Question

questions 1 through 3 refer to the following.
\on the western side of the ocean, movements of people and ideas... preceded the atlantic connection. great empires - in the valley of mexico, on the mississippi river... - had collapsed or declined in the centuries before 1492...
as columbus embarked on his first transatlantic voyage, the mexica, or aztecs, were consolidating their position in mexico; their city was a center of both trade and military might. tenochtitlán the aztec capital... held 200,000 people, a population greater than in the largest city in contemporary europe.
... the mississippian culture spread east and west from its center, the city of cahokia, on the mississippi river near the site of modern st. louis. it was a successor to earlier cultures, evidence of which can be seen in the great ceremonial mounds they built. cahokia declined and was ultimately abandoned completely in the late thirteenth century. throughout the southeast, smaller mound - building centers continued.\
which of the following contributed most significantly to the population trend in pre - columbian mexico described in the excerpt?
a migration in pursuit of fertile lands
b trade and settlement resulting from maize cultivation
c low birth rates and high death tolls as a result of european diseases
d internal conflict between groups causing political instability

Explanation:

Before Columbus, in pre - Columbian Mexico, migration in pursuit of fertile lands was a major factor in population trends. Maize cultivation - related trade and settlement came later in significance compared to the basic need for fertile land for sustenance. European diseases affected after Columbus. Internal conflict was not the most significant contributor to population trends before Columbus.

Answer:

A. Migration in pursuit of fertile lands