Question

1. What did the ancient Aztec civilization have that the Maya civilization lacked?

A calendar system
Impressive architecture
A knowledge of organized warfare
A single controlling authority

2. Mayan city-states were urbanized. What might you find in an urban area?

Large tracts of farmland
Lots of people living close together
Dense foliage
A few thatched huts

3. What is a codex?
Corn
A monument
A kind of paper book
The god of fire

4. Which term best describes the relationships between neighboring Mayan city-states?

Nonexistent
Commericial
Competitive
Harmonious

5. The ancient Mayans believed that their ancestors originally came from:

Pleiades star cluster
China
Another galaxy
The moon

6. A Mayan stele would most likely contain:

The story of a major battle or list of royalty
A list of city residents
All of the major gods
Messages from ancestors

7. The function of a Mayan step pyramid was most similar to the function of:

A royal cemetery
A place of worship and observatory
A royal palace
A grain silo

8. Which of the following natural occurrences would probably be most interesting to a Mayan priest?

Hurricane
A cloud formation
Flooding
An unusual alignment of the planets

9. What did the ancient Mayans have in common with the ancient Greeks?

Huge pyramids
Monotheistic religion
Human sacrifices
Writing system

10. Where was the Mayan civilization located?

Baja California
Peru
Yucatan Penisula
Canada

Answer 1

1. A single controlling authority: Each of the Mayan cities were city-states with a sovereign ruler, while the Aztecs had a supreme ruler who controlled the entire civilization.
2. Lots of people living close together: The Mayan civilization had approximately 40 city-states along its terrain. With between 5000 up to 50000 people living in each. Another main characteristic of the Mayan cities was their ability to build cities on tropical rainforest.
3. A kind of paper book: A codex is a manuscript book used especially for scripture.
4. Commercial: The Mayans cities were linked by trails that were known as sacbeob. Unlike other cultures, the Mayan city-states were very far from each other. The sacbeob were the routes that connected the cities commercially.
5. The Moon: The goddess of the Moon was very appreciated in the Mayan culture.
6. The story of a major battle or list of royalty: Mayan Stelae were monuments consisting of tall sculptures made out of stone with low relief. They served a list of royalty or the story of a major battle, each of them contained the dates of birth, marriage or the date of the battle.
7. A place of worship and observatory: On the top of the Mayan pyramids there was a dedicatory building to a particular deity.
8. An unusual alignment of the planets.
9. Writing system:
10. Yucatan Peninsula: The Mayans were located on Mesoamerica, a term used to describe Mexico and Central America. They covered all the parts of the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize and parts of Mexico.

I hope these answers help you.