(A) united the Chimor and Inca people
(B) was most similar in the Aztec and Toltec societies
(C) was facilitated in the Andes by geography
(D) remained local7 . Which of the American peoples was closest to the Persians in their administrative style?
(A) The Mayas
(B) The Mississippians
(C) The Aztecs
(D) The Incas
8 . Both the Aztecs and Incas
(A) gained the cooperation of subject peoples
(B) showed limited signs of urbanization
(C) lacked a merchant class
(D) were tribute empires
Answers and Explanations
1 . C The Aztecs built on a number of Mesoamerican traditions, including polytheism, architectural
patterns, the use of a calendar, and the legend of Quetzalcóatl. The Incas continued the use of
irrigation systems used by the Chimor, practiced polytheism, and organized their society into
ayllus . Although Aztec and Incan women were valued as bearers of children and weavers and
both could will property to their heirs, public life was male-dominated in both civilizations (A).
Whereas the Aztecs were nomads, the Incas were a settled people (B). Only the Incas integrated
conquered peoples into their empire (D).
2 . D Two of the chief gods in the Aztec pantheon were the gods of the sun and of rain; Incan
worship centered around the sun. Neither the Aztecs nor the Incas resisted the religious beliefs of
subject peoples (A). Their religions were based on the appeasement of the gods, not on a personal
relationship with them (B). Aztec and Inca religions did not place women in a subordinate
position. Aztec women were respected for their childbearing roles and Inca women received
recognition for their skill in weaving cloth for religious use (C).
3 . D The pyramid-shaped mounds of the Mississippian culture were similar to the truncated
pyramids of Mesoamerican and Andean societies. This observation has led some historians to
suggest contact between the Mississippian culture and those of Mesoamerica and the Andes (B).
The natives of North America did not establish tribute empires (C). While they sometimes built up
regional confederations, they did not establish empires like those of Mesoamerica (A).
4 . A The Aztecs extensively altered the environment of the central valley of Mexico by building
Tenochtitlán on an island in the center of a lake and by constructing causeways to link the city to
the mainland. They also constructed chinampas to increase the amount of agricultural land. The
mounds of the Mississippians (B), the pyramids of the Toltecs (C), and the roads of the Incas (D),
although noteworthy adaptations, did not involve the extensive environmental modifications as
did the building of Tenochtitlán.