The remarkable invention that allowed for Polynesian expansion thousands of
kilometers into the Pacific is the:
a) star chart
b) double sailing canoe
c) compass
d) three-masted tall ship
e) all of the above
The introduction of ____________ at the end of the 3rd millennium bc stimulated the
development of new long-distance connections across Europe.
a) writing
b) ceramics
c) ships with sails
d) bronzeworking
e) spoken language
The presence of grinding and pounding stones at Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic
archaeological sites is a “proxy indicator” of:
a) the domestication of animals
b) warfare and domination
c) the processing and perhaps storing of grains and pulses
d) climate change
e) all of the above
Farming in East Asia
a) arose first in the central plain of the Yellow River and then spread to the central
Yangzi River valley
b) arose first in the central Yangzi River valley and then spread to the central plain of
the Yellow River
c) arose in the central plain of the Yellow River but never in the central Yangzi River
valley
d) arose independently in two areas: the central plain of the Yellow River and the
central Yangzi River valley
d) did not arise independently but was introduced from Southwest Asia
It is thought that early Homo species evolved from one of the ___________
australopithecines, perhaps A. garhi
a) gracile
b) robust
c) prosimian
d) knuckle-walking
e) gentile
Domesticated sheep and goats were most likely introduced to Africa from Southwest
Asia.
One of the primary methods employed by researchers investigating the question of what
Oldowan tools were actually used for is:
a) radiocarbon dating of animal bones found with the tools
b) potassium argon dating of the tools themselves
c) experimental studies in replicating the toolkit
d) excavation of long-term settlement sites
e) all of the above
Archaeological evidence has shown that both rice and millet cultivation spread to the
Korean Peninsula from China and that millet predates rice in Korea by a few thousand
years because:
a) the Neolithic Koreans were at war with the people of the Yangzi River Valley
b) Neolithic Koreans preferred the taste of millet over rice
c) Korea is much colder than sub-tropical China where rice was first domesticated, thus
rice had to be selectively adapted to grow in Korea
d) Korea is much warmer than the colder regions of China where rice was first
domesticated, thus rice had to be selectively adapted to grow in Korea
e) Korea has few if any swamps and thus rice could not be grown there until
sophisticated irrigation techniques were developed
The people who produced the Chifumbaze Complex of pottery and other artifacts swept
relatively quickly into much of Africa south of the Equator. Chifumbaze Complex
peoples can be described as:
a) mobile hunter-gatherers
b) semi-sedentary pastoralists
c) a nomadic religious group
d) ironworking farmers
e) all of the above
By around 3200 bc a recognizable cultural complex emerged in the Baluchistan uplands
and over 300 sites have been identified as belonging to it. Sometimes called the Early
Harappa Period or the Kot Diji Phase, Shaffer called this period:
a) an era of regionalization
b) the origins of agriculture
c) urban sprawl
d) the Postclassic period
e) the Indo-European conquest
A number of fossils found in the Israeli caves of Mugharet es-Skhul and Jebel Qafzeh
are thought to represent anatomically modern humans because:
a) they seem to have been intentionally buried in simple graves
b) they have been dated with ESR to a time period associated with modern humans
c) they differ anatomically from the Neanderthals that occupied the region 40,000 years
later
d) they have pronounced chins, and other anatomical features seen in modern humans
e) all of the above
The oldest firm evidence for human species in Europe is found bone deposits in caves
located where?
a) Lascaux, France
b) The Neander Valley, Germany
c) Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain
d) The Orkney Islands, Scotland
e) The Black Sea, Russia.
Maize (Zea mays) is also known as:
a) bottle gourd
b) quinoa
c) squash
d) corn
e) common beans
The first stone tools are seen in the archaeological record around
a) 100 million years ago
b) 250,000 years ago
c) 12 million years ago
d) 50,000 years ago
e) 2.5 million years ago
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
The site of Tiwanaku is located:
a) only about 10 miles from the site of Wari in Peru
b) deep in Bolivia’s jungle lowlands near a major tropical river
c) at well over 10,500 feet above sea level on the plains of Lake Titicaca
d) on Peru’s dry north coast
e) at the site of what later became the city of Lima, Peru
In Australia, the rising sea levels of the early to mid Holocene
a) pushed some Aboriginal societies inland where they may have violently come in to
contact with pre-existing groups
b) caused the creation of islands which lead to the isolation of some Aboriginal
societies
c) led to the successful colonization of Tasmania and the east coast by Polynesian
seafarers
d) a and b only
e) b and c only
Which of the following best summarizes the organization of Mississippian mound
centers:
a) important people lived in suburbs, ordinary people lived in houses on the plaza, and
the mounds were considered to be the houses of the dead
b) important people lived on the mounds, ordinary people lived in houses that
surrounded the plazas, and smaller settlements, which were occupied for shorter periods
of time, surrounded the mound center
c) important people lived in stone palaces, ordinary people lived in huts, and slaves
lived in smaller settlements outside of the mound center
d) only important people lived in the mound center itself; everyone who was not elite
lived outside the palisade walls
e) not sufficient archaeological evidence exists for us to know how mound centers were
organized
Significant information about bipedalism among early hominins has come from
_____________ found in volcanic ash in the Laetoli area of Tanzania.
a) figural carvings
b) shoes
c) a preserved village
d) cave paintings
e) footprints
Domesticated maize, squash, and other crops spread into the southwestern United States
from ________ shortly before 2000 bc.
a) the Pacific Northwest
b) the eastern woodlands
c) Mexico
d) coastal Peru
e) Asia
The sedentary or semi-sedentary Late Epipaleolithic cultural group discovered by
Dorothy Garrod in the Levant are known as the:
a) Natufians
b) Nubians
c) Ohalo
d) Lapita
e) Assyrians
In ad 79 the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius covered much of the Bay of Naples in ash and
perfectly preserved the Roman city of:
a) Napoli
b) Leptis Magna
c) Dura Europos
d) Londinium
e) Pompeii
The ________, which is thought to have been designed by the architect Imhotep, was
an architectural innovation: dating to the Early Dynastic period, it is the oldest stone
building of its size in the world.
a) the Great Pyramid at Giza
b) the Colossus of Memnon
c) the Great Sphinx
d) the Step Pyramid at Saqqara
e) the Narmer Palette
Evidence from Neolithic sites indicate that there was only one single location where
plant and animal domestication took place, and farming practices spread from that
location to the rest of Southwest Asia.
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
Although internal revolt was relatively infrequent in the Roman Empire, two major
rebellions occurred in ____________, at least in part because the people of that region
were unable to incorporate the sacrifices involved in the Roman imperial cult into their
religion.
a) Judaea
b) Egypt
c) Greece
d) Libya
e) Etruria
Because the archaeology of the region has been under-investigated, reconstructions of
the past cultural groups of the Amazon have been largely based on:
a) historical linguistics
b) Inca records
c) guesswork
d) the iconography on Moche pottery
e) geological survey
Evidence for the types of structures used by early Homo species
a) is remarkably sparse
b) may indicate the use of small huts
c) includes clear evidence for the use of large logs in construction
d) a and b only
e) reveals a great diversity of types and sizes
At the start of the Holocene, very few human groups appear to have stayed permanently
in the northernmost parts of eastern North America. The few that did tended to locate
themselves:
a) in cliff dwellings
b) in river valleys where they had access to rich farmland
c) along the coast where they could practice traditional whaling
d) near lakes which attracted game and where they could fish
e) all of the above
The “Presentation Theme,” the “Warrior Narrative,” and the “Warrior Priest” are all:
a) indigenous Peruvian dances that date to before the Spanish Conquest
b) images seen on megalithic wall at Cerro Sechn
c) rituals conducted during Inca sacrifice ceremonies
d) iconographic themes seen in Moche pottery
e) associated with the Preceramic period site of Caral
The appearance of the bow and arrow at some Holocene sites in Africa seems to
indicate an emphasis on:
a) religion
b) agriculture
c) hunting
d) herding
e) ranked society
Throughout Southwest Asia, aceramic Neolithic sites are seem to be continuously
occupied into the ceramic Neolithic and appear to remain preferred locations even when
agriculture intensifies at that time.
Raw iron ore is more abundant in Europe than the metals required to manufacture
bronze.
The only part of the Roman Empire obliged to pay taxes was Rome itself. Taxes paid by
and grain grown by people the city walls of Rome supported the rest of the territory
controlled by the Romans.
The glyphs used in the Maya writing system directly represented words or sounds and
they have now been largely deciphered.
By the time Europeans reached Easter Island, monumental statue carving had stopped
and the island had become essentially treeless.
The extreme climatic conditions on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido favored
the persistence of hunter-gather groups up to the present-day Ainu people.
Female burials at Neolithic Songze Cultural Sites in the lower Yangzi region often
included jade ornaments, and women were sometimes buried with pieces of jade in
their mouth.
The cranial capacity (and thus the brain size) of Neanderthals was, on average, larger
than that of modern humans.
Objects from Egypt and the Near East have been found at Early Bronze Age sites on the
island of Crete.
It is remarkable that the Roman Empire never had an organized standing army; battles
were usually fought using poorly trained local militias.
Early Bronze Age travel and trade among the islands of the Aegean appears to have
taken place using longboats propelled by multiple oars.
On average, the cranial capacity of Neanderthals was less than that of modern humans.
Oldowan tools were very sophisticated: their manufacture required a significant amount
of pre-planning and design work and thus required a lot of effort to produce.
The results of DNA analyses indicate that incoming farmers replaced hunter-gatherers
across much of Europe, absorbing the latter along the way.
Oral traditions recorded by the Spaniards stretch as far back as the Late Intermediate
Period and include stories about the Lambayeque and the Chimor cultures.
Although there are a number of differences between Homo erectus skulls and those of
Homo ergaster, not all scholars believe that the two were separate species.
Nomadic, horse-riding bison-hunters on the Great Plains were a long-established
feature of the region stretching back before Columbus’ arrival in the New World.
Most archaeologists think that state societies are better than hunter-gatherer societies.