Q&A Hero

Q: To Western eyes, it is remarkable that the cultures of Mesoamerica developed into complexity and monumental societies given their lack of diverse technology " none of the cultures of Mesoamerica developed: a) writing b) the wheel c) domesticated plants d) domesticated animals e) stone working

Q: The Mesoamerican ballgame: a) was sometimes purely recreational b) was associated with human sacrifice c) was politically significant d) was cosmologically significant e) all of the above

Q: The evidence of writing during the Shang dynasty in China was typically associated with a. recording economic transactions b. the process of divination or prophecy c. religious texts d. records of the succession of royal families e. property records

Q: Which of the following is NOT true about ancient Mesoamerica: a) an estimated 260 languages were spoken there at the time of the Spanish Conquest. b) by the time of the Spanish Conquest the region contained virtually no hunter-gatherers. c) the people of Mesoamerica traded with the cultures of Colombia and the American Southwest d) the people were pastoralists who kept many herd animals e) the people had sophisticated writing and calendrical systems

Q: The legendary Xia dynasty, proclaimed in myth as the dawn of the Chinese civilization, may be evidenced in in the increased complexity of Erlitou at around a. 8,000 - 7,600 ya. b. 6,500 " 6,250 ya. c. 5,000 " 4,000 ya. d. 4,600 " 3,200 ya. e. 3,900 to 3,600 ya

Q: What factor contributed to the concentration of wealth and the emergence of social hierarchies during the Longshan period? a. control of irrigation technology b. the circulation of luxury products c. trade with the Indus Valley civilization d. population nucleation associated with climate shifts e. the establishment of a standing military

Q: The __________ linked China with India and Rome. a) Great Wall b) Silk Road c) Yellow River Canal d) Royal Mile e) Pacific Ocean

Q: Which of the following best defines a primary difference between the Indus Valley and Egyptian civilizations? a. the presence of extensive trade b. the degree of evidence indicating a state level form of political organization c. the importance of intensive agriculture d. the degree of urbanization e. the presence of irrigation agriculture

Q: The inhabitants of the Indus Valley urban centers: a. had previously occupied the higher valley margins to the west b. had previously practiced hunting and gathering in the Indus valley c. migrated there from the upper Indus valley d. adopted farming and herding when they settled on the valley floor e. represent a long term sequence of occupation of the valley floor

Q: The Asuka Enlightenment in Japan began around ad 600 and was inspired by cultural contact with: a) Vietnam b) China c) Europe d) Arab traders e) Egypt

Q: Which of the following explanations may account for the urbanization of the Indus Valley? a. period of drought years b. increased warfare c. increased threat of flooding d. the development of increasingly productive agricultural practices e. unification under a single ruler

Q: The Japanese kingdom of __________, centered in western Honshu, developed from the Late Yayoi culture in the 3rd century ad and was ruled by okimi, or great kings. a) Koguryo b) Khotan c) Funan d) Yamato e) Honshu

Q: Which of the following was a characteristic of centralized administration during the Han Dynasty: a) a standing army b) a central mint c) broadly based taxation d) systemized selection for civil service positions e) all of the above

Q: Which of the following religions flourished under Great Silla as evidenced by the sculpture and architecture of the period: a) Buddhism b) Islam c) Christianity d) Shintoism e) Hinduism

Q: The hieroglyphic writing system is a. a complex system of impressions in wedge-shaped clay graphs b. Egyptian in form but possibly Mesopotamian in inspiration c. an epic account featuring the adventures of Gilgamesh d. a pictographic from of Sumarian writing, but using hundreds of standardized signs e. associated with lower status individuals

Q: The period known as Great Silla began in ad 668 with the: a) fall of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty b) Japanese invasion c) arrival of European traders d) unification of Korea e) the establishment of a Chinese dynasty in Pyongyang

Q: The development of the Egyptian civilization may be linked to influence from a. Mesopotamia b. Hierakonpolis c. Harrappa d. Nubia e. Mohenjo-Daro

Q: The ascendancy of the states of Koguryo, Paekche, and Silla on the Korean Peninsula from 57 bc to ad 668 is known as the: a) Warring States Period b) Hangul Period c) Spring and Autumn Annals Period d) Three Kingdoms Period e) Shogunate

Q: During the Han Dynasty, emperors and high-status aristocrats were sometimes buried in __________ that were believed to preserve the body uncorrupted, thus continuing the life of the bo. a) upright "mummy bundles" b) long boats c) terracotta armor d) figbark paper e) jade suits

Q: __________ was first built during the Qin Dynasty to protect against Xiongnu horsemen from the steppes. a) Angkor Wat b) The Forbidden City c) Hadrian's Wall d) The Great Wall e) The Yellow River Canal

Q: The state of __________, under the command of their leader Qin Shi Huangdi, brought the Eastern Zhou dynasty to an end in 221 bc. a) Western Zhou b) Shang c) Qin d) Ba e) Luoyang

Q: The decline of Sumerian civilization may be linked to: a. constant competition between city-states b. agricultural use of fertilizers c. the presence of a prolonged drought in Mesopotamia d. lack of competition among internal agencies e. military stagnation

Q: Kong Qi was, arguably, the most influential Chinese political philosopher of all time. He was born in 551 bc in the Zhou state of Lu and is known to the English-speaking world as: a) Confucius b) Copernicus c) Tao Te Ch"ing d) Sun Tzu e) Abacus

Q: The Spring and Autumn Annals Period (770"481 bc), and the Warring States Period (481"221 bc) were the two primary periods of the __________ Dynasty. a) Shang b) Ming c) Eastern Zhou d) Western Zhou e) Longshan

Q: Jin, Wei, and Yan were all: a) early historians who recorded information about the Shang b) the sites of battles between the Shang and the Changjiang c) Zhou states d) the primary deities of early Korea e) Ming Dynasty emperors

Q: Most of the content of most early Sumerian writing does not concern a. administrative records b. economic issues c. legal accounts d. mythic narratives e. matters typical of complex bureaucratic societies

Q: The style of writing of ancient Mesopotamia, which employed a wedge shaped stylus pressed into damp clay, is known as: a. hieroglyphs b. pictographs c. cuneiform d. scapulamancy e. faience

Q: The Shang Dynasty came to an end in 1045 bc, when the king of the state of __________, sent his army north to defeat the Shang at the Battle of Muye. a) Zhou b) Qin c) Ming d) Korea e) Longshan

Q: The ziggurat, is typically associated with which ancient civilization? a. Sumerian b. Egyptian c. Qin dynasty d. Indus Valley e. Mayan

Q: The __________ culture was contemporary with the Shang Dynasty and was located to the south in the Yangzi Valley region. a) Longshan b) Changjiang c) Mongol d) Ming e) Hangul

Q: Which of the following best describes the nature of Sumerian political organization? a. large, loosely organized confederations of allied cities b. autonomous city-states with smaller satellite communities and associated cropland c. a single empire based in Uruk city d. two independent societies located along the Upper and Lower Euphrates e. large urban centers and autonomous rural farming communities

Q: The Shang capital of __________ covered 25 square kilometers, included a royal necropolis of 12 subterranean tombs, and pits that contained chariots with horses and charioteers. a) Anyang b) Longshan c) Shanghai d) Chengdu e) Xanadu

Q: The earliest evidence for __________ in China comes from turtle carapaces from the Neolithic site of Jiahu that date to 6500 bc. a) statehood b) writing c) warfare d) agriculture e) music

Q: Aristocratic graves and the foundations of palaces indicated Xia society was __________ in nature. a) egalitarian b) disorganized c) hierarchic d) rural e) nomadic

Q: Modern day Iraq is better known to archaeologists studying Old World civilizations as a part of the region of a. India b. China c. Mesopotamia d. Europe e. Egypt

Q: The __________ Dynasty has long been regarded as the earliest dynasty in China. a) Ming b) Xia c) Shang d) Zhou e) Han

Q: The appearance of cities in Mesopotamia has been linked to all of the following factors except a. the presence of military conflict b. economic competition c. the outgrowth of increased agricultural productivity d. the building of irrigation systems e. the decrease in social problems and pollution

Q: Which feature of Ubaid society likely influenced the development of community organization and cooperation? a. the construction of massive irrigation systems b. the development of extensive trade contacts c. the development of an institutional bureaucracy d. the rise of a full-time military e. the development of a writing system

Q: The Ubaid farmers of Mesopotamia are associated with: a. the initial period of agriculture in the Near East b. the settlement of the alluvial plains along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers c. the development of the first cities in India d. the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt e. the adoption of dry-farming techniques in the Upper Euphrates valley

Q: The late Neolithic __________ culture was distributed from the central plains to Shandong Province and appears to have been mentioned in later the writings of Shi Ji, Ban Bio, and Ban Gu. a) Xia b) Shang c) Koguryo d) Yamato e) Longshan

Q: What common factor does Bruce Trigger propose all early civilizations share? a. comparable periods of environmental change b. the presence of increasingly limited access to information c. the need to manage increasingly complex societies through political and administrative institutions d. all early civilizations emerged in the same basic type of environment e. less top-down management

Q: The shapes of some jade figures, such as coiled dragons, animal masks, and turtles, which are found in Hongshan culture art are: a) a hint at contact with Europe b) appear to have no iconographic antecedents or successors c) also seen in later Shang and Zhou art d) hint at contact with South America e) were imposed on the populace by Japan

Q: Kwang-chih Chang has linked the development of civilization in China to: a. the restricted access to the means of communication b. the development of irrigation systems c. the emergence of agriculture d. extended periods of cold and dry weather e. the emergence of efficient transportation systems

Q: There is no mention of the Cham culture of Vietnam in Chinese records and they appear to have been a small hunter-gatherer group that had no contact with the outside world.

Q: Unlike in China, major states with kings, palaces, and cities never developed in Southeast Asia.

Q: Which of the following statements concerning the relationship between climate change and the emergence of civilizations is accurate? a. Climate change is insufficient alone to explain the rise of all civilizations. b. Climate change always played an important role. c. There is little correlation between climate change and the emergence of civilizations. d. Climate change can never account for the emergence of civilizations. e. The presence of severe drought conditions can be linked to the emergence of civilizations.

Q: The Khmer were the builders of the spectacular Cambodian sites of Koh Ker, Angkor Thom, and Angkor Wat.

Q: Korean tutors brought literacy to Japan during the reign of Ojin (c. ad 346 to 395).

Q: Arie Issar and Mattanyah Zohar have argued that what factor was likely responsible for the development of early civilization in the Near East? a. need to construct and maintain irrigation systems b. fluctuating availability of water resources caused by major climatic changes c. need for a communal flood defense system d. population growth and nucleation e. the development of a religious hierarchy

Q: The Han emperors focused almost exclusively on earthly pleasures because Chinese religion at the time had no concept of an afterlife. As a result their tombs are small with almost no grave goods.

Q: Which of the following best characterizes the term "civilization"? a. the last in a series of stages of cultural development through which most human groups have developed b. the larger social order and set of shared values in which states are culturally embedded c. the modern, European social and cultural system d. any state level society e. people with culture

Q: The first emperor of China was Qin Shi Huangdi and the name "China" is derived from the word "Qin."

Q: The development of formal, non-kin, organization means that: a. the appropriation of the right by the state to decide which acts will be punished as crimes b. the end of kin relations as an important factor in society c. political succession based on a family system d. the transition from a ranked to an egalitarian structure e. the end of an institutional religion

Q: Zongzhou was the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, which dates to almost a millennium before the Western Zhou dynasty (which was based at Louyang).

Q: Social stratification accompanies the earliest states, which means there is archaeological evidence of a. no real social classes b. most people performed essential specialized tasks of craft production, military service, trade, and religion c. lack of the presence of a hereditary ruling class d. few elite individuals who controlled access to goods and services produced by others e. no real way to levy and collect taxes

Q: States, as defined by Morton Fried, are characterized by which of the following? a. egalitarian organization b. lack of social differentiation c. concept of citizenship d. lack of administrative bureaucracies e. dependence on informal leadership

Q: Archaeologists agree that to date, the earliest true city yet discovered is: a. Jericho b. Uruk c. atalhyk d. Jarmo e. Mohenjo-Daro

Q: The term, city, applies to urban centers that are characterized by all of the following except a. specialized occupations b. social complexity c. formal organization d. having been around for all of human history e. support by lesser communities

Q: The Shang Culture is associated with millet growing and the Changjiang culture is associated with rice growing.

Q: Explain major ways in the development of farming in the New World.

Q: Oracle bones were used to make divinations by interpreting cracks generated through the application of heat to animal bones.

Q: The pictographs on Shang Dynasty oracle bones do not relate in any way to Chinese writing as we know it and have not yet been translated.

Q: What is meant by domestication and agriculture? How can archaeologists identify the presence of plant and animal domestication in the archaeological record?

Q: Compelling insights into the social and political histories of the early states of East and Southeast Asia have come from: a) archaeological investigations b) Chinese records c) the writings of the Phoenicians d) all of the above e) a and b only

Q: Discuss the development of domestication in the Old World. What domesticates are developed, and what seem to be the underlying motivations for the shift from a hunting and gathering lifestyle to one based on food production?

Q: The development of increasingly complex societies in Southeast Asia was helped by both maritime trade and: a) contact with Europe b) contact with Polynesia c) contact with coastal South America d) contact with South Africa e) contact with India

Q: Compare and contrast the various theories used to explain the appearance of agriculture. What features define them as either environmental or cultural? What are the advantaged and drawbacks of each approach?

Q: What was so "revolutionary" about the Neolithic? Discuss some of the fundamental differences between Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic or Epipaleolithic) and Neolithic lifeways.

Q: The civilization of Dvaravati flourished in the valley of the Chao Phraya River of central __________ from about 400 to 900 ad. a) Indonesia b) India c) Thailand d) Bangladesh e) Korea

Q: __________is the name given to a complex of cities, temples, and reservoirs located between the Great Lake and the Kulen Hills in northwest Cambodia. a) Asuka b) Funan c) Angkor d) Great Silla e) Pyu

Q: The languages of South Asia fall roughly into two families, Indo-European languages and __________ languages.a) Semiticb) Dravidianc) Celticd) Polynesiane) Asiatic

Q: Describe the products of New World farmers.

Q: All available archaeological evidence indicates that the emergence of dynamic South Asian kingdoms with far-reaching trading partners in the 1st millennium ad was due to contact with the Romans; the people of that region did not engage in Ocean-based trade before then.

Q: Why did cattle herding take priority over farming in much of East Africa?

Q: It was during the reign of Asoka that many of the locations associated with the life of the Buddha were developed into key pilgrimage sites.

Q: What challenges are present in tracing Africa's Neolithic past?

Q: How does the process of animal domestication differ from plant domestication?

Q: Explain the importance of archaeobotanical studies to the scientific understanding of ancient human plant use.

Q: The Indus civilization did not engage in any form of long-distance trade. No artifacts or raw materials from the Indus civilization have ever been found out of the Indus heartland of eastern Pakistan and Western India.

Q: What archaeological evidence supports domestication and agriculture?