SAMPLE MIDTERM EXAMINATION

I Short Answer

1. Name three important rivers in Mexico. (3 pts)

2. The number systems of ancient Mesoamerican civilizations were based on lO, l2, 2O, or lOO (circle one) (2 pts)

3. What two kinds of calendar were employed by pre‑Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations; how many days in each. ( 4 pts)

4. Circle the three fruits, from among the following six, that were growing in Middle America when the Spaniards first arrived: mango, avocado, orange, tomato, pineapple, peach. (3 pts)

5. Name two uses of the black sapote/black zapote. (2 pts)

6. Name the important events in Middle America associated with the following dates: (3 pts)

l5l9

l52l

l82l

7. Name three languages of Middle America with 3OO,OOO or more speakers each (not language families or stocks, but languages). (3 pts)

8. Name three Middle American maize based drinks that are non‑alcoholic. (3 pts)

9. Name three important things manufactured by Lacandones to assist in honoring their gods. (3 pts)

10. What life cycle event signals the important transition to adult life in Middle America. (2 pts)

11. What is the traditional shape of Huastec houses. (2 pts)

12. Name three items traditionally placed inside a deceased's coffin among the Huastec (3 pts)

l3. Who or what supports the earth according to Huastec belief? (2 pts)

l4. What Indian group in Middle America periodically offers balché and painted barkcloth to censers representing gods. (1 pt)

15. In which House did Hunahpu lose his head (select one and circle it): House of Gloom, House of Knives, House of Bats, House of Cold, House of Jaguars, House of Fire. (2 pts)

16. What Maya group lives in the Todos Santos community of the Cuchumatanes that was the subject of two films that we saw (2 pts)

17. Name the Indian language in which the Popol Vuh was originally written. (2 pts)

18. Who or what is Popocatepetl. (1 pt)

19. What is Atitlan (in Guatemala). (1 pt)

20. Name the Mayan language separated by more than 4OO miles fom any other Mayan idiom. (1 pt)

II Identify (in a few keywords or a sentence or two) (3 pts each)

1. Diego de Landa

2. Maguey

3. Papaloapan

4. Volador

5. Burning Salt

6. Nagual

7. Balche

8. Cargo System

9. Hachakyum

10. Amaranth

11. Xoloitzcuintli

12. X‑tabay

13. 4OO Boys

14. Xbalanque

15. Tepexpan Man

III True or False (place a T or F in front of each number). (2 pts each)

1. In Middle America a bride price is commonly paid by the bride's parents.

2. The Peten is an aromatic herb introduced into the Mesoamerican culture

by the Spaniards. Oddly it can be used to shave with.

3. Chinampa agriculture caused serious erosion problems in Middle America

4. Before the Spaniards arrived in Middle America, native trade was limited

to the distance a man could travel from dawn to dusk

.

5. K'in, K'ayum, and Bor are the names of Huastec deities.

6. The Huastecs used to file their teeth, dye them black, and dye their

hair.

7. Divination by "lifting the basket" is used by the Tzeltal to answer

"who" questions.

8. According to Tzeltal tradition dreams can reveal events of the

future.

9. The louse has a place in Lacandon burial ritual and also as a messenger

in the Popol Vuh.

10. Proverbs are one of the more obvious aspects of Chamula Tzotzil

culture, which is why they are called "words of the ancients".

11. Zinacantan has two Christ figures at Christmas time; a male Christ

and a female Christ.

12. Benito Juarez was a Zapotec Indian and president of Mexico during the

latter half of the 19th century.

13. Fire and salt are important for combating Tzeltal demons, monsters,

and naguals.

14. The earliest civilization in Middle America is referred to as Olmec.

15. The Eagle Dance is the Huastec name for the Volador ceremony.

16. The ceiba is the sacred tree of the Mayans.

17. Sweet manioc (yuca) is cultivated for its healthy berries which

are full of vitamin C.

18. Porfirio Diaz, of Mixtec heritage was a president in Mexico prior

to the revolution.

19. The tenemaste is an animal found in southern Mexico that has sharp

claws and sharper teeth. It roams in bands and eats the

tepeitzcuintle.

20. Malinche was the name given to Pedro de Alvarado after he did his

famous "dance of defeat".

IV Short Essay (pick three to answer, spend no more than lO to 15 minutes on each) (15 pts each)

l. It has been said that the solution of certain problems created by agriculture led to civilization. What are some of these problems, and when did they arise in Mesoamerica.

2. Discuss forms and functions of ritual sacrifice in l6th century Yucatan according to the Bishop's book.

3. What does Evon Vogt mean by structural and conceptual replication, and how does this relate to Zinacantan's two Christ figures.

4. Discuss the arms and customs of war among the Yucatecs as described by a Bishop of the l6th century.

5. Discuss the role of alcohol in Yucatec society of the l6th century and in contemporary Zinacanteco Tzotzil or Tenejapa Tzeltal society.

6. Outline the plot line of Carter Wilson's novel, and briefly discuss the novel as a device for presenting ethnography.

7. Discuss the religion and worldview of the Lacandones

8. Discuss personal names among two Mayan groups, commenting on both forms and functions.

9. Discuss the functions of gossip in a Mesoamerican Indian Community.

10. There are three genres of insulting speech in Zinacanteco Tzotzil, referred to by Tzotzil terms for joking speech, ridicule, and scolding speech. If scolding is defined in terms of direct insults made in the second person, whether true or false, and ridicule in terms of direct insults made in the third person that are true, what then characterizes joking, and what kinds of means can be employed to insult in the "joking" genre.

11. Divination is of great importance in Indian Middle America. Discuss this phenomenon, perhaps comparing it to U.S. society as you may know it. Discuss, minimally, forms, functions, and implications.

12. In Huastec mythology an ugly orphan jumps over fire to become the sun. The Aztecs tell of Nanahuatl, a diseased but courageous pauper, transformed, by leaping into a great fire, into the sun. In the Quiche Popol Vuh, the Hero Twins jump over fire 4 times and later jump in to become the sun and the moon. How might you explain these similarities, and the relationship of the sun to fire as well as to persons jumping over fire?

13. Discuss sickness and its cure in Chan Kom. Relate it to the h‑men.

14. Provide the situational context for this typical fragment of a Zinacanteco dialogue. "May your head speak, may your heart speak; Seize my words, beloved father. Today I speak because of your mud, your earth. Don't cut out my child's heart.

15. In what ways do the Lacandon seem to diverge from the lecturer's characterization of general features of Middle American Indian Society.