Q&A Hero

Q: Diatoms are a) the tiny male reproductive bodies of flowering plants b) the minute particles of silica derived from the cells of plants c) the outermost protective layer of the skin of leaves or blades of grass d) fossilized unicellular algae e) the fossilized cuticles of plants

Q: Pollen grains are a) the tiny male reproductive bodies of flowering plants b) the minute particles of silica derived from the cells of plants c) the outermost protective layer of the skin of leaves or blades of grass d) fossilized unicellular algae e) none of the above

Q: The most favorable sediments for the preservation of pollen are a) arid loess sediments b) frozen tundra c) acidic and well-watered tropical sediments d) sandy sediments e) acidic and poorly aerated peat bogs and lake beds

Q: As well as being a good indicator of ancient climate, loess also played an important role in Neolithic farming because these soils a) formed fertile and easily worked land ideally suited for simple technology b) were dense and prevented water loss through drainage c) were formed through floodwater deposition (silting) insuring rich nutrients d) were formed through ancient bogs, swamps, and fens providing deep deposits rich in nutrients e) all of the above

Q: Karl Butzer has distinguished three groups of cultural deposits: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary cultural deposits are those which accumulate on the surface from human activity, while secondary cultural deposits are best described as a) primary deposits which have been completely removed from their original context, and possibly reused b) primary deposits which have undergone modification, either through physical displacement or a change in the use of an activity area c) primary deposits sealed immediately in a post-depositional episode d) primary deposits with much less analytical usefulness e) tertiary deposits that have suffered bioturbation

Q: The study of the form and development of the landscape is known as a) geomorphology b) palynology c) archaeozoology d) taphonomy e) ethnoarchaeology

Q: After retrieving a core, the layers may be analyzed in two ways. First, scientists study the presence or absence and fluctuations of different foraminiferan species. Second, using a mass spectrometer, they analyze the a) fluctuations in the ratio of stable oxygen isotopes 18 and 16 in the calcium carbonate of the foraminiferan shells b) fluctuations in the ratio of nitrogen isotopes 15 and 14 in the calcium carbonate of the foraminiferan shells c) fluctuations in the ratio of pollens to foraminifera through time d) fluctuations in the amino acids of bone collagen in the foraminifera e) all of the above

Q: In order to understand the stratigraphy of sediment on the ocean floor, ships use a ___________ to extract a thin column of sediment for later laboratory analysis a) sounding drill b) paleomagnetometer c) piston-corer d) varve corer e) ground penetrating radar

Q: In the field, flotation techniques are used to retrieve a) human burials b) macrofaunal remains c) varves d) microbotanical remains e) plant DNA

Q: Displacements in the plates that make up the earth's crust, often responsible for the occurrence of raised beaches, are known as a) tectonic movements b) step trenching c) sedimentary processes d) loess deposition e) paleomagnetic reversals

Q: An acoustic underwater survey device that uses the principle of echo-sounding to locate submerged landforms is known as a a) paleo-magnetometer b) X-ray diffraction spectrometer c) seismic reflection profiler d) proton magnetometer e) sidescan sonar

Q: Paleoentomology is the study of ancient a) insects b) pollen c) landscapes d) macrofauna e) microbotanical remains

Q: Commonly found preserved in ash layers, pottery, and on stone tools and even teeth, minute particles of silica derived from plant cells are known as a) pollen grains b) phytoliths c) eoliths d) coprolites e) foraminifera

Q: Sediments formed of a yellowish dust of silt-sized particles blown by the wind and redeposited on newly deglaciated land or on sheltered areas are known as a) loess b) terra rosa c) chinampa d) phytolythis e) varves

Q: As temperatures rise after an ice age and glaciers melt, the weight of ice is removed from the land. The rise in the level of the land creates raised beaches in a process known as a) isometric uplift b) isotopic uplift c) isostatic uplift d) geomorphic uplift e) geostatic uplift

Q: The study of pollen grains, developed by Norwegian geologist Lennart von Post, is commonly known as a) geomorphology b) palynology c) archaeobotany d) paleoethnobotany e) microbotany

Q: A chinampa is a) fertile land reclaimed through dredging mud from canals made by the Aztecs b) a tortilla-like sandwich invented by southern Californians c) the outermost protective layer of skin from a leaf or blade of grass d) fertile land created by diverting water into irrigation canals by the ancient Egyptians e) Bronze Age stone boundary walls, best known from the British Isles

Q: The remains of large animals, such as sheep or cows, found on archaeological sites help us build a picture of past human diet. These remains are known as: a) Microfauna b) Macrobotanical c) Macrofauna d) Geomorphs e) Phytoliths

Q: Most ancient societies conformed to Rousseau's idea of the "Noble Savage": they existed peacefully with each other without warfare or conflict.

Q: When one society comes to adopt the forms of customs, buildings, and artifacts of neighboring societies, particularly among peer polities, this is known as emulation.

Q: A "bottom-up" perspective in archaeology often means studying the role of the individual in a society.

Q: While the meat of sheep and cows are considered to be primary products, wool and milk are considered to be secondary products.

Q: Maya "emblem glyphs" can be linked to specific sites, which helps archaeologists to understand the political organization of the region.

Q: Unfortunately, the oral traditions of non-literate societies are just too unreliable to be of any use at all to archaeologists.

Q: Written records form probably the greatest single source of information for ancient state societies; they directly relate knowledge that requires no interpretation.

Q: When it comes down to it, "gender" and "sex" mean the same thing.

Q: Despite many attempts to crack it, the Indus or Harappan script is one of the last to remain undeciphered.

Q: Although taking different amounts of time according to region, environmental conditions, and technological innovations, all societies eventually progress from bands to state societies.

Q: A comprehensive analysis of ancient DNA, from both mtDNA and nuclear DNA samples, from a prehistoric Oneota cemetery at Norris Farms in Illinois, dating to about AD 1300, suggests a a) "single wave" hypothesis for the peopling of the Americas, around 37,000-23,000 years ago b) "single wave" hypothesis for the peopling of the Americas, around 14,000-12,000 years ago c) "multi-wave" hypothesis for the peopling of the Americas, at about 6,000 years ago, 14,000-12,000 years ago, and 37,000-23,000 years ago d) "multi-wave" hypothesis for the peopling of the Americas, at about 37,000-23,000 years ago, and 54,000-61,000 years ago e) "single wave" hypothesis for the peopling of the Americas, around 100,000-60,000 years ago

Q: The abstract notion of _______ , socially constituted structuring principles or the dispositions operating within each individual, can be useful in the archaeology of individual identity a) agency b) bands c) habilis d) habitus e) androcentrism

Q: Centralized societies differ from non-centralized ones in a number of ways. The more centralized structure often allows or requires greater economic specialization, which would be visible archaeologically as a) intensified farming b) taxation c) redistribution d) craft specialization e) all of the above

Q: Centralized societies typically exhibit disparities between rich and poor, and thus they offer the potential to study social ranking and social organization. Which of the following offers strong evidence of social ranking? a) Group residences, similar burials, short term occupation of sites b) Dispersed hamlets, equitable residences and few specialists c) Elite residences, rich burials, and craft specialists d) Villages, some rich group burials, few specialists e) Cave sites, evidence for butchering, and fine hunting equipment

Q: A standardized system of weights and measures usually indicates the presence of a) a strong local religion b) a capitalist society c) globalization d) a transition from a band society to a tribal society e) a centrally administered economic system

Q: After 10,000 years ago, as the farming way of life took root in different parts of the world, the introduction of new agricultural methods such as plowing, terracing, and irrigation, as well as the use of poorer quality land, suggest that there was a gradual a) intensification of food production b) domination of state organizations c) spread of egalitarian societies d) intensification of non-religious behavior e) increase in rainfall

Q: It seems likely that in some cases the scale of an area in which _____________ was influential in determining the scale of the ethnic group that came to be formed a) a particularly pottery motif came into use b) a certain tool assemblage came into use c) a language came to be spoken d) a particular clothing style came to be worn e) a society came to develop agriculture

Q: A project led by Mike Parker Pearson that carried out 45 excavations in the Wessex area determined that __________ was first constructed around 3000 BC as an enclosed cemetery a) The Great Wall of China b) The Tower of Babylon c) The Caves at Lascaux d) Stonehenge e) Great Zimbabwe

Q: The "largest social unit" of a society that is a politically independent or autonomous social unit is known as a a) city b) site c) polity d) cult e) person

Q: Societies such as chiefdoms and states, whose members have unequal access to status and prestige, are known as a) egalitarian societies b) ranked societies c) tribal societies d) archaic societies e) bands

Q: ________ is a societal construct that involves a person's role in society; it cannot be biologically determined a) Sex b) Gender c) Age d) Health e) Genetics

Q: Archaeologist Marija Gimbutas has become a cult figure among such groups as ecofeminists and New Age enthusiasts mostly because of her concept of a(n) a) Mother Goddess b) society of warrior women (Amazons) c) ruling sisterhood d) female oracle e) androcentric past

Q: _________ come into being through the interactions between individuals in the performance of shared activities, such as rituals or the construction of communal buildings a) Languages b) Thiessen polygons c) XTENT models d) Central places e) Social identities

Q: When social status or prestige are the result of inheritance or hereditary factors, this is known as a) achieved status b) ascribed status c) evolved status d) egalitarian status e) free agent status

Q: For archaeologists trying to understand social ranking, the individual burial of a child with rich burial goods and a well-built funerary monument would suggest that a) there may have been an egalitarian system b) there may have been a sacrificial cult of children c) there may have been a system of hereditary ranking d) there was a high rate of infant mortality e) children were not valued in that society

Q: Status won through an individual's accomplishments (e.g., hunting, mediating disputes) in their own lifetime is known as a) ascribed status b) achieved status c) evolved status d) chieftain status e) ranked status

Q: In a new examination of John Yellen's ethnographic study of the ______________, archaeologist Todd Whitelaw used computer modeling, producing a map based on kinship distance that closely matched the actual original camp plan a) !Kung San of the Kalahari Desert b) Sherpa of the Tibetan Plateau c) Inuit of Northern Greenland d) Mopan Maya of souther Belize e) Ya̧nomam of Amazonian Brazil

Q: Deposits of discarded debris are known as ______________ a) middens b) site catchment areas c) houses d) burial sites e) central places

Q: __________ is difficult to recognize in the archaeological record: features such as pottery decoration or differences in toolkits do not necessarily separate different cultural groups a) Age b) Genetic relation c) Artistic talent d) Ethnicity e) Craft-making ability

Q: In order to interpret the evidence from Middle Paleolithic sites in France, Lewis Binford studied the use and discard of bones and tools at a seasonal hunting camp used by the Nunamiut of a) Argentina b) Alaska c) Angola d) Azerbaijan e) Australia

Q: Because ethnoarchaeology is not usually focused on the actual material remains of the past, it is considered to be a(n) _________________ approach to understanding a past society a) direct b) scientific c) old fashioned d) invalid e) indirect

Q: An important method used to gain an understanding of a past society involves the study of the present-day use and significance of artifacts, buildings, and structures, and the way these things become incorporated into the archaeological record when they are thrown away, torn down, or abandoned. Such an approach is known as a) cataclysm studies b) archaeozoology c) archaeobotany d) ethnoarchaeology e) ethnology

Q: A technique that overcomes some of the shortcomings of Central Place Theory is XTENT Modeling. In XTENT modeling, the size of each center is assumed to be a) directly proportional to the distance from the next, closest center b) equivalent to each other c) directly proportional to its area of influence d) unrelated to the area of its influence e) of no importance whatsoever

Q: These simple geometrical shapes divide an area into a number of separate territories, each focused on a single site; these are often used as a tool in Central Place Theory-style analyses of site hierarchy a) Thiessen Polygons b) Tessellated Polygons c) Graduated Pentagons d) Centralized Shapes e) Honeycomb Polygons

Q: One method of examining settlement patterning evidence is Central Place Theory. Although such perfect examples do not exist in the real world, the basic feature of this theory is: a) that centers (towns or settlements) would be scattered randomly across a landscape and would control vastly different amounts of territory b) all human settlement in a geographic area would worship at one central place, as governed by their religion c) at a certain stage of development, all societies will leave their small towns or settlements and come together in a vast urban area (the central place) d) humanity evolved in Africa (the central place) and spread outward from there e) that centers (towns or settlements) of the same size and nature would be situated equidistant from each other and would control a similar amount of territory

Q: A society that has a ruler with authority to establish and enforce laws, stratified classes, administrative officials for collecting revenue, and the practice of redistribution would probably be considered a(n) a) mobile hunter-gatherer group b) segmentary society c) chiefdom d) early state e) none of the above

Q: Generally larger than mobile hunter-gatherer groups, these societies are typically sedentary, rarely number more than a few thousand people, and lack permanent differences of social status between people. These are a) bands b) segmentary societies c) chiefdoms d) early states e) all of the above

Q: A society with differences in social status (ranking), specialists manufacturing crafts, surpluses, and perhaps a permanent ritual or ceremonial center would probably be considered a(n) a) mobile hunter-gatherer group b) segmentary society c) chiefdom d) band e) early state

Q: During the Paleolithic period (before 12,000 years ago), most archaeological sites seem to reflect organization of societies at the level of mobile hunter-gatherer groups, generally numbering a) fewer than 10 people b) fewer than 100 people c) 100 to 500 people d) over 500 but fewer than 1000 people e) well over 1000 people

Q: In Elman Service's four-fold classification of human societies, mobile hunter-gatherer groups are sometimes called _________________ a) bands b) segmentary societies (tribes) c) chiefdoms d) states e) none of the above

Q: Archaeomagnetic (or, "paleomagnetic") dating is based on the constantly changing (in both direction and intensity) magnetic field of the earth.

Q: Although a subject of debate for many years, carbon dating performed in 1988 by laboratories in Tucson, Oxford, and Zurich all agreed that the Shroud of Turin dated to the time for Christ: the 1st century AD.

Q: Lexicostatistics is the study of language change through analysis of vocabulary, and is sometimes used as an absolute dating technique.

Q: One of the most useful techniques for dating early human (hominin) sites in Africa (which can be up to 5 million years old) is thermoluminescence (TL) dating.

Q: Contamination of radiocarbon samples is a common problem. Such problems can be avoided, however, simply by placing the sample inside of a clean paper bag, with a cardboard or paper label so that the provenience of the sample and context is not lost in transit.

Q: When provided with a radiocarbon figure such as 3700 + 100 BP, the first number (3700) is the number of years before the year 1950.

Q: Scientists have come to recognize that fluctuations in climate during the Ice Age were much more less complex than originally thought; the Ice Age was one, long, unbroken cold spell.

Q: A key point in archaeology is the idea of association. For example, if objects are found in the same, sealed, archaeological deposit, it is probable that they were buried at the same time.

Q: Although interesting historically, the Maya calendar was not very precise.

Q: The abbreviation BP, when talking about the past, means Before Present, however "Before Present" in this sense is taken to mean "before the year 1950."

Q: By measuring the hydration layer on obsidian tools, known to increase over time, an estimate of age may be established. Such a technique, known as obsidian hydration, is considered a(n) ___________ method for dating a) calibrated relative b) calibrated absolute c) relative d) absolute e) inaccurate

Q: The most successful application of electron spin resonance so far has been for the dating of a) pollen b) obsidian c) tooth enamel d) petrified wood e) calcium carbonates

Q: Applicable beyond the time range of radiocarbon dating, amino-acid racemization is used primarily to date samples of a) bone b) tooth enamel c) obsidian d) rocks rich in calcium carbonate e) ceramics

Q: Assume that you receive a radiocarbon date that reads 500 years before present and has a standard deviation of 25 years. Which of the following statements is true? a) There is a 66% chance that the date is between 475 and 525 years before present b) There is a 95% chance that the date is between 450 and 550 years before present c) There is a 98% chance that the date is between 480 and 520 years before present d) all of the above e) Answers a and b are correct

Q: First emerging in East Africa, Homo erectus were hominids with larger brains than H. habilis, and manufactured bifacial teardrop-shaped stones tools (Acheulian hand axes). H. erectus is known as early as _________ in East Africa a) half a million years ago b) 1.6 million years ago c) 16 million years ago d) 60 million years ago e) just under 90 million years ago

Q: Pollen is a useful tool for archaeologists because a) the pollen of each genus of plant is unique in size, shape, and surface features b) pollen is not very durable and can reflect subtle changes in seasons and climate c) pollen almost always is limited in distribution to the area of the plant that produced it d) all of the above e) only a and c

Q: Which dating technique would yield a result that might read 2.25 million years before present, plus or minus 50,000 years? a) radiocarbon dating b) electron spin resonance c) thermoluminescence d) potassium-argon dating e) optically stimulated luminescence

Q: ________________ cannot be used to date individual samples, rather it is applied to "population events" which cause the emergence of either new mitochondrial DNA or Y-chromosome haplotypes a) Pollen dating b) Genetic dating c) Amino acid racemization d) Chromosome drift analysis e) Seriation

Q: ___________________ is based on the counting, measurement, and patterning of annual growth rings in known species of trees a) Radiocarbon b) Varve analysis c) Botanical dating d) Dendrochronology e) Amino acid racemization

Q: Tephrachronology is based on the idea that the products of individual ____________ are significantly different and thus distinguishable from one another a) tree ring growth years b) volcanic eruptions c) glacial retractions d) pollen grains e) DNA splitting events

Q: _____________ is a method that measures a thin layer that accumulates due to absorption of water on the surface of obsidian when it is first exposed to air. By comparing the thickness of this layer to a graph that predicts how long it takes for water to accumulate on such material a chronometric date can be calculated a) Radiocarbon b) Amino acid racemization c) Obsidian hydration d) Obsidian oxidation e) Hydrospheric lamination

Q: By exposing a sample of fired clay to radiation (energy) in the laboratory, so-called electron traps are opened and the energy that is emitted in the form of light can be accurately measured. This radiation dose can be combined with an estimate for the annual dose the sample received prior to testing and the susceptibility of the sample to radiation in order to determine the precise age of the fired clay. This dating technique is called a) geomancy b) optically stimulated luminescence c) fission track dating d) thermoluminescence e) electron spin resonance