status (finewares vs. utilitarian wares), ideological beliefs

400

What is the importance of the colors blue & green? Give an example of each in Mesoamerica. 

blue= water + green = plants = "life force"; relates to fertility 

•Blue-green quetzal feathers = lordly power

•most treasured gemstone = jade/jadeite e.g. jade beads put in mouth of dead b/c it contained deceased’s spirit (essence)-- relates to concept of animism



400

What is Cuicuilco? Where is it located? Why is it important. 

Oldest city in Basin (Valley) of Mexico; located in SE part of Valley; Important b/c hypothesized that many people from the city relocated to Teotihuacan b/c of a volcanic eruption

400
What is termination ritual? Why did Mesoamericans do it? Give an example.
What is a reitual in which people deliberately destroyed or mutilated a building or monument? To keep spirit or essence of, for example, a ruler from roaming.
400
What are the key sociopolitical, subsistence, and economic changes between the Archaic and Formative periods?
What is .......
400
How is the Temple of Quetzcoatl different from Teotihuacan's two other major monuments?
What is dedicated to "cult" of feathered serpent representing warfare, over 200 sacrificial victims in building, and built in enclosed cuidadela?
500

What is Llano del Jicaro? Where is it located? What cultural group does it represent? Why is it important? 

A basalt workshop in Tuxtlas Mountains in Olmec Heartland. Indicates that the Olmec "reduced" large basalt boulders for colossal heads prior to moving them and that some may have been converted to altars

500

In the Teotihuacan documentary on the Lost Kings, what does Dr. Gomez believe the tunnel beneath the Temple of Quezalcoatl represent? What evidence does he provide to support his interpretation?

the underworld as a place of creation; Temple of Quetzalcoatl as a sacred mountain with the 3 three chambers in the tunnel below it filled with water as the underworld, mica on chamber walls, directly at center of the Temple and the city (similar to center of quincunx) 

500
What is a barrio? Describe why the "discovery" of barrios at Teotihuacan is important? What evidence to we have to support the existence of barrios?
What is ...
500
Discuss the common trait of Mesoamerica (hint: subsistence). Why was it so important? Give a chronological explanation of how and why it became so integral to the Mesoamerica lifeway.
What is maize?
500

What is Guerrero? Why is it important? What is located in this region? What does it indicate about the hypothesis that the Olmec were the "Mother Culture?

Teopantecuanitlan- local “capital”; earliest known corbal vault and possibly calendric (10 Flower);