Peruvian Science, Arts and Culture

Heritage, Literature and Music

28 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 28 questions

  1. In which year was Machu Picchu inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List?
  2. Which ancient city near Trujillo, built by the Chimú and made mostly of adobe, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
  3. Which poet, born in Santiago de Chuco, wrote the collections Los heraldos negros and Trilce?
  4. Which Peruvian author won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010?
  5. Which writer wrote the novel Deep Rivers (Los ríos profundos), a story of an Andean childhood in the 1950s?
  6. Which collection of short historical sketches by Ricardo Palma, begun in the 19th century, became a classic of Peruvian literature?
  7. Which author, the son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca noblewoman, wrote Comentarios reales de los Incas, published in 1609?
  8. Which novel of 1889 by Clorinda Matto de Turner criticised the treatment of indigenous people in the Andes?
  9. Which Andean instrument is made of rows of tubes of different lengths tied together?
  10. Which instrument, a box drum on which the player sits, is a key part of Afro-Peruvian music?
  11. Which dance, with handkerchiefs, is considered a national dance of Peru and is celebrated in a national contest in Trujillo?
  12. Which composer wrote the famous waltz La flor de la canela, one of the best-known Peruvian songs?
  13. Which religious procession, held each October in Lima and known for the colour purple, honours a painted image of Christ?
  14. What is the Inti Raymi, held each 24 June in Cusco?
  15. Which colonial school of painting developed in Cusco, combining European style with Andean themes?
  16. Which island is famous for a textile art that UNESCO recognises as intangible heritage?
  17. Peru's National University of San Marcos in Lima is known as what?
  18. Which ancient Peruvian cultural centre is recognised by UNESCO as the oldest urban centre in the Americas, about 5,000 years old?
  19. Which statement about the Nazca Lines and UNESCO is correct?
  20. Who created the soft drink Inca Kola in Lima in 1935?
  21. Which fibre, taken from a domesticated Andean camelid, is a famous Peruvian textile material?
  22. Which valley near Cusco, rich in Inca terraces and markets, is called the Sacred Valley of the Incas?
  23. Which festival, held in Puno each February, was inscribed by UNESCO in 2014 and features masked dances and brass bands?
  24. Why have many Inca stone walls survived earthquakes?
  25. Which list shows these Peruvian sites in the order in which UNESCO inscribed them, earliest first?
  26. Which pair of authors and works is matched correctly?
  27. The University of San Marcos was founded in 1551 and Peru declared independence in 1821. How many years before independence was the university founded?
  28. An Inca record keeper ties two quipu cords. Cord one has 3 knots in the hundreds position, 4 in the tens and 2 in the units. Cord two has 1 knot in the hundreds, 9 in the tens and 8 in the units. How…

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