Comparative Questions?

  1. Based on the documents in this chapter, what can you say about the similarities and differences in culture and religion in the Americas before contact with Europeans?
  2. Taking into consideration the depictions of the Mexica marketplace and the Maya ball game, describe the benefits entertainment provided to the civilizations of the Americas.
  3. What role did law play in Inca and Mexica society? According to Cieza de León (Document 11-2) and Durán (Document 11-3), how successful were the rulers of these civilizations in enforcing laws?
  4. Compare the sources in this chapter to those on Africa (Chapter 10). Most of the material from both chapters is written from the perspective of outsiders. Can it be trusted? Why or why not? How might the information in such sources be verified?
  5. How do the gods and the underworld in the Popol Vuh (Document 11-5) compare to those in The Epic of Gilgamesh (Document 2-1)?

Delia Goetz and Sylvanus G. Morely, from the translation of Adrián Recimos, Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Ancient Quiché Maya (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1950), 109–113, 116–118.