Ancient Maya

Question 1

Where is Ancient Maya?

Answer 1

Central America (what is now Mexico)

Question 2

What was the population of Ancient Maya?

Answer 2

5,000 to 50,000 people

Question 3

What type of buildings and places were in Mayan cities?

Answer 3

Temples, pyramids, palaces, courts for playing ball and plazas

Question 4

Who ruled Mayan cities?

Answer 4

Kings who were also high priest

Question 5

What kind of power did Mayan kings have?

Answer 5

Military power and could perform religious ceremonies

Question 6

How did someone become a king?

Answer 6

It was inherited (passed down from father to son)

Question 7

What is the “slash-and-burn” method?

Answer 7

Cutting down trees and grasses before burning them, and then using their ashes to fertilize the soil

Question 8

What foods did the Mayas produce?

Answer 8

beans, squash, and sweet potatoes

Question 9

What was the most important crop of Maya?

Answer 9

maize (corn)

Question 10

What foods could be made from corn?

Answer 10

tortillas, masa, tamales

Question 11

What is a tortilla?

Answer 11

corn pancakes

Question 12

What is a masa?

Answer 12

dough made of corn and water

Question 13

What were temple-pyramids made for?

Answer 13

Pyramids-bury Mayan kings

Temples- places to observe stars

Question 14

What is astronomy?

Answer 14

The study of the sun, stars and moon

Question 15

Ball game that was a religious ritual

Answer 15

pok-a-tok

Question 16

Pok-a-tok was a religious ritual designed to worship what God?

Answer 16

Kukulcan

Question 17

The Mayas were the first to use what number?

Answer 17

zero

Question 18

The calendar tzolkin was based off of what?

Answer 18

religious

Question 19

The calendar haab was based off of what?

Answer 19

the sun (solar)

Question 20

How many days is the tzolkin calendar?

Answer 20

260 days

Question 21

How many days is the haab calendar?

Answer 21

365 days

Question 22

The Maya combined their two calendars (tzolkin and haab) into an 18,980-day cycle known as ________ _________.

Answer 22

calendar round

Question 23

The tzolkin and haab calendar coincided (happen at the same time) every ____ years.

Answer 23

52 years

Question 24

What would the the Mayans do every 52 years when the calendars coincided (happened at the same time)?

Answer 24

Rebuild their temples-celebrating the beginning of a new era because they thought the world was coming to an end

Question 25

This is where religious ceremonies, dances, and processions were held.

Answer 25

in the cities

Question 26

What is the name of the number system the Mayas developed?

Answer 26

vigesimal (its based on 20 units)

Question 27

What three symbols did the Mayas use to write number?

Answer 27

Dots (one unit) Bars (five units) Oval Shell (zero)

Question 28

What did Mayan priests use their math skills for?

Answer 28

Chart movement of the sun, moon, planets and stars (which allowed them to create accurate calendars)

Question 29

Some scholars believe the calendar is based on the cycle of the ________ constellation.

Answer 29

Pleiades

Question 30

The tzolkin calendar was used to do what?

Answer 30

1) give names to people 2) predict the future 3) decide on the dates of marriages and battles

Question 31

Mayan priests studied the ______.

Answer 31

Sund

Question 32

The Mayas realized that approximately every _____ days the sun repeated a pattern.

Answer 32

365

Question 33

How many months are in the Mayan calendar?

Answer 33

18 months

Question 34

How many days are in the Mayan calendar?

Answer 34

20 days

Question 35

There is one Month with only 5 days. What are these 5 days considered?

Answer 35

Unlucky!! (The Mayas feared the danger, bad luck, and death would occur on these days)

Question 36

What is an equinox?

Answer 36

When the sun is directly over the equator

Question 37

What is an eclipse?

Answer 37

When the sun and moon are in a nearly straight line with the Earth

Question 38

What city had two great architectural structures used for observing the equinox?

Answer 38

Chichen Itza (located in the center of the Yucatan peninsula)

Question 39

What is the name of the observatory at Chichen Itza used for observing the equinox?

Answer 39

El Caracol

Question 40

What is the second structure used for observing the equnox?

Answer 40

The Pyramid of Kukulcan

Question 41

What do the 4 sides of the Pyramid of Kukulcan represent?

Answer 41

the four seasons (spring, winter, summer, fall)

Question 42

How many steps are on each side of the Pyramid of Kukulcan?

Answer 42

91 steps on each side, which add up to 365 steps (the number of days in a year)

Question 43

Which stairway on the Pyramid of Kukulcan was most sacred?

Answer 43

The stairway facing the north

Question 44

A serpent appears to crawl down the steps of this pyramid at an equinox.

Answer 44

Kukulcan

Question 45

The Mayas thought that this planet was more important than the sun.

Answer 45

Venus

Question 46

A calendar-round cycle is this long.

Answer 46

52 years