America Before Columbus

Which statement about Beringia is false?
1. The first hunters reached Beringia long before the invention of farming, the wheel, or writing.
2. There was no grass or trees in Beringia because the land was covered with ice.
3. The land bridge that was once Beringia closed about 15,000 years ago.
4. Beringia existed during the Ice Ages, periods when the earth was colder than it is today.
5. Beringia is the modern name for the strip of land that once connected Asia to Alaska in North America.
The oldest agreed upon evidence of an advanced civilization in the Americas came from spear points found here.
1. Veracruz, Mexico
2. Mexico City, Mexico
3. Clovis, New Mexico
4. St. Augustine, Florida
5. Cusco, Peru
Within a generation of contact with the Europeans, as many as 95% of the indigenous people of the Americas died. Their primary cause of death was...
1. Exhaustion from being forced to work for the Europeans.
2. The superior metal weapons of the Europeans.
3. Diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza.
4. A massive earthquake that changed the climate of the region.
This has been the primary crop of Mesoamerica since at least 1800BCE.
1. corn
2. wheat
3. rice
4. cassava
5. potatoes
This mysterious city flourished in the Central Valley of Mexico until it was inexplicably destroyed about 650CE. It featured two massive pyramids, a magnificent boulevard lined with temples and mansions, and the first apartment buildings in the Americas.
1. San Lorenzo
2. Clovis
3. Chichén Itzá
4. Palenqué
5. Teotihuacan
Which statement about the Maya is false?
1. The Maya city-states were located along major rivers.
2. By the time the Spanish arrived in 1517, little remained of the Maya beyond the legends and clues the ancient civilization left behind for explorers to discover.
3. Archaeologists have found evidence of Maya city-states in the southernmost part of Mexico, El Salvador, Belize, and eastern Honduras.
4. The Maya constructed great temples to bloodthirsty gods.
Which statement about the Maya calendar is false?
1. Maya astronomers studied the heavens and kept careful records of their religious observances.
2. Dates were so important to the Maya that many people were named for the day they were born.
3. The Maya used two calendars: an everyday calendar of 260 days, and a solar calendar that was similar to our own.
4. The Maya created their calendar using a base ten numeral system.
This American writer and British artist were responsible for books that introduced many people to the ancient Maya for the first time.
1. John Lloyd Stevens and Frederic Catherwood
2. William Henry Harrison and John Tyler
3. Bernal Días and Francisco López de Gómara
4. Thomas Payne and Hiram Bingham III
Which statement about Maya writing is false?
1. The Maya were the only Mesoamericans to create a fully complex form of written language.
2. Some Maya glyphs represented objects, while others represented sounds.
3. Libraries in Mexico have many books written by the Maya.
4. We can identify more than 2000 Maya glyphs.
Which statement about the Aztecs is false?
1. The Aztecs built their homeland where they found an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in its mouth.
2. The Aztecs created farmland by constructing a series of artificial islands.
3. A great Aztec historian named Tlacaelel kept accurate records about the Aztecs’ past.
4. The Aztecs formed a secret agreement called the Triple Alliance that allowed them to conquer the other cultures of the Central Valley of Mexico.
5. The Aztecs traces their origins to Aztlán, an area north of Mexico in what is perhaps the southeastern United States.
The Incas formed an empire along the western edge of this South American mountain range.
1. the Rockies
2. the Himalayas
3. the Alps
4. the Andes
5. the Urals
Which statement about Inca religion is true.
1. The Incas believed their ruler was a living god and a direct descendent of the sun god.
2. Inti was the sun god who provided life for the crops and the people.
3. Quilla was the moon god and the wife of the sun. Their children were the stars.
4. All of the other answers are correct.
This Inca site remained hidden from outsiders until 1911, perhaps because it was located 7000 feet about sea level.
1. San Lorenzo
2. Chichén Itzá
3. Maccu Piccu
4. Palenque
5. Teotihuacan
Which statement about the Incas is true?
1. The Incas created a network of more than 14,000 miles of roads and bridges. They crossed canyons and rivers with swinging bridges constructed of rope.
2. Inca rulers wrote many books that gave detailed instructions about how each part of their empire was to be managed.
3. Swift horses and powerful elephants allowed the Incas to maintain order throughout their empire.
4. The Incas used iron tools to create great cities.
These people—traditionally known by outsiders as Eskimos—reached America between 6000 and 2000BCE. Their DNA indicates that they are unrelated to the other indigenous cultures of North America.
1. the Inuit
2. the Incas
3. the Aztecs
4. the Olmecs
5. the Toltecs
This is the modern name for the culture that first appeared about 1800BCE in the densely forested land near the gulf coast of southern Mexico. They are credited with the construction of at least 18 colossal stone heads.
1. the Inuit
2. the Incas
3. the Aztecs
4. the Olmecs
5. the Toltecs
The richest and most powerful civilization in the Americas when the Spanish conquistadors arrived, they were humble nomads wandering the Central Valley of Mexico little more than a century earlier.
1. the Inuit
2. the Incas
3. the Aztecs
4. the Olmecs
5. the Toltecs
The people of this South American Empire called their land Tawantinsuyu, but it is better known for the title of their rulers.
1. the Inuit
2. the Incas
3. the Aztecs
4. the Olmecs
5. the Toltecs
True or False: Archeologists are convinced that every human who lived in the Americas when Columbus arrived came through Beringia.
1. True
2. False
True or False: All of the cities of the Maya were ruled by one powerful king.
1. True
2. False

America Before Columbus

America Before Columbus Interactive Quiz