Q&A Hero

Q: The waterlogged site of Ohalo II, along the Sea of Galilee in Israel, has yielded the world's oldest known ____________, dating to 19,000 years ago a) domesticated animal bones b) fish bones c) wind instrument, made from an animal femur d) cereal grains e) dog burial

Q: The efforts of marginalized groups in the territory of former European colonies to have more of an influence on the management of their heritage has resulted in the development of a) the New archaeology b) speculative archaeology c) archaeobotany d) Indigenous archaeologies e) the cultural-historical approach

Q: Chemical and infrared spectroscopic analyses of a yellowish residue found inside a pottery jar from the Neolithic site of Hajji Firuz Tepe, Iran, was identified as tartaric acid. Dating to about 5400"5000 BC, this represents the earliest evidence for a) beer b) a malt beverage c) resinated wine d) opium e) milk

Q: Darwin's work on evolution, in particular the mechanism of "natural selection," served as an important catalyst to the concept a) that humans had emerged as part of the same process. b) that living things do not really change c) that human origins were much too early for archaeology to have any relevance d) none of the above e) all of the above

Q: The central concern of the "classificatory-historical period" of archaeological thought, which lasted until 1960, was a) the use of scientific dating methods b) the incorporation of alternative interpretations of the past c) processualism d) chronology e) all of the above

Q: The travel writing of American lawyer and diplomat John Lloyd Stephens, published in the 1840s, revealed the ruined cities of what civilization for the first time a) the Ancient Egyptians b) the Romans c) the Druids d) the Maya e) the Barbarians

Q: The only incontrovertible evidence that a type of food was actually consumed by humans in the past is its presence in a) human stomachs b) human feces c) well sealed storage containers d) all of the above e) a and b only

Q: One conclusion derived from the experimental studies at the Butser Experimental Farm was that if storage pits have an impermeable seal, a) unparched grain can be stored for long periods without decaying b) unparched grain quickly deteriorates without some form of preservative c) unparched grain will soon be devoured by mice and other small burrowing vermin d) unparched grain quickly ferments

Q: The Butser Experimental Farm in southern England is a long-term research project to replicate a functioning version of a farmstead dating to about 300 BC, that is, in the a) Stone Age b) Copper Age c) Bronze Age d) Iron Age e) Medieval Period

Q: Influenced by Darwin's ideas about evolution, Edward Tylor and Lewis Henry Morgan argued that human societies evolved through stages, from a) savagery to barbarism to civilization. b) barbarism to agriculturalism to civilization c) australopithecines to Homo erectus to Homo sapiens d) hunter to gatherer to agriculturalist e) savagery to peasantry to capitalist

Q: At the site of Wadi Kubbaniya in Upper Egypt, Fred Wendorf and colleagues identified a remarkable number of plant food species. The dominant resource, and probably a dietary staple, was a) domesticated wheat b) nutgrass tubers c) domesticated barley d) wild wheat e) wild barley

Q: Marija Gimbutas is considered a pioneer in the field of ______________ because of her emphasis on the importance of women in prehistory a) androcentrism b) feminist archaeology c) cultural relativism d) the New archaeology e) cultural-historic archaeology

Q: Considered a useful starting point for archaeologists who wish to understand the lifestyles of people who lived in the past, the study of living human cultures and communities is called a) post-processualism b) evolution c) ethnography d) environmental archaeology e) Marxist archaeology

Q: C.J. Thomsen, a Danish scholar, was responsible for classifying artifact collections and, based on those classifications, he created a conceptual scheme known as a) uniformitarianism b) the Three Age system c) cultural ecology d) processualism e) none of the above

Q: The recovery and identification of plant remains from archaeological contexts to study past human use of plants is known as a) paleoplantology b) archaeophytology c) paleoethnobotany d) archaeozoology e) zooarchaeology

Q: The widespread acceptance in the later 20th century that the material remains of the past should be protected and conserved has inspired the development of a) public archaeology b) cultural ecology c) typology d) sequence dating e) dendrochronology

Q: NISP is a gross counting technique used in the a) quantification of animal bones b) quantification of diatoms c) estimation of pollen grains d) estimation of fossil cuticles e) None of the above

Q: Gordon Childe coined a phrase in 1941 to describe the origin and consequences of farming, which was accompanied by the widespread development of settled village life. That phrase was the a) Urban Revolution b) Neolithic Revolution c) Secondary Products Revolution d) Industrial Revolution e) Worker's Revolution

Q: Unlike other animals, which have useful hides to make leather out of, birds have only been hunted for their meat.

Q: Proponents of the New Archaeology argued that archaeology should do which of the following? a) explain rather than describe b) test hypotheses c) use scientific approaches d) design research to answer specific questions e) all of the above

Q: A key breakthrough in the use of scientific methods to date archaeological remains was Willard Libby's 1949 invention of a) neutron activation analysis b) dendrochronology c) radiocarbon dating d) potassium-argon dating e) trace-element analysis

Q: In North America, the influential anthropologist Julian Steward emphasized the importance of environmental adaptation in cultural change. This approach was termed a) environmentalism b) cultural ecology c) eco-archaeology d) diffusionism e) processualism

Q: However interesting they may be from a cultural point of view, neither art nor literature can provide any evidence about what people ate in the past.

Q: Phosphate analysis of soils can be used to identify where livestock were concentrated.

Q: Although it was less applicable in places where bronze or iron were not used, the Three Age System was conceptually significant to the study of the prehistory of a) North America b) Europe c) South America d) Africa e) Mesoamerica

Q: The study of the arrangement of superimposed layers of rocks or soil is called a) processualism b) the Three Age system c) cultural ecology d) stratigraphy e) the praxis approach

Q: Traditionally it was believed by archaeologists that cattle were first domesticated in the Near East, and subsequently spread from there; recent work on domestication using DNA now suggests at least two, and possibly three, separate domestications.

Q: In some mammals, annual rings of cementum (a mineralized deposit) form around the tooth roots below the gumline; a thin-section of these indicates alternating seasons of stress or plenty.

Q: The Rosetta Stone was found to be the key to a) deciphering Aramaic b) deciphering ancient Hebrew c) deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs d) deciphering Linear A e) deciphering ancient Greek

Q: A late 19th-century pioneer in organized, precise excavation and total recording methods was a) Mortimer Wheeler b) Charles Darwin c) Gordon Childe d) General Pitt-Rivers e) Alfred Kidder

Q: If analysis of an ancient animal bone assemblage indicates the presence of very few adult males but many adult females, this argues strongly for a managed dairy herd.

Q: "Survival of the fittest", a key mechanism in Darwin's theory of evolution, is also known as a) natural selection b) uniformitarianism c) stratification d) classification e) ethnology

Q: Domestication rarely takes place near where the wild forms of a plant or animal exist.

Q: Bones survive more successfully than teeth.

Q: Although pollen grains are of little use in studies of plant domestication, molecular genetics are now beginning to make a contribution to the question.

Q: After 14 years of work, this scholar was able to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822 a) Ephraim Squier b) Gordon Childe c) Jean-Franois Champollion d) General Pitt-Rivers e) C.J. Thomsen

Q: Who formed the first cabinets of curiosities? a) Sigmund Freud b) Renaissance princes c) Sir John Soane d) the Aztecs e) none of the above

Q: Many 19th century scholars were obsessed with the Moundbuilders, a mythical civilization that supposedly built the mounds and earthworks located in what is now a) the United States b) Greece c) Eastern Europe d) China e) South Africa

Q: No domesticated plants were cultivated in North America until they were introduced soon after the arrival of colonists from the Old World.

Q: Isotope analysis of the hair of some Peruvian and Chilean mummies have found evidence for a) opium consumption indicating some form of trade with China b) cocaine consumption from chewing coca leaves c) marijuana smoking d) large scale tobacco domestication and consumption e) caffeine consumption indicating that there was coffee bean trading with Africa

Q: Dietary studies have been revolutionized through analyses of human tooth enamel and bone collagen based on a) the different ratios of carbon isotopes 13C and 12C b) the different ratios of nitrogen isotopes c) concentration of strontium in bone d) All of the above e) Answers a and c only

Q: The ecological approach to archaeology developed by Grahame Clark and his contemporaries could not only build up a picture of what prehistoric environments were like, but could also provide information about human activities such as a) what language people spoke in the past b) why people believed in certain gods c) what style of clothing people wore d) what people ate in the past e) all of the above

Q: Only just a century and a half ago, before the development of modern archaeology, most well-read people in the Western world thought the world had been created a) in the year 1 AD b) in the year 1000 AD c) 4.54 billion years ago d) 2 million years ago e) in 4004 BC

Q: Who is considered to be the first person to have conducted a scientific excavation of an ancient site? a) Thomas Jefferson b) General Pitt-Rivers c) Sir William Flinders Petrie d) Willard Libby e) Charles Darwin

Q: Microscopic abrasion on human teeth provides clues to general types of food intake. Abrasive particles in food leave striations on the tooth enamel which a) on meat eaters, leave vertical striations on lateral surfaces of teeth b) on vegetarians, leave both vertical and horizontal striations c) leave striations on the biting surfaces (which also can be the result of food preparation) d) answers a and c only e) Answers a, b, and c are correct

Q: According to Andrew Sherratt there was a second, later stage of domestication that he calls the Secondary Products Revolution. Sherratt argues that the Secondary Products Revolution was defined by the intensified use of animals for a) milk and cheese b) wool c) animal traction (plowing) d) all of the above are correct e) a and b are correct

Q: Analysis of Neolithic Jomon shell mounds around Tokyo Bay, Japan, recovered evidence for a variety of food remains. Seasonality of clam exploitation was derived from a) ratio of length to shell thickness b) overall mass of shell c) daily growth lines d) sagittal otoliths e) None of the above

Q: In a study of seasonality, Paul Mellars and Michael Wilkinson estimated the age at death of certain fish (saithe, or coalfish) based on the size distribution of the fishes' a) sagittal otolith b) eye socket c) ratio of dorsal fin to body length d) vertebrae e) mandible

Q: At midden sites where shells vastly outnumber bones, this is usually interpreted as evidence that a) the population who produced the midden were dependent upon the mollusks as a staple resource b) the population who produced the midden were exploiting mollusks in times of crisis or as supplementary food c) shells survive much more successfully than bone d) Both answers b and c are correct e) None of the above

Q: At the site of Tell Abu Hureyra, Syria, Epipaleolithic (10th/9th millennia BC) layers contained only morphologically "wild" forms of einkorn and rye, and lacked the common, toxic-seeded weeds that become abundant later in the Neolithic levels. However cultivation came about, once farming was fully established, the spectrum of seed-based foods a) dropped from 150 species to a mere 8 b) dropped from 150 species to about 120 c) increased from about 150 species to many hundreds d) increased from about 8 species to almost 200 e) remained relatively steady, despite minor fluctuations

Q: A study of faunal and plant remains conducted at the site of Tell Abu Hureyra, Syria, concluded that for at least 1000 years after the first cultivation of domesticated plants a) hunting remained virtually the sole source of nutrition b) hunting continued, but primarily as sport c) hunting still played a crucial part in the site's economy d) hunting remained unimportant, until desperation forced the inhabitants to hunt e) the nutrition of the population steadily improved

Q: In a study of Telarmachay, a prehistoric site in the Peruvian Andes, Jane Wheeler found that at around 3000 BC there was a significant increase in remains of fetal and newborn camelids such as llamas and alpacas (from about 35% to about 73%). She interprets this as evidence that a) these were young wild animals hunted and brought to the site b) these were young wild animals that were easily scavenged because of high mortality in the herd c) these were domesticated animals experiencing high mortality as a result of life in dirty, muddy corrals d) these were imported young animals, brought from the south for ritual slaughter e) all of the above are correct

Q: There are various indicators useful for the identification of domesticated animals. These attributes for the identification of domesticated animals from archaeological contexts include a) decrease in overall size b) reduction in tooth size c) high number of adolescent and young adult animals (in a meat herd) d) high number of adult females (in a dairy herd) e) all of the above

Q: In order to assess the size and age of the animals at the Boarding School site, a typical technique was used, namely a) their numbers were assessed using the minimum number of individuals technique b) ages of the animals were based on the eruption sequence and degree of wear on the teeth, and from bone fusion c) sex was established on the basis of size and pelvic shape d) all of the above were used e) none of the above were used

Q: Excavations at the Boarding School site in northern Montana, carried out with help from the local Blackfoot tribe, found evidence of a typical hunting practice used for thousands of years in North America, with three layers of bones, each representing one episode. This site was a a) bison drive site b) moose corral c) antelope kill site d) a bison domestication corral e) quail snare

Q: If there is an over-representation of young and old animals in relation to their numbers in a live population, this would suggest a) a catastrophic age profile b) an attritional age profile c) scavenging, or hunting by humans of the most vulnerable animals d) feasting was frequent e) answers b and c are both correct

Q: Using relative bone weight of each species of animal present at a site is a way of a) comparing species abundance b) estimating the weight of meat represented by the bones in the sample c) estimating age d) comparing sex profiles e) none of the above

Q: Estimates of the age at which animals were killed are usually based upon the a) thickness of long bones, such as femurs b) size estimates of bones c) robusticity of cranium d) eruption and wear patterns of the teeth e) antler rings in cross-section

Q: Tertiary cultural deposits are those that have been completely removed from their original context and have been reused.

Q: Pollens are best preserved in arid zones, particularly loess or sandy sedimentary deposits.

Q: Diatoms are useful for identifying whether ancient bodies of water were fresh, brackish or salt, but not for finer grained analytical questions, such as the level of water pollution or where ancient shorelines were located.

Q: Ancient wood, when preserved, can be a useful indicator for understanding human use of this material, but it must be burned (charcoal); desiccated or waterlogged wood is not very useful.

Q: While ancient insects can tell us about climate and vegetation, they cannot tell us about living conditions at archaeological sites.

Q: Unlike societies today, ancient societies had little or no impact on their environment.

Q: Cahokia, located near modern day St. Louis, was the principal settlement of one of the most complex societies that ever existed in North America.

Q: Large mammals are not generally good indicators of vegetation since herbivores thrive in a wide range of environments and eat a variety of plants.

Q: Hearths are very easy to find and recognize in early prehistoric campsites.

Q: The study of ancient dung contributes to the debate over large animal extinctions.

Q: Microfauna (small animals) tend to be better indicators of climate and environmental change because a) they are sensitive to oscillations in climate and adapt relatively quickly b) they accumulate naturally, so they reflect the immediate environment c) they are accumulated at a site through human or animal predation d) a and b are correct e) none of the above

Q: One of the first ways in which people modified their living places was by a) the controlled use of fire b) irrigation techniques c) sweet potato planting d) domestication of goats e) building of stone monuments

Q: Analyses that attempt to calculate the proportions of resources such as arable or pastoral land within an area around a site in order to understand what would have been exploited by the inhabitants is known as a) Site Exploitation Territory b) Pollen Zone Analysis c) Oxygen Isotope Curves d) Central Place Theory e) Thiessen Polygons

Q: On Easter Island, the most isolated piece of inhabited land in the world, the loss of timber due to the cutting down of trees by humans resulted in a) termination of stone head b) cessation of canoe manufacture c) soil erosion d) lower crop yields e) all of the above

Q: New settlers to the Polynesian islands brought with them pigs, fowl, and crop plants, as well as stowaways such as the rat, geckos, and weeds. These were new competitive predators to the indigenous species, but probably the most drastic effects on the landscape were caused by a) natural catastrophes such as hurricanes, earthquakes and tidal waves b) dogs, which had no natural predators and soon wiped out many indigenous species c) rapid deforestation by people, which led to open grassland and erosion d) over-exploitation of mineral and water resources e) a meteorite that caused a temporary "miniature" Ice Age and years of poor harvests

Q: An example of a climactic cycle that has had a strong effect on human affairs in parts of the world is a) river meandering b) macrofaunal extinction c) geomorphology d) El Nio e) loess sedimentation

Q: Because plants lie __________ the food chain they provide clues to animal and human life and reflect soil conditions and climate a) at the top of b) at the base of c) at multiple points within d) completely off e) none of the above

Q: In tree-ring analysis, the more water that is available to tree, the ___________ the annual ring a) thinner b) harder c) softer d) wider e) both a and b

Q: There are competing theories about the causes for ancient big-game extinctions (such as the mastodon and horse in the Americas). One group believes that climatic change is the primary cause behind these extinctions, although this does not explain why similar changes in earlier times did not have the same effect. Competing theories argue that a) the big-game migrated before land bridges disappeared b) the arrival of people led to overexploitation and then extinction c) human overexploitation led to the disappearance of megaherbivores, in turn leading to extinction of medium-sized herbivores d) Answer b and c are both correct e) None of these answers are correct

Q: Rock varnishes consist of natural accretions of manganese and iron oxides with organic matter from microscopic plant debris which accumulate on rock surfaces, and are metabolized and cemented into a varnish through bacterial action. This rock varnish may be analyzed using a) the ratio of stable carbon isotopes 12 and 13 b) the ratio of nitrogen isotopes 15 and 14 c) the ratio of plant DNA relative to modern conditions of plant debris d) the ratio of oxygen isotopes e) ultraviolet spectroscopy

Q: Microbotanical analytical techniques include the study of a) pollen b) fossil cuticles c) diatoms d) rock varnishes e) all of the above

Q: Although palynology is very useful for the reconstruction of past vegetation in forested regions, grass pollens are typically indistinguishable from one another. In grassy environments an alternative is the study of the protective layer of the skin or epidermis of leaves or blades of grass that retain the characteristic shapes of the underlying epidermal cells known as a) phytoliths b) diatoms c) fossil cuticles d) plant DNA e) coprolites