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Study Guide Answers
1. When were the ruins of ancient cities found in the jungles of southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Yucatán?
in the early 1840s
2. Who made the discoveries referred to in #1 (above)?
John Lloyd Stevens
3. Who made drawings of the sites referred to in #1 (above)?
Frederick Catherwood
4. The cities referred to in #1 (above) were built by whose ancestors?
by the ancestors of the local population
5. Mayan civilization was based on a(n) __________________________ system developed thousands of years before their rise.
agricultural
6. Nearly 3,000 years ago, an elite class of ____________________________ and ___________________emerged in the humid Gulf Coast region.
priests/ nobles
7. What people invented the systems of writing and mathematics adopted by the Mayas?
the Olmecs
8. When did settlements begin to grow in size and complexity?
around 300 BC
9. What connected Mayan villages with other developing centers of civilization?
trade routes
10. When did Mayan civilization reach its artistic and intellectual height?
between 250 and 900 AD
11. Lowland Mayan monuments were inscribed with dates based on ______________________________.
lengthy cycles
12. Mayas measured time in terms of __________________________________ calendars.
interlocking
13. There was a ceremonial cycle of ________________ days and a solar year of ______________ days.
260/ 365
14. In most cases, a complete calendar "round" consisted of ____________________________.
52 years
15. What city influenced the Mayan region between the first and seventh centuries AD?
Teotihuacán
16. When did Mayan civilization reach its zenith?
between 600 and 900 AD
17. When were many lowland Mayan cities abandoned?
during the 9th and 10th centuries AD
18. There are ruins of classic Mayan cities from _________________________________ to _________________________________.
Honduras/ southern Mexico
19. A Mayan ruin in ________________________, Guatemala, had six tall temple pyramids and an estimated population of 50,000.
Tikal
20. Coba means "__________________________________________."
ruffled waters
21. The Coba settlement is scattered over how many square miles?
27
22. The tall, steep pyramids at Coba served as ____________________________________________.
temple platforms
23. El Castillo rises how many feet above the forest canopy?
nearly 140 feet
24. What does the coastal location of Tulum reflect?
the trading orientations of later Mayans
25. By the time that the settlement at Tulum was built, most classic Mayan villages had already been in ruins for hundreds of years. True or false?
true
26. What is Palenque?
one of Mexico's most famous classic Mayan ruins
27. What dominates the palace at Palenque?
a unique, square tower
28. What are distinctive elements of classic Mayan architecture?
corbeled vaults and arches
29. The palace at Palenque is built around a(n) ________________________.
patio
30. The palace at Palenque features portraits of prisoners in postures of ___________________________.
subjugation
31. When did Lord Pacal die? With what was he buried?
643 AD/ rich offerings of jade
32. What does Lord Pacal's death mask symbolize?
his relationship with the sun
33. Murals at what place offer insights about life and warfare during the late classical Mayan period?
Bonampak
34. The murals referred to in #33 (above) tell about what?
a battle and its aftermath
35. The murals referred to in #33 (above) date to when?
the late 8th Century
36. What was the most westerly of the important Mayan cities?
Comalcalco
37. Of what were temples in Comalcalco built? Why?
fired brick/ Stone was unavailable locally.
38. Mortar for the temples at Comalcalco was made from what?
crushed mussle shells
39. What is the tropical plant that yields chocolate?
cacao
40. What are the low, stony hills that lie northward on the Yucatán Peninsula?
the puuc
41. What was constructed to store rain water in the region referred to in #40 (above)?
cement-lined cisterns
42. Puuc buildings are faced with thin slabs of _____________________________.
limestone
43. Many buildings in the Puuc region feature the hooked nose of _______________________, a(n)________________________ god.
Chac/ rain
44. The palace at __________________________ shimmers like gold in the evening.
Sayil
45. An elaborately decorated archway can be seen at ________________________.
Labna
46. What is the largest of the Puuc sites?
Uxmal
47. The most splendid buildings of the city named in #46 (above) date from when?
9th and 10th Centuries
48. Uxmal is dominated by what?
the Pyramid of the Magician
49. The "Nunnery" at Uxmal was probably what, in reality?
palace and administrative headquarters
50. What motif seen on buildings at Uxmal suggests contact with central Mexico?
feathered serpents
51. What is Uxmal's finest structure?
the Governor's Palace
52. What guards the structure named in # 51 (above)?
a double-headed jaguar
53. Some possible reasons for the downfall of classical Mayan cities in the tropical lowlands are:
overpopulation, food shortages, increased warfare, social unrest and revolt, failed leadership
54. What people invaded the Mayan territory during the late 10th Century?
the Toltecs
55. Where is the story of the Toltec victory over the Yucatán Mayas carved in stone?
at Chichén Itzá
56. How did the Toltec invaders arrive at Chichén Itzá?
by sea
57. What happened to the defeated Mayan leaders?
Their hearts were torn out.
58. What is the earliest known round structure in the Yucatán?
the Caracol
59. For what was the Caracol probably used?
as an observatory, for sightings of the planet, Venus
60. What was the name of the central Mexican feathered serpent god?
Quetzalcoatl
61. What is Quetzalcoatl called in the Yucatán?
Kukulcan
62. Where was the Toltec capital?
at Tula, in central Mexico
63. What is the "Well of Sacrifice" at Chichén Itzá?
the Cenote
64. Cenotes were thought to be the homes of the ______________________________________.
rain gods
65. When did the Toltecs abandon Chichén Itzá?
in the early 13th Century
© Educational Video Network, Inc. 2005 - www.evndirect.com Your leading source for curriculum-based educational videos and DVDs.

Study Guide Answers