Q&A Hero

Q: Coprolites from the New World that are 12,000 or more calendar years old: a. Are some of the earliest evidence of a presence in North America. b. Are extremely rare. c. Suggest that the peopling of the Americas can be explained by only one migration of people from northeastern Asia. d. Are too poorly preserved to provide bioarchaeologists with any meaningful data.

Q: Christy Turner's extensive research on variability in the crown and root areas of human teeth found: a. That pre-contact North American Indian teeth are less similar to pre-contact South American Indian teeth than they are to pre-contact Eskimo and Aleut Indian teeth. b. That the teeth of all North and South American Indians are remarkably similar, suggesting a single migration from northern Asia at the end of the last Ice Age. c. That modern and pre-contact American Indian teeth are most similar to the teeth of northern Asians, and that three major Native American groups could be identified, suggesting at least three migrations. d. No similarity between the teeth of modern and pre-contact American Indians and the teeth of people from northern Asia.

Q: Archaeological research has conclusively proven which of the following about the earliest occupation of the New World? a. Clovis was the first and only migration into North America, from which all native peoples of the New World descended. b. The earliest occupants of the New World traveled from Asia, across the Bering land bridge, through the ice-free corridor between the continental ice sheets sometime during the height of the last glacial between 25,000 and 10,000 years ago. c. The earliest occupants of the New World traveled along the western coast of North America, bypassing the interior and making it all the way to Tierra del Fuego; Clovis was a later migration from Asia adapted to terrestrial hunting and was the first to occupy the interior of North America. d. None of the above; the timing and nature of the initial colonization of the New World is still very much up in the air.

Q: The "Out of Africa" hypothesis of modern human origins suggests that the earliest modern humans fanned out of Africa to replace other hominids in other parts of the Old World roughly: a. 50,000 years ago. b. 100,000 years ago. c. 200,000 years ago. d. 300,000 years ago.

Q: The idea that the origin of all modern humans can be traced to a single African ancestor ("Eve"): a. Is based on evidence from mitochondrial DNA. b. Is accepted by nearly all biological anthropologists today. c. Means that Neanderthals and modern humans most likely interbred. d. All of the above.

Q: Which of the following is true of mitochondrial DNA? a. It is present in the nucleus of every cell. b. It is only transferred from mother to offspring. c. It mutates at a much slower rate than nuclear DNA. d. All of the above.

Q: Schoeninger interpreted the greater range of nitrogen isotope ratios in the Stillwater burial population compared to the Pecos or Ontario populations as reflecting: a. Greater dietary variability in the Pecos and Ontario populations than in the Stillwater population. b. Greater dietary variability in the Stillwater population than in the Pecos and Ontario populations c. The fact that the Stillwater population had an increasing dependence on meat through time d. An individual's age or sex; in the Stillwater population, children ate less meat than adults and males ate more meat than females.

Q: If stable isotope analysis is conducted on a human skeleton that during life consumed a diet rich in C4 plants such as maize and very little meat, then the isotopic ratios of the bones would show: a. A high ratio of 12C to 13C. b. A high ratio of 13C to 12C. c. A high ratio of 15N to 14N. d. A high ratio of 13C to 15N.

Q: The Stillwater Marsh burial population had a remarkably low percentage of dental caries because: a. Grit from plant food ground on metates was incorporated into their diet; this grit acted as a natural abrasive and helped to clean their teeth. b. They ate very little meat, largely subsisting on maize agriculture. c. They were strictly hunter-gatherers, and so their diet was very low in simple carbohydrates and starches. d. None of the above; the Stillwater Marsh burial population had an extremely high percentage of dental caries because their diet was high in carbohydrates.

Q: The best bone for determining stature from human skeletal material is: a. The tibia. b. The femur. c. The ulna. d. The radius.

Q: The Stillwater burial population was not an ideal candidate for a paleodemographic study because: a. The Stillwater burial population consisted almost entirely of adults; because children were not represented, little could be said about the paleodemography of the population. b. Paleodemography works best with skeletal samples derived from different biological populations, and the Stillwater burials represented only one biological population. c. Paleodemography works best with a skeletal sample representing only a few years or decades, and the Stillwater burials dated to a time period of 600 years or longer. d. Most of the individuals in the Stillwater burial population were older than 50 years old, and so younger adults were not represented.

Q: How is mechanical stress, or workload, detectable in the human skeleton? a. Through signs of osteoarthritis in which the cartilage between joints wears away, often because of overuse of the joint. b. Through growth arrest features, such as Harris lines and enamel hypoplasias. c. Through mortality profiles that depict the various ages at death of a burial population. d. All of the above.

Q: You are excavating a Native American human burial site which contains both males and females. After obtaining permission from current Native American tribes believed to have descended from these people, you analyze the bones. You notice a higher rate of osteoarthritis in the lumbar vertebrae of the female skeletons in comparison to the male skeletons. What might you conclude from this evidence? a. That females were doing more intense walking than the males, traveling far distances to gather plants. b. That females were putting more stress on their backs, perhaps from grinding corn or carrying children. c. That females did not have access to the same amount of high quality food as males, and were thus suffering from malnutrition. d. All of the above.

Q: What can bioarchaeologists determine from enamel hypoplasias? a. How old a child was when the growth arrest event took place. b. The duration of the period of stress which resulted in the hypoplasia. c. Whether they resulted from physical trauma to the face, parasitic infection, or malnutrition. d. Both A and B.

Q: Eburnation is: a. A symptom of iron deficiency anemia in which the skull takes on a porous appearance. b. A horizontal linear defect in tooth enamel indicating an episode of physiological stress. c. A sign of osteoarthritis in which the epiphyses of long bones are worn smooth, causing them to take on a varnish-like appearance. d. A sign of osteoarthritis in which bones develop a distinct "lipping" at the point of articulation.

Q: If a bioarchaeologist finds evidence of osteoarthritis in which bones have developed a distinct "lipping" at the point of articulation, he or she has found: a. Osteophytes. b. Enamel hypoplasias. c. Eburnation. d. Harris lines.

Q: If an archaeologist is studying ancient patterns of disease and disorders, he or she is studying: a. Bioarchaeology. b. Paleopathology. c. Mortality profiles. d. Paleodemography.

Q: Which of the following is true of the Bushmen of southern Africa? a. They reject the name "Bushmen" (which they acquired from the Dutch) today because of its derogatory origin and meaning. b. They prefer to call themselves the San, !Kung, or Ju/"hoansi, indigenous names that refer to all Bushmen as a whole. c. There is no indigenous term for the Bushmen as a whole, because there are many different groups of Bushmen. d. They have been the subject of very little anthropological investigation, and as a result little is known of their culture and history.

Q: Which of the following is true of iron deficiency anemia? a. It can be induced by a lack of red meat in the diet, chronic diarrhea, or parasites. b. It can cause porotic hyperostosis, which results in the surface of the skull taking on a spongy appearance. c. It can cause cibra orbitalia, which results in the bone of the upper eye sockets taking on a spongy appearance. d. All of the above.

Q: If a bioarchaeologist is looking at the fusion of epiphyses on a human skeleton, he or she is most likely trying to determine: a. Race. b. Age. c. Sex. d. Paleopathology.

Q: You are examining a burial site, and are interested in the diet of the people, in particular, how much meat people were consuming on a daily basis. What might you examine? a. Quantity of groundstone in the burials. b. Levels of Nitrogen-15 relative to Nitrogen-14 in the bones. c. Size of muscle attachments on bones. d. Levels of Carbon-13 relative to Carbon 12 in the bones.

Q: Harris lines and dental hypoplasias can be used by bioarchaeologists to make inferences about a. Disease and malnourishment in old age. b. Activity levels and diet of men and women. c. Disease and malnourishment during infant-to-adolescent growth periods. d. The amount of meat in the diet of prehistoric populations.

Q: What could a bioarchaeologist look at to determine the age at death of a juvenile human skeleton? a. Tooth eruption patterns. b. Patterns of bone fusion. c. Patterns of wear on the pubic symphysis. d. Tooth eruption and bone fusion patterns.

Q: Why is it possible to assess age at death from tooth eruption patterns in juvenile human skeletons? a. Because the pattern and timing of crown formation and tooth eruption is consistent among human populations. b. Because although the timing of crown formation and tooth eruption varies among human populations, it varies at known rates. c. It is only possible if the sex of the individual is also known, because tooth eruption patterns differ between males and females. d. None of the above.

Q: What could a bioarchaeologist look at to determine the age at death of a mature human skeleton (>30 years old)? a. Tooth eruption patterns. b. Patterns of bone fusion. c. Paleopathologies such as osteoarthritis and enamel hypoplasias. d. Patterns of wear on the pubic symphysis.

Q: The first thing a bioarchaeologist would do when analyzing a human skeletal assemblage would be to: a. Confirm that all the bones in the assemblage were human. b. Calculate MNI and NISP. c. Determine the sex and age at death of the individuals represented. d. Determine any paleopathology present in the individuals represented.

Q: How does the sciatic notch of females differ from that of males? a. It is narrower in females and wider in males. b. It is wider in females and narrower in males. c. It is more sensitive to periods of physiological stress in females than in males. d. It is more sensitive to mechanical stresses in females than in males.

Q: The best place for a bioarchaeologist to look to determine the sex of human skeletal remainsis: a. The skull. b. The pelvis. c. The sacrum. d. The dentition.

Q: Bioarchaeologists study: a. Macrobotanical remains from archaeological sites in order to interpret past interactions between human populations and plants. b. Faunal assemblages from archaeological sites in order to determine past interactions between human populations and animals. c. The human biological component of the archaeological record. d. All of the above; bioarchaeologists study all aspects of ancient life (plant, animal, and human) in archaeological contexts.

Q: Coprolites provide evidence for the earliest human presence in North America.

Q: Biological anthropologists today agree that Neanderthals did not interbreed with modern humans and were instead an evolutionary dead end.

Q: Frequencies of dental caries (cavities) are expected to be higher in hunter-gatherer populations than in agricultural populations.

Q: You analyze the stable isotopes from an assemblage of human bones from Canada, and find a high ratio of Nitrogen-15 to Nitrogen-14 and a low ratio of Carbon-13 relative to Carbon-12. You should conclude that these people ate a lot of corn and very little meat.

Q: Quality of life or overall health in a burial population can be assessed by an individual's stature because height is closely related to diet.

Q: Human bone is formed by complex interrelationships among the environment, behavior, physiology, and cultural behavior.

Q: Osteoarthritis can result from continuous mechanical stress on a joint throughout a lifetime.

Q: Bone breakage patterns would be good indicators of interpersonal violence and perhaps even warfare. Unfortunately, healed bone breaks are virtually indistinguishable from unbroken bone in prehistoric populations.

Q: Bioarchaeologists can distinguish male from female skeletons, but only for adults, not young children.

Q: Bioarchaeology is a specialty that straddles the fields of archaeology and human biology.

Q: The links between patterns in the faunal assemblage and interpretations depends on experimental archaeology and ethnoarchaeology.

Q: Although the analysis of plant remains from archaeological sites can provide important information about the economies of prehistoric populations, a drawback of plant remains is that they cannot be used to infer ritual significance or ideology.

Q: In general, bias in preservation makes reconstructing the plant component of ancient diets more difficult than reconstructing the meat component.

Q: By looking at levels of sex hormones such as testosterone and progesterone in coprolites, we can determine whether they were produced by a man or a woman.

Q: Wood rats urinate all over their nests, forming a lacquer-like covering on the nest that promotes the preservation of organic materials.

Q: Since wood rats collect plant material for their nests from as much as two kilometers away, they are good indicators of the regional environment.

Q: Phytoliths are small stone tools, normally inset into pieces of bone or wood to form a long working edge.

Q: Phytolith analysis is most useful for reconstructing arboreal (tree) vegetation.

Q: Pollen analysis is used primarily for reconstructing past regional environments.

Q: At the highland site of Chavn de Huntar, Peru a decline in the abundance of deer bones over time and a simultaneous increase in the percentage of llama leg bones tracks a temporal change in diet and trade that shows occupants of the site shifted from doing their own hunting to being supplied with dried meat. This interpretation is based on faunal analysis but also ethnoarchaeological research with living peoples in the Andes Mountains.

Q: The raw number of identified bones per species in an archaeofauna is known as the MNI.

Q: A faunal assemblage consists of the plant remains recovered from an archaeological site.

Q: Zooarchaeology brings an historical perspective to decisions as to which species to save. One way is to a. Demonstrate how past human predation and landscape alteration affected animal populations. b. Demonstrate how present human populations are destroying ancient species. c. Demonstrate how ancient species fed ancient populations. d. Foster conservation efforts to protect endangered species.

Q: In more humid conditions, plant remains generally are preserved a. Only when they have been buried. b. Only when they have been burned. c. Only when they have been soaked in water. d. Not at all.

Q: The ritual importance of Chavin de Huntar___________ through time; the local community __________in size. a. Decreased, increased b. Increased, decreased c. Decreased, decreased d. Increased, increased

Q: Based on ethnoarchaeological evidence, Hill suggested that hunters at Agate Basin killed most of the animals individually, a. Far from camp. b. Near water. c. In high elevations. d. Close to camp.

Q: The appendicular skeleton refers to a. Head, mandibles b. Vertebrae, ribs c. Sacrum d. Everything else other than head, mandibles, vertebrae, ribs, and sacrum.

Q: At Agate Basin, the NISP count suggests that ____________were more important than ____________. a. elk, rabbit b. Dog, skunk c. Bison, pronghorn d. Camel, dog

Q: Rodent- and rabbit-size animals are classified in which one of five standard animal size classes? a. Class 1 b. Class 2 c. Class 3 d. Class 4

Q: William Spence discovered the Agate Basin site a. Similar to the way George McJunkin found the Folsom site in New Mexico. b. Using aerial reconnaissance. c. Using random sampling. d. Through happenchance excavation.

Q: Pollen helps reconstruct past environments because a. Plants grow all over the world. b. Different plant species produce differently shaped pollens. c. Humans have always survived on plants. d. Pollen is spread by wind, birds and animals.

Q: The sources of plants that help reconstruct ancient diets include a. Macrobotanical remains. b. Phytoliths. c. Plant nurseries. d. Macrobotanical remains and phytoliths.

Q: Which of the following would a zooarchaeological study not involve a. Establishment that bones are left behind by people by looking for cut marks, fragments, and burning. b. Identify bones to element, taxon, sex and age using a comparative collection. c. Count the bones using NISP and MNI. d. Disregard symbolic importance in interpreting the past.

Q: According to Hastorf and Johannessen's findings, what accounted for change in Wanka II times? a. Inka took over and restructured the location of the production system. b. Cultivation was chosen to alleviate the fuel shortage. c. Tree taxa begin to show up that were absent before. d. Ideology associated with planting of certain trees was a factor.

Q: Hastorf and Johannessen argue that changes in the types of fuel used through time in the Upper Mantaro area of Peru are best explained by: a. Changes in the abundance of high quality versus low quality fuel caused by environmental change. b. Increasing population density that denuded the landscape of trees, forcing people to rely more and more on low quality fuel through time. c. Forced fuel management programs mandated by an elite social class. d. A combination of materialistic and ideological explanations.

Q: Lipids can provide information about the types of foods people consumed prehistorically. In order to identify food residues, lipids can be extracted from: a. Cooking vessels. b. Faunal remains. c. Stone tools. d. Phytoliths.

Q: Organic substances such as fats, oils, and waxes that resist mixing with water and are found in both plant and animal tissues are called: a. Lipids. b. Coprolites. c. Phytoliths. d. Bioderms.

Q: In order to understand exactly what a person ate within a 24 hour period, the most useful source of data would be: a. Phytolith analysis. b. Macrobotanical analysis. c. Pollen analysis. d. Coprolite analysis.

Q: The nests of wood rats are useful for paleoenvironmental reconstruction because they can preserve a record of environmental change for: a. Decades. b. Hundreds of years. c. Thousands of years. d. Hundreds of thousands of years.

Q: Wood rats nests are useful for reconstructing the environment around their nests because: a. They travel great distances (kilometers) from their nests to collect materials. b. They travel no more than 100 meters from their nests to collect materials. c. They build their nests in water saturated areas, thus ensuring the preservation of organic materials. d. They only utilize a very limited range of plant species when building their nests.

Q: Phytoliths are most useful for identifying: a. Regional, rather than local patterns of vegetation. b. Plants that were domesticated prehistorically since their phytoliths differ significantly from those of wild plants. c. The abundance of different kinds of grasses; not all plants produce phytoliths. d. The abundance of all plants present at a site; all plants produce phytoliths.

Q: If an archaeologist is analyzing tiny silica particles that were originally contained in plants, he or she is analyzing: a. Macrobotanical remains. b. Phytoliths. c. Coprolites. d. Lipids.

Q: Neanderthal burials from Shanidar Cave, Iraq, associated with pollen indicate: a. That humans are the only way that flowers could enter a cave. b. That burial rituals began with the Neanderthals. c. That the pollen in the cave was the result of normal background pollen "rain". d. That archaeologists need to take formation processes into account when interpreting the meaning of data from ecofacts.

Q: Using palynological data, Haynes and Mehringer concluded that the climate at the Lehner Clovis site in southeastern Arizona 11,000 years ago was: a. Only slightly wetter and cooler than today, followed by a rapid shift toward drier conditions. b. Only slightly drier and warmer than today, followed by a rapid shift toward wetter conditions. c. Much drier and warmer than today; only a large shift in temperature and precipitation would have caused such a different environment at the site. d. Much wetter and cooler than today; only a large shift in temperature and precipitation would have caused such a different environment at the site.

Q: What do fluctuations in pollen percentages in a pollen diagram indicate? a. Changes in frequencies of animal remains present at a site. b. Changes in the types of domesticated plants that prehistoric populations relied upon. c. Changes in local and regional plant densities. d. Climatic change in the form of decreasing temperatures and increasing moisture content.

Q: In reconstructing ancient environments, pollen is useful because: a. It preserves well over a long period of time. b. Large amounts of pollen are trapped in sediment over time. c. Pollen is distinctive of the species of plant that produced it. d. All of the above.

Q: Macrobotanical remains are likely to be preserved if they were: a. Deposited in arid climates or dry caves. b. Deposited in waterlogged contexts, such as wells or shipwrecks. c. Burned and carbonized. d. All of the above.

Q: An archaeologist involved in analyzing and interpreting plant remains from archaeological sites in order to understand past interactions between human populations and plants would bea: a. Palynologist. b. Paleoethnobotanist. c. Zooarchaeologist. d. Bioarchaeologist.

Q: The faunal assemblage from the site of Chavn de Huntar, Peru, contains an abundance of leg bones with few cranial and foot bones. This pattern has been explained by: a. Large animal disturbance; cranial and foot bone were preferentially carried away from the site by carnivores, while leg bones were left behind. b. Taphonomic processes; bone preservation at high altitude sites is notoriously poor. c. Ch"arki trade; dried llama and alpaca meat on leg bones was traded into the site from high-altitude herding communities. d. Decreasing reliance on camelid meat by residents of the site through time.

Q: Analysis of the archaeofauna from the site of Chavn de Huntar, Peru, indicates: a. A change in diet through time, with increasing reliance on domesticated llamas. b. A change in diet through time, with increasing reliance on deer and large cats. c. A decrease in leg bones and an increase in cranial and foot bones through time. d. Extreme carnivore damage to the faunal assemblage, making it impossible to infer any human behavior from the archaeofauna.

Q: How do we know that Folsom hunters camped at the Agate Basin site in the spring? a. Coprolites from the site contain plant and small animal remains that are only present in the area in the springtime. b. Bison tooth eruption patterns indicate the presence of juvenile bison that died in late March or early April. c. Palynological data from the site indicate the presence of plant species that only pollinate in the spring. d. Macrobotanical remains from the site indicate the presence of plant species that only grow in the spring.