Q&A Hero

Q: The long-term study of an earthwork constructed at Overton Down, England, as experimental archaeology indicates that a) preservation was better in the chalk bank, and preservation of leather and pottery was unchanged after 4 years b) preservation was superior in the turf core, and preservation of textiles and other organic material had changed little after 4 years c) preservation was quite poor regardless of whether artifacts were in chalk or turf, primarily because of rodent and earthworm activity d) archaeologists have been underestimating the effects of earthworm activity on preservation and site formation processes

Q: Bog bodies, primarily individuals who met a violent death (such as Tollund Man, from Denmark), are best known from northwest Europe and typically date to the a) Paleolithic b) Renaissance c) Iron Age d) Industrial Age e) Medieval Age

Q: After the first leather shield from Bronze Age Ireland was discovered, an experiment was conducted that involved researchers attacking each other with replicas of Bronze age weapons. They found that leather shields were superior to bronze shields.

Q: Although the American Southwest did not produce true humanly created mummies as in Egypt, its arid environment nonetheless promoted exceptional preservation when the pueblo dwellers buried their dead a) in deep pits b) in special kivas c) in dry caves d) under the floors

Q: The major archaeological problem with waterlogged finds, particularly those made out of wood, is a) that they are always too big to fit in museum laboratories b) that currently we have no scientific methods to preserve them c) that wood preserves in all conditions, making waterlogged wood redundant d) that they deteriorate rapidly when they are removed from the water e) all of the above

Q: The mummies of the Andes are a good example of exceptional preservation of organic material resulting from its location in a a) cold climate b) bog c) dry cave d) sandy desert e) swamp

Q: Recent experimental work indicates that the hand axes of the Lower Paleolithic could not serve as useful and versatile butchery tools, they could only have been used for chopping wood.

Q: In a few caves with Upper Paleolithic art, such as Lascaux, the height and inaccessibility of the art indicates the use of a ladder or scaffolding.

Q: Modern people do not overestimate the difficulties associated with building stone monuments. For example the building of Stonehenge is still thought to be quite mysterious: ancient people did not have the technology to construct that site.

Q: Although peat bogs and wetlands are best known for preserving human remains, preserved _____________ have also been recovered from the wetlands a) wooden trackways b) boats c) fishing nets d) wooden carts e) all of the above

Q: Original human behavior activities, which are a type of cultural formation process, include all of the following except a) the destruction of a settlement during a mudslide b) acquisition of raw material c) use and distribution of goods d) manufacturing of tools e) disposal of a broken tool

Q: The "Ice Maiden," the frozen mummy of a young girl found on the Ampato Volcano in Peru, as well as the preserved bodies found on the peak of Llullaillaco, probably were ceremonial offerings made by which culture? a) the Mongols b) the Aztecs c) the Tyrolians d) the Incas e) we do not know what culture the mummies came from

Q: Sometimes it is possible to demonstrate the presence of boats even when no ship remains have been found in the archaeological record. An example of this is a) that Chinese artifacts are sometimes found along the coast of South America b) that pyramids exist and both Egypt and Central America meaning that the two regions were in contact c) that traditional Italian food contains tomatoes, a plant that was domesticated in the Americas only and thus had to be traded for d) the fact that Australia was peopled after it was cut off from the mainland e) that Neanderthals are found in both the Levant and in Europe

Q: Platinum was unknown in Europe until the 16th century, but was being worked in ______ as early as the 2nd century BC a) China b) Egypt c) Ecuador d) India e) the Ohio Valley

Q: Although faience originated in Egypt before 3000 bc, true glass, in the form of beads, was not developed until 2500 bc in a) Mesopotamia b) Italy c) South America d) Britain e) China

Q: Exceptional preservation of "tzi," or the "Iceman," found in the Alps in 1991, allowed documentation of his health, past injuries, tattoos, and diet. Radiocarbon dates suggest he lived at about __________ a) 300 bc b) 300 ad c) 3300 bc d) 10,000 bc e) 13,000 bc

Q: The Pazyryk bodies, found in ________________, were so well preserved by their constant frozen state that archaeologists not only recovered linen shirts, aprons, and stockings but could also see tattoos a) southern Siberia b) southern Sinai c) South Africa d) southern Botswana e) South Carolina

Q: If the core of a ceramic sherd is dark (gray or black), a) the firing temperature was too low to fully oxidize the clay b) the duration of firing time was not long enough c) the amount of temper in the clay was too high d) a or b could be the cause e) b or c could be the cause

Q: At Ozette, the extraordinary preservation of such organic materials as wooden containers, baskets, weaving equipment, and fishing and hunting equipment, was the result of a) a glacier covering the settlement b) a mudslide covering the settlement c) a volcano burying the settlement in ash d) an earthquake causing the settlement to sink

Q: The introduction of pottery generally seems to coincide with the adoption of a more sedentary way of life. Paleolithic people may not have created pottery because a) they were not really very smart b) mobile hunter-gatherers would not want to carry heavy fired clay containers around c) clay sources were difficult to find during the Paleolithic because they were often buried under glaciers and ice d) mobile hunter-gatherers were generally too busy hunting to make pottery e) both a and c

Q: _____________ were a significant development in pyrotechnology during the early Neolithic in the Near East around 8000 bc a) Furnaces for iron smelting b) Furnaces for home heating c) Ovens for bread baking d) Ovens for making faience e) Coal stoves

Q: Temperate climates are not usually conducive to organic preservation at archaeological sites because of a) variable temperatures and fluctuating precipitation b) steady humidity c) hyper-aridity d) water saturation

Q: Although impressions of textiles or flexible basketry on fired clay are attested as early as 25,000"27,000 years ago, the earliest known trace of actual cloth is a white linen fragment found clinging to an antler tool from Turkey, dating to approximately a) AD 1 b) 12th century AD c) 1000 BC d) 7000 BC e) 15,000 BC

Q: Typically, the most destructive types of climate for organic materials are a) tropical climates b) polar climates c) temperate climates d) it makes little difference

Q: An example of an artifact made of inorganic materials is a) a plant fiber basket b) a stone tool c) an animal bone comb d) a wood flute e) none of the above

Q: The function of perforated antler "batons" dating to the European Upper Paleolithic has been debated for some time. The most widely accepted view, based on ethnographic analogy, is that they were used as a) handles for slings b) tent pegs c) harness pieces d) arrow-shaft straighteners e) tools for making the flutes on arrow heads

Q: In order to understand the sequence of creating the various elements in Upper Paleolithic cave paintings, Alexander Marshack has used ____________ to see through red ochre so that other pigments are visible a) infrared film b) thermoluminescence c) ultraviolet light d) fluxgate gradiometer e) none of the above

Q: Formation processes affect the way in which finds came to be buried and what happened to them after their burial. A good example of a natural formation process would be a) gradual burial of a feature by wind-borne soil b) the sudden fall of ash over Pompeii c) slow accumulation of river sediment over a feature d) gradual burial of an artifact by sand e) all of the above

Q: Observing the wear patterns on ancient stone tools is an aspect of microwear analysis; experimental archaeology provides added information on the specific activities the tools might have been used for by a) using modern copies of stone tools in a variety of specific tasks b) studying the traces of polish on modern copies of tools after use c) creating categories of tool use according to wear patterns created on modern copies d) all of the above e) none of the above

Q: An artifact's context includes its a) matrix b) provenience c) association with other finds d) all of the above e) both b and c

Q: Features, essentially non-portable artifacts, include such things as a) hammers, chisels, and arrowheads b) animal bones, plant remains, and other ecofacts c) small villages, houses, and palaces d) advertisements and the main presentation e) postholes, hearths, and storage ditches

Q: For many years, archaeologists puzzled over the method used to create the flute or channel on Folsom points, a Paleo-Indian tool of North America. Based on textual observations and experimentation, it was determined that the flute was created by a) the block-on-block technique b) pressure flaking using a small, pointed tool c) an antler billet d) pressure flaking using a T-shaped crutch, placed against the chest e) an unknown process

Q: Organic and environmental remains, or ecofacts, which were not made by humans but still provide information about the past include such items as a) animal bones, plant remains, pottery fragments b) soils, sediments, animal bones, plant remains c) stone tools, weapons, pottery d) soils sediments, animal bones, stone tools, weapons, pottery e) none of the above

Q: In order to create more elaborate shapes in metal, a technique is used which involves first modeling the shape in wax and then encasing it in clay. By heating the clay, the wax melts and flows out; molten metal is then poured into the hollow mold. After cooling, the clay mold is removed. This technique is known as the a) lost-wax method b) cire perdue method c) annealing method d) filigree method e) a and b are correct

Q: The alloying of copper with tin produces a) gold b) bronze c) silver d) aluminum e) iron

Q: Archaeological sites may be defined quite simply as a) places where the landscape has changed significantly over time b) places that are recorded by ancient writers c) places where significant traces of human activity are identified d) places where excavated artifacts are displayed e) none of the above

Q: The material immediately surrounding an artifact, usually some sediment such as gravel, sand, or clay, is known as the a) dirt b) find spot c) site d) matrix

Q: Metallographic examination involves the a) examination of a polished section cut from a metal artifact under a light microscope b) examination of a polished section cut from a metal artifact under a petrographic microscope c) examination of a polished part of a metal artifact, for abrasions and cracks, as well as annealing and soldering d) the use of radar technology to search for metal objects under the ground e) all of the above

Q: Objects used, modified or made by people are known as a) artifacts b) geofacts c) ecofacts d) typologies e) sites

Q: The _________ are credited with introducing the technique of glass-blowing, in about 50 bc a) Romans b) Chinese c) Mesopotamians d) Incas e) Mongols

Q: In order to achieve the desired temperatures necessary for smelting, a ceramic air pipe or ____________ can be used to force more air into the furnace a) flute b) brazier c) mold d) cire perdue e) tuyre

Q: Darwin's work on evolution did not have a large or immediate impact on archaeologists.

Q: The intentional use and control of fire by humans is known as a) pyrotechnology b) pyromania c) metallurgy d) smelting e) pyroxia

Q: The New Archaeology is sometimes referred to as processual archaeology.

Q: Reflecting many other aspects of modern life in the 1960s, the New Archaeology was more pessimistic than earlier, traditional approaches to archaeology.

Q: "The Speculative Phase" is a term used to describe an archaeological school of thought that sought to employ scientific methods to explain archaeological evidence.

Q: Inclusions in the clay used to make pottery that act as a filler, creating strength and counteracting cracking and shrinkage during firing, are known as a) slag b) temper c) microliths d) faience e) debitage

Q: One of the weaknesses of the interpretive approach to archaeology is that the actions and thoughts of individuals in the past are not brought into central focus.

Q: In metalworking, the smelting process produces a residue known as a) reaves b) faience c) coprolite d) slag e) debitage

Q: _________, or conjoining, is the attempt to put stone tools, flakes, and cores back together again, providing information on the stages in producing the tools and reconstructing the process of the knapper's craft a) Refitting b) Annealing c) Filigree d) Microwear analysis e) Alloying

Q: The technique whereby a thin layer of one metal is bonded to another metal, such as silver with copper or copper with gold, is known as a) annealing b) granulation c) cold hammering d) filigree e) plating

Q: Like anthropologist Julian Steward, British archaeologist Grahame Clark broke away from the dependence on artifacts and argued for an ecological approach to how human populations adapted to their environments.

Q: The Moundbuilders, long thought to be a "vanished race," were actually the ancestors of modern Native Americans.

Q: The Rosetta Stone was discovered during Pitt-Rivers's military expedition to India (1798"1800).

Q: ____________, characteristic of the Mesolithic period, are tiny stone tools that were probably used as barbs on composite implements a) Eoliths b) Microliths c) Cores d) Phytoliths e) Otoliths

Q: "Preventative archaeology," "rescue archaeology," and "cultural resource management" are terms that are used to describe various countries' legal frameworks for public archaeology.

Q: ____________, first made in Predynastic Egypt, is a glass-like material manufactured by coating a core material of powdered quartz with vitreous alkaline glaze a) A core b) Filigree c) An eolith d) Slag e) Faience

Q: Found in Lower Pleistocene contexts, crude stone pebbles once thought to be made by humans but now considered to be natural are known as a) eoliths b) coprolites c) faience d) fauxaliths e) slag

Q: Many aspects of archaeology at the start of the new millennium emphasize the importance of the past for the contemporary world.

Q: A technique frequently used by the Etruscans, by which a metalworker soldered small grains of metal onto a background, typically of the same metal, is known as a) annealing b) filigree c) granulation d) pyrotechnology e) coprolization

Q: During the 18th century, __________ was one of the first archaeological sites to be excavated a) atalhyk b) Pompeii c) Cramborne Chase d) Tutankhamen's Tomb e) Pecos Ruin

Q: What is androcentrism? a) male bias b) the study of females c) the study of males d) female bias e) none of the above

Q: Study of the patterns of wear or damage on the edges of stone tools that can provide useful information on a particular tool's function is known as a) refitting b) microwear analysis c) scanning electron analysis d) plating e) none of the above

Q: Whose work at Pecos Ruin, New Mexico was largely responsible for putting the archaeology of the Southwest on the map? a) Max Uhle b) Alfred Maudslay c) Flinders Petrie d) Leonard Woolley e) Alfred Kidder

Q: An Old World chronological period beginning around 10,000 years ago between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic, the _______________is associated with the rise of microlithic tools a) Mesolithic b) Microlithic c) Pre-Pottery Neolithic d) Post-Paleolithic e) none of the above

Q: The piece of stone from which material is removed to make stone tools (flakes, blades) is known as the a) tablet b) eolith c) hand axe d) core e) matrix

Q: The site of atalhyk, an early farming site made famous by archaeologist Ian Hodders's use of interpretive archaeology approaches, is located in a) England b) Australia c) Italy d) Turkey e) India

Q: A leading thinker on Old World history who was heavily influenced by Marxist ideal, Gordon Childe moved beyond simply describing cultural sequences by seeking to understand a) the origins of civilization b) the origins of the Neolithic Revolution c) the origins of the Urban Revolution d) all of the above e) none of the above

Q: Archaeologists must always remember that their artifact sample might be biased. Stone tools may be overrepresented in the archaeological record because: a) people naturally like stone more than materials like wood b) stone preserves better than such materials as wood c) people tend to reuse wood but they always throw away old stone tools d) stone tools were only used for a short time in human history e) archaeologists traditionally have not looked for wooden tools

Q: Contradicting the prevailing wisdom of the time, excavations led by ____________ at Great Zimbabwe (1929) confirmed that the site represented a major culture of African origin a) Louis Leakey b) Gertrude Caton-Thompson c) Harriet Boyd Hawes d) Kathleen Kenyon e) none of the above

Q: The technique of mixing two or more metals to create a new material, such as copper and tin to make bronze, is known as a) ascribing b) annealing c) bifurcating d) conjoining e) alloying

Q: Animal sex may be identified based on remains of a) antlers b) large canines c) the penis bone d) the female pelvic structure e) all of the above

Q: At a bison kill site in New Mexico dated to the 15th century AD, John Speth found more male skulls than female, but more female limbs than male. He deduced that this was because a) lactating and calving cows were probably taboo, so only male limbs were taken b) lactating and calving cows were under nutritional stress, so the male limbs had the most meat and body fat, and these were therefore taken away c) meat from female skulls were more desirable, so there were fewer left behind d) lactating and calving cows usually stay at the back of the heard and thus are not usually killed at bison-kill sites e) All of the above

Q: Ian Hodder and his students were some of the first to advance influential arguments for the school of archaeological thought called a) the New Archaeology b) ethnology c) cultural ecology d) postprocessual archaeology e) processual archaeology

Q: ______________ trained under Mortimer Wheeler, adopted his excavation method, and is best known for excavations at Jericho and Jerusalem a) Kathleen Kenyon b) Gertrude Caton-Thompson c) Anna O. Shepard d) Mary Leakey e) none of the above

Q: The fundamental complaint among proponents of the New Archaeology in the 1960s was that traditional archaeological methods a) were too focused on science b) did not incorporate Indigenous or feminist voices c) relied too heavily on sources such as the Bible d) did not include enough focus on migration, typology, and classification e) never seemed to explain anything

Q: In order to understand bone assemblages produced as a result of human activity as opposed to those created by animals, studies have focused on the effects of predators and scavengers on bones. A bone collection that consists of high numbers of bone shafts and a low number of bones with articular ends was probably produced by a) humans b) animals c) site formation processes d) ritual cannibalism e) bioturbation

Q: Scholars began to study and collect the relics of Greece and Rome a) during the Renaissance b) after the discovery of radiocarbon dating c) in the 1960s d) after World War I e) after the publication of John Lloyd Stephens's travel accounts

Q: Taphonomy is a) the study of processes which have affected organic materials, such as bone, between its deposition and its discovery by the archaeologist b) the study of geological processes that led to the creation of current land forms c) the study of which species should be grouped together based on shared attributes d) the systematic organization of artifacts into types on the basis of shared attributes e) the study of processes which contribute to population structure and their spatial dynamics

Q: In order to assess the abundance of a species in a faunal assemblage, a calculation of the smallest number of animals necessary to account for all the identified bones is generally known as the a) number of identified specimens (NISP) b) minimum number of individuals (MNI) c) taphonomy d) Midwestern Taxonomic System (MTS) e) none of the above