Q 01/05

Which Aztec capital, built on an island in Lake Texcoco, lies beneath the centre of modern Mexico City?

A) Azcapotzalco

B) Culhuacan

C) Tenochtitlan

D) Xochicalco

Answer · why

C) Tenochtitlan

Tenochtitlan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas at its peak, tied to the lakeshore by causeways whose bridges let canoes pass.

Q 02/05

Which seeds, brewed into an elite drink by the Maya and Aztecs, also served as small change in Mesoamerica?

A) Cacao beans

B) Maize kernels

C) Chia seeds

D) Amaranth grains

Answer · why

A) Cacao beans

Cacao beans were a common currency before the Spanish conquest, handed over for small purchases such as tamales.

Q 03/05

Which material, tapped from Gulf Coast trees, gives the Olmec their name in the Aztec language?

A) Copal

B) Chicle

C) Amber

D) Rubber

Answer · why

D) Rubber

Rubber people is what Olmec literally means, though the Aztecs used the name for Gulf Coast neighbours who lived some 2,000 years after the ancient cu...

Q 04/05

Which number did Maya scribes write as a shell, alongside dots for ones and bars for fives?

A) Zero

B) Ten

C) Fifty

D) Hundred

Answer · why

A) Zero

Zero let Mesoamerican scribes write dates with place values, and the eight earliest such dates lie outside the Maya homeland, so the idea may be older...

Q 05/05

Which modern confection was long made from chicle, a tree sap that both the Maya and the Aztecs knew well?

A) Marshmallows

B) Liquorice

C) Chewing gum

D) Jelly beans

Answer · why

C) Chewing gum

Chewing gum makers relied on chicle until the 1960s, when most switched to a cheaper synthetic base; Spanish speakers still call the sweet chicle.