Early Americas Unit Review
Part 1: Vocabulary Words
Chinampas: Artificial islands built on freshwater lakes.
Codex:
Conquistadors:
Maize:
Mit’a System:
Observatory:
Obsidian:
Popol Vuh:
Quechua:
Quipu:
Slash-and-Burn Agriculture:
Terraces:
Part 2: Map Matching
Directions: Write in the location marked by each letter on the map in the chart below.
1. _____ Andes Mountains
2. _____ Chichén Itzá
3. _____ Gulf of Mexico
4. _____ Machu Picchu
5. _____ Mesoamerica
6. _____ Pacific Ocean
7. _____ Tenochtitlan
Part 3: Short Answer
Directions: Write the answer to each of the following short answer questions.
8. How did early humans most likely reach the Americas?
9. Out of the Olmecs, Chavín, Zapotecs, Maya, Incas, and Aztecs, which groups settled in
Mesoamerica, and which groups settled in the Andes Mountains?
10. Why did early Americans settle in Mesoamerica?
11. Why did many early American civilizations observe the movements of stars and planets in
the sky?
12. Why did the Sapa Inca have political and religious authority over the Incas?
13. Which gods did the Aztecs worship?
14. Why did many early American cultures make human sacrifices to their gods?
15. Where did the Aztecs build their capital city of Tenochtitlan?
16. Why are the Olmecs a significant civilization in Mesoamerican history?
17. Which group of the early Americas was one of the first to invent
the concept of zero in mathematics?
18. Which artifact is pictured in the image on the right?
19. What were some of the achievements that the Incas accomplished?
20. Which landform was the home of the majority of the Maya population in parts of modern-day
Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize?
21. _____ What were some of the most powerful city-states during the Maya Classic Period?
22. Why is Pacal considered an important figure in world history?
23. What type of natural disaster may have contributed to the decline of the Maya civilization by
causing crop shortages and warfare over a limited food supply?
24. How did the Triple Alliance play a significant role in the history of Mesoamerica?
25. Which Aztec leader’s imprisonment and ineffective leadership contributed to the downfall of
the Aztec Empire?
26. Which of the following statements most accurately explains why the Aztec Empire was
unable to defeat Spain?
27. Why is Pachacuti considered an important figure in world history?
28. What role did the ayllus play in the organization of the Inca Empire?
29. What events weakened the Inca Empire and left it vulnerable prior to the Spanish
conquistadors arriving in South America?
30. Why did the Inca lose to Spain during their first battle in Cajamarca?
31. What did Francisco Pizarro do after the Incas filled an entire room with gold and silver as a
ransom for Atahualpa’s freedom from imprisonment?
32. What was the most important sector of the Mesoamerican and Andean economies?
33. Why were quetzals important birds in the Maya and Aztec economies?
34. Why did several Mesoamerican civilizations, including the Olmecs, Maya, and Aztecs, use
cacao beans as a type of currency?
35. Which civilization built its economy around the mit’a system and required its people to grow
crops on government-owned farms, build roads, work in mines, or serve in the army without
payment?
36. What rights did enslaved people have in the Aztec Empire?
37. List the appearance of these major civilizations from the early Americas in chronological
order: Aztecs, Incas, Maya, Olmecs.
38. What famous artifacts are the Olmecs most known for?
39. Which civilization originated first in South America and influenced the cultures of future
Andean civilizations with their ideas?
40. Which archeological site was once the political, economic, and religious center of Zapotec
society?
41. What is the oldest pyramid in Mesoamerica?
42. What type of people do historians and archeologists believe are represented by the colossal
head sculptures?
43. Which civilization developed over 800 hieroglyphs, such
as the ones pictured to the right, to create the most
advanced writing system in the early Americas?
44. What was the difference between the purposes of the
Tzolk’in (the two inner wheels) and the Haab’ (the two outer
wheels) in the Maya Calendar?
45. What was the purpose of El Castillo in the Maya city-
state of Chichén Itzá?
46. What group of people established the Aztec Empire?
47. Why were the Incas able to construct Machu Picchu without the use of mortar?
48. Why do many historians and archeologists believe that the Incas built Machu Picchu?
