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Archaeology
Q:
If you were interested in examining trends in pottery style change through time which of the following methods would you use?
a. Seriation.
b. Reverse stratigraphy.
c. Potassium-argon dating.
d. Argon-argon dating.
Q:
Seriation differs from the index fossil concept in that:
a. Instead of relying on the presence or absence of distinctive kinds of artifacts, it relies on changes in the frequencies of artifacts or styles.
b. Instead of relying on changes in the frequencies of artifacts or styles, it relies on the presence or absence of distinctive kinds of artifacts.
c. Seriation applies only to pottery styles, while the index fossil concept can apply to all artifact facts.
d. None of the above; seriation is the same thing as the index fossil concept.
Q:
A relative dating method that orders artifacts based on the assumption that one cultural style slowly replaces an earlier style over time is:
a. Dendrochronology.
b. The index fossil concept.
c. Seriation.
d. The Law of Superposition.
Q:
The index fossil concept was introduced to archaeology by:
a. Oscar Montelius.
b. A. E. Douglas.
c. Willard Libby.
d. Jeffrey Dean.
Q:
The index fossil concept:
a. Allows widely separated strata to be correlated and assigned to the same time period if they contain the same fossils.
b. Is the idea that strata containing similar fossil assemblages are of similar ages.
c. Enables archaeologists to characterize and date strata within sites using distinctive artifact forms that research shows to be diagnostic of a particular period of time.
d. All of the above.
Q:
A relative date is:
a. A date expressed as a specific unit of scientific measurement, such as days, years, centuries, or millennia.
b. A date expressed relative to another (e.g., earlier, later, more recent, etc.) rather than in absolute terms.
c. A date based on the occurrence of distinctive fossil assemblages in distinct strata.
d. No longer useful for archaeology; absolute dates are necessary in order to provide a meaningful interpretation of an assemblage.
Q:
Mary and Louis Leaky were famous historic archaeologists who worked in East Africa.
Q:
The "Law of Superposition" is also known as "Steno's Law".
Q:
Geoarchaeology is the geological study of landforms and landscapes, for instance, soils, rivers, hills, sand dunes, deltas, glacial deposits, and marshes.
Q:
Artifacts leave the systemic context and enter the archaeological context through
a. loss.
b. discard
c. animals.
d. loss and discard.
Q:
In most sites, stratigraphy results from a complex interplay between
a. animals and people.
b. people and water.
c. nature and societies.
d. climate and societies.
Q:
The example of pithouse construction
a. upholds the law of superposition.
b. indicates that the law of superposition does not apply.
c. indicates archaeological sites can be frozen in time.
d. is not valuable to a discussion of geomorphology.
Q:
Ice core records tell us all of the following except:
a. that the last 10,000 years have been cooler than the past 100,000 years.
b. that the last 100,000 years have warm.
c. that the last 10,000 years have been the warmest time of the past 100,000 years.
d. that the last 10,000 years have not been stable.
Q:
Soils are developmental sequences, distinctive layers that develop in place. B horizon refers to
a. the topsoil layer where organic material and rock undergo chemical and mechanical decomposition.
b. the layer where clays accumulate as rainfall and snowmelt transport them downward.
c. a mineral horizon consisting of parent material.
d. the cultural layer between the topsoil and mineral horizon.
Q:
Sediments deposited primarily through the action of gravity on geological material lying on hillsides are called
a. eolian sediments.
b. marker beds.
c. colluvial sediments.
d. soil.
Q:
The benefit of marker beds is that
a. they can provide clues to the age of sites with new sediments.
b. they can provide clues to the age of sediments in a new site.
c. they can be used to estimate the date of human materials.
d. they are easily transported back to the laboratory for analysis.
Q:
Eolian sediments refer to
a. materials transported and accumulated by water.
b. materials transported and accumulated by geological movements of the earth.
c. materials transported by wind.
d. materials transported by humans.
Q:
In Gatecliff's master stratigraphy there are 16 living surfaces resulting from
a. human activities.
b. natural flood deposition.
c. geological origin.
d. alluvial sediments.
Q:
The law of superposition gives us the information that the "story" of the past
a. begins at the surface, with succeeding "chapters" lying below.
b. begins at the bottom, with succeeding "chapters" lying above.
c. cannot be read merely from the strata of the earth.
d. is interpreted only through the patient work of the archaeologist.
Q:
What information do ice cores taken from several places in the world indicate?
a. The last 10,000 years have been the warmest time on the earth out of the last 100,000.
b. The climate over the last 10,000 years has been surprisingly stable.
c. Both A and B.
d. Global temperatures have decreased significantly in the last 100 years.
Q:
How could an archaeologist tell if flowing water rather than human behavior was responsible for the deposition of artifacts at an archaeological site?
a. Artifacts and unmodified rocks might be imbricated.
b. Artifacts and unmodified rocks might be oriented to the direction of flow.
c. Both A and B.
d. There is no way to tell, and therefore the artifact assemblage is likely to be misinterpreted.
Q:
Imbrication is a process that results in:
a. An extremely well-preserved archaeological record that directly reflects human behavior.
b. Clay-rich soils pushing artifacts upward as the sediment swells and then moves them down as cracks form during dry cycles.
c. Stones in a riverbed lying with their upstream ends slightly higher than their downstream ends.
d. Stones in a riverbed lying with their upstream ends slightly lower than their downstream ends.
Q:
An example of a formation process in the archaeological context is:
a. Reclamation of an artifact.
b. Disturbance of material within a site by earthworm activity.
c. Reuse of an artifact.
d. Construction of a pithouse.
Q:
An artifact discarded or lost by an earlier population and picked up and reused by a later population is an example of:
a. A reuse process.
b. A reclamation process.
c. A cultural disturbance process.
d. Argilliturbation.
Q:
Cryoturbation results in:
a. Larger artifacts being pushed to the surface of a site.
b. Vertically size-sorted artifacts.
c. The long axis of buried artifacts being oriented vertically.
d. All of the above.
Q:
Which of the following is the term for a natural formation process in which freeze/thaw activity in a soil selectively pushes larger artifacts to the surface of site?
a. Cryoturbation.
b. Argilliturbation.
c. Graviturbation.
d. Imbrication.
Q:
An example of a formation process is:
a. Artifact discard, loss, or purposeful burial.
b. Artifact reuse or recycling.
c. Natural disturbance processes, such as floral- and faunalturbation.
d. All of the above.
Q:
Which of the following formation processes could result in reverse stratigraphy?
a. Faunalturbation.
b. Floralturbation.
c. Cryoturbation.
d. All of the above.
Q:
Formation processes are:
a. Processes by which cultural evolution is recognized in the archaeological record.
b. The ways in which natural depositional processes operate to produce the archaeological record.
c. The ways in which both human behaviors and natural actions operate to produce the archaeological record.
d. Processes by which artifacts are transferred from systemic to archaeological contexts.
Q:
An archaeological context differs from a systemic context in that:
a. An artifact in archaeological context directly reflects the dynamic behavioral system of which it was a part of, while an artifact in a systemic context is a distorted reflection of the behavioral system.
b. An artifact in an archaeological context is no longer a part of the dynamic behavioral system.
c. An artifact in an archaeological context has seldom been reused, while reuse is common in a systemic context.
d. None of the above; archaeological contexts are systemic contexts.
Q:
Which of the following is an example of a systemic context?
a. An artifact scatter left on the floor of an abandoned pithouse is covered by windblown sediment.
b. A projectile point that had been lost while hunting is carried downstream in a flash flood, becoming part of the archaeological record.
c. A ceramic vessel is manufactured, decorated, and used to cook with.
d. All of the above.
Q:
Reverse stratigraphy would result from which of the following situations?
a. If a pithouse is constructed in 1000 BP, and in 500 BP another pithouse is constructed on top of the earlier pithouse, and in 300 BP a pueblo is constructed on top of both pithouses.
b. If the construction of a pueblo in 500 BP unearths remains of a pithouse constructed in 1000 BP, and the older pithouse remains are brought to the surface.
c. If rodent disturbance results in the fill of an earlier feature lying beneath the fill of a later feature.
d. Any time natural or cultural disturbance processes act upon an archaeological site.
Q:
A B horizon is:
a. The upper part of a soil where active organic and mechanical decomposition of geological and organic material occurs.
b. A layer below the A horizon where clays accumulate that are transported downward by water.
c. A layer above the A horizon marked by the leaching clays and the accumulation of organic matter.
d. Unaltered or slightly altered parent material.
Q:
The upper part of a soil where active organic and mechanical decomposition of geological and organic material occurs is the:
a. A horizon.
b. B horizon.
c. C horizon.
d. All of the above.
Q:
Soil development occurs:
a. Anytime soils are deposited by wind or water.
b. When sediment accumulates quickly and is deeply and rapidly buried.
c. When sediments accumulate slowly and undergo in situ chemical and mechanical weathering.
d. Anytime sediments are subjected to intense heat or cold over a long period of time.
Q:
How does sediment generally enter rockshelters?
a. Rocks fall from the shelter's ceiling and dripline.
b. Colluvial sediments enter the shelter from the surrounding hillside.
c. Fine eolian dust from nearby or distant sources blows into the shelter.
d. All of the above.
Q:
The Mazama ash has been dated at numerous locations in the western US to 6900 years old. This means that if an archaeologist finds the Mazama ash in a stratified context, he or she knows that everything above it is less than 6900 years old, and everything below it is more than 6900 years old. The Mazama ash is an example of a:
a. Colluvial sediment.
b. Soil horizon.
c. Marker bed.
d. Sedimentary deposit that has been disturbed, resulting in reversed stratigraphy.
Q:
A marker bed can be useful to archaeologists because:
a. If it has been dated in other sites, it can indicate the age of sediments in a new site.
b. It is specific to a particular site and can therefore provide a detailed environmental reconstruction of that particular site.
c. It generally consists of soft sediments that are easily excavated.
d. None of the above; a marker bed is only useful to geologists.
Q:
A marker bed is:
a. An easily identified stratum that is found in multiple sites in the same region.
b. A stratum unique to a particular archaeological site that is not found anywhere else throughout the region.
c. A stratum that is easily dated by the potassium-argon dating method.
d. A stratum marked by distinctive soil horizons.
Q:
Where are the Laetoli footprints today?
a. The footprints were stolen by a looter shortly after their discovery, and their whereabouts are still unknown.
b. The footprints were covered with sediment and left in place, preserved in the ground where they were discovered.
c. The footprints are on display in a Tanzanian museum, where they have been preserved and stabilized.
d. They are gone, completely destroyed by root activity.
Q:
Most of the strata in Gatecliff rockshelter consist of:
a. Sediments brought into the shelter by humans.
b. Naturally deposited alluvial and eolian sediments.
c. Thick layers of rock from collapse of the shelter roof over time.
d. Thick layers of volcanic ash.
Q:
The age of the Laetoli footprints was determined by:
a. Directly dating the footprints themselves.
b. Potassium-argon dating.
c. The law of superposition.
d. Both B and C.
Q:
The footprints at Laetoli were remarkably well-preserved because:
a. They were made in an ash slurry that quickly hardened and were then buried by volcanic ash soon after they formed.
b. They were slowly buried by volcanic ash after sitting in the open air for a long period of time.
c. They are very young; their preservation is thus solely a function of their age.
d. They were never buried; the Laetolil Beds that preserve the footprints are the youngest of a series of stratigraphic units.
Q:
Mary Leakey's discovery of fossil footprints in volcanic ash at Laetoli was important because:
a. It warned locals of the presence of a nearby active volcano.
b. Fossil animal footprints had never before been discovered.
c. The volcanic ash had preserved the footprints of at least two bipedal hominids.
d. It proved that hominids manufactured and used stone tools prior to the origin of bipedalism.
Q:
Nicolaus Steno argued in his Preliminary Discourse to a Dissertation on a Solid Body Naturally Contained within a Solid (1669) that fossils came to be laid down inside solid rock because:
a. The fossils had grown inside the rock, a common opinion of the time.
b. The fossils were older; the rock was originally laid down as a liquid, solidifying around the fossils.
c. The fossils were younger; they became trapped inside the rock after the rock had already solidified from its liquid state.
d. The fossils and the rock were the same age, both forming together at the same time.
Q:
In an undisturbed deposit, a stone tool found in a stratum overlying a stratum containing potsherds is most likely:
a. Older than the potsherds.
b. Younger than the potsherds.
c. The same age as the potsherds.
d. It is impossible to determine whether the stone tool is older or younger than the potsherds.
Q:
The Law of Superposition states that, in any pile of sedimentary rocks that have not been disturbed by folding or overturning:
a. Stratigraphic layers cannot be used to date archaeological sites.
b. Stratigraphic layers at the bottom are younger than stratigraphic layers at the top.
c. Stratigraphic layers at the bottom are older than stratigraphic layers at the top.
d. Soil depth provides a measure of the absolute age of a stratum.
Q:
What could account for chronologically older artifacts being found above younger artifacts in a stratigraphic sequence?
a. Faunalturbation (e.g., rodent burrows).
b. Cultural disturbance (e.g., prehistoric digging of a hearth or pit).
c. Graviturbation.
d. All of the above.
Q:
Archaeological "site formation" refers to:
a. The human actions responsible for the creation of an archaeological site.
b. The natural actions responsible for the creation of an archaeological site.
c. The human and natural actions responsible for the creation of an archaeological site.
d. None of the above.
Q:
Ice core samples indicate that the global temperature has decreased significantly in the last 100 years.
Q:
Graviturbation is an example of a formation process in the systemic context.
Q:
A krotovina is evidence of floralturbation.
Q:
Formation processes only occur in the archaeological context, not in the systemic context.
Q:
By the time an artifact reaches an archaeologist's hand, it has usually long since ceased to participate in the systemic context.
Q:
An artifact in systemic context is part of an ongoing, dynamic behavioral system.
Q:
The archaeological record is almost always a direct reflection of the human behavior that produced it.
Q:
Natural disturbance processes are the only processes that affect the formation of archaeological sites.
Q:
Hominins are members of the evolutionary line that contains humans and our early bipedal ancestors.
Q:
Archaeological sites result from both human behavior and natural processes.
Q:
Artifacts are assigned catalog numbers in the lab after they are excavated because the catalog number is what ties the artifact back to observations made in the field, ensuring that an artifact's provenience is never lost.
Q:
Although it has proven useful in the recovery of carbonized plant remains and bone fragments, flotation is an uncommon archaeological technique because it is extremely time consuming and costly.
Q:
The design and workmanship of archaeological screens will vary from site to site, and is much less important than mesh size.
Q:
Screen size is an important consideration when processing dirt from excavations because the size of the screen affects what is recovered as well as how fast it is recovered.
Q:
Because piece-plotting artifacts is a very time-consuming process, the number of artifacts piece plotted during an excavation often depends on how much time you have to excavate, as well as the questions you need to answer.
Q:
The use of dry screening devices with 1/4" mesh is employed to find items such as charred seeds, fishbones, and beads in archaeological sites.
Q:
Archaeologists prefer to dig in arbitrary rather than natural levels whenever possible to reduce the risk of mixing artifacts from different strata.
Q:
It is generally accepted that provenience measurements taken during an archaeological excavation can be taken from either the modern ground surface of the site or from a datum point.
Q:
In an archaeological excavation, the point from which all horizontal and vertical measurements are made is termed the datum point.
Q:
Archaeologists will generally agree that all trowels are similar in quality, and any brand is just as suitable for excavation as another.
Q:
Organic materials can only be preserved in extremely dry or cold conditions, such as in dry cave or a glacial environment.
Q:
At the Folsom site in New Mexico, artifacts were discovered between the ribs of modern cow bones, thus establishing the antiquity of human in the Americas.
Q:
The key to maintaining information about an artifact's context is to record
a. archaeologist's name.
b. artifact's material.
c. provenience.
d. date of discovery.
Q:
Provenience is essential to an artifact's
a. material.
b. age.
c. context.
d. value.
Q:
In archeology, a living floor refers to
a. a distinct buried surface on which people lived.
b. an indistinct buried surface on which people may have lived.
c. a distinct surface on which people still live.
d. a distinct surface where living organisms can still be detected.
Q:
The difference between a natural level and an arbitrary level is
a. natural level is a vertical subdivision and an arbitrary level is a horizontal subdivision.
b. natural level is a horizontal subdivision and an arbitrary level is a vertical subdivision.
c. natural level is a vertical subdivision based on natural breaks in sediments and arbitrary level is a vertical subdivision used only when natural strata are lacking or more than 10 cm. deep.
d. irrelevant. Natural levels are no longer used in archeology, only arbitrary levels are used.
Q:
When an archaeologists refers to a datum point he or she means
a. the zero point that is not fixed so that it can be used as a moveable reference point.
b. the zero point that is fixed, but cannot be used as a reference point.
c. the zero point that is fixed and can be used as a reference point.
d. that the archaeologist is using an outdated system to record a site.
Q:
When digging test pits, archaeologists
a. maintain three-dimensional control of the finds.
b. record only horizontal coordinates.
c. record only vertical coordinates.
d. dig round holes.
Q:
The following items are necessary in the excavator's tool kit, all except
a. toilet paper.
b. root clippers.
c. toothpicks.
d. CD player.
Q:
Decomposition is carried out by microorganisms that require
a. cold, oxygen, and water to survive.
b. warmth, carbon dioxide, and water to survive.
c. warmth, oxygen and dry conditions to survive.
d. warmth, oxygen and water to survive.
Q:
Realizing the significance of tzi, the "Ice Man", archaeologists scoured the site and recovered
a. clothing, tools and preserved food.
b. clothing, tools and stomach contents.
c. clothing, tools and a cedar canoe.
d. tools, stomach contents, and animal bones.