Some individuals held special ritual roles during the Middle Woodland Period, for
example, being a __________ involved wearing ceremonial paraphernalia including
masks, represented archaeologically by cut carnivore jawbones and full bear hides.
a) slave
b) sailor
c) rancher
d) shaman
e) long-distance trader
Europeans were able to begin to explore the coasts of Africa in the 15th century as a
result of:
a) climate change
b) the closing of the overland Silk Road
c) improvements in sailing technology
d) information gleaned from the natives of Brazil
e) all of the above
Each major Late Classic Maya city would have had a central precinct dominated by
___________, which would have served as temples or the palatial residences of lords.
a) man-made caves
b) pyramids
c) natural wells known as cenotes
d) ceiba tree trunks arranged in a square
e) an agora and a stoa
The development of the printing press in the mid-15th century:
a) brought about an increase in literacy
b) was a major step in the development of modern science
c) led to an interest in knowledge derived from direct observation
d) allowed books to become cheaper and more readily available
e) all of the above
MtDNA is inherited through the male line only: it is inherited only from the father and
not recombined with the mother’s mtDNA.
One very clear and codified example of symbolic behavior in humans is:
a) the development of fire
b) the development of agriculture to feed large populations
c) the growth of urbanism and concentration of population
d) the use of writing to convey ideas
e) the ability to walk upright
Isotopic studies of the archaeological record of early hominins are primarily performed
on preserved:
a) seeds and wood
b) stone tools
c) textiles and ceramics
d) bone and teeth
e) all of the above
Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, and Dholavira were the smallest Indus civilization sites; they
were no more than seasonally occupied non-urban village sites that were only a couple
of acres in area.
Agriculture is:
a) the establishment of an artificial ecosystem in which selected species of plants and
animals are cultivated and reared
b) a deliberately socially constructed system where food surpluses are managed only by
a central authority for the benefit of the group
c) the gathering of wild plants and animals as a primary source of nutrition
d) dependent on the development of a monetary trade system
e) all of the above
Although opinions differ as to how a “modern” human can be defined in the fossil
record, most scholars agree that global similarities in ___________ are one way that
modern humans can be separated from other Homo species.
a) skull shape
b) hand shape
c) number of ribs
d) height
e) sexual dimorphism
The practice of farming and herding in parallel, a common subsistence strategy in high
sierra of the Andes, is called:
a) ethnobotany
b) agropastoralism
c) archaeobotany
d) animal farming
e) non-sedentism
Many researchers believe that rice cultivation spread into southern China via a series of
thrusts bringing rice into new lands. The idea that rice cultivation ultimately came from
contact with groups from the Yangzi region:
a) has been entirely disproven
b) is supported by the presence of similar material culture at new farming settlements
c) is contradicted by the lack of similar material culture at new farming settlements
d) is an issue that has not been studied by researchers
e) none of the above
At the site of Chan Chan, the term ciudadelas or citadels has been applied to the
enormous enclosures where:
a) large llama herds were kept
b) the pan-Andean ballgame was played
c) ritualized warfare and sacrifices occurred
d) the commoners and craftspeople lived
e) the paramount rulers and their kin held court and were buried
One clear indicator of the deep and enduring impact of Arab traders in North and West
Africa is the adoption of
a) paper money
b) cuneiform writing
c) the Egyptian language
d) Christianity
e) Islam
Researchers believe that around 2000 bc Australians must have had at least some
contact with people from Southeast Asia because of the introduction of:
a) rice cultivation
b) the horse
c) writing
d) the dog
e) iron smelting
Archaeological evidence indicates that _________ was introduced by the first Neolithic
rice farmers on Thailand’s Khorat Plateau.
a) the Buddhist religion
b) writing
c) inhumation or grave burial
d) hunting of large animals
e) stone tool manufacture
Researchers working at the Neolithic site of Khok Phanom Di near the Gulf of Thailand
believe that although the people there had contact with nearby rice growers:
a) the site remained primarily a foraging ground for nomadic hunting groups
b) they subsisted mainly on domesticated millet
c) they would have never intermarried or traded with each other
d) Khok Phanom Di remained primarily a non-agricultural though sedentary
hunter-fisher society
e) they chose to starve rather than adopt a new way of life
South American llamas were used:
a) as a source of meat
b) as a source of wool
c) as pack animals
d) all of the above
e) a and b only
The Acheulean technological tradition is characterized by which tool form?
a) the hand axe
b) the scraper
c) the blade
d) the borer or awl
e) the projectile point
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
Later Bronze Age cremation burial cemeteries found in central and eastern Europe are
referred to as:
a) Bell Beakers
b) Megaliths
c) Urnfields
d) Barrows
e) Cairns
Ancient Egyptian writing:
a) was developed before the political unification of Egypt
b) was probably introduced to Egypt from Mesopotamia
c) was probably developed independently in Egypt
d) a and b only
e) a and c only
During the Classical Period, Greece was divided into autonomous city-states, however
the people of these city-states felt bound to each other due to cultural similarities
including:
a) shared language
b) shared gods
c) a shared centralized ruler
d) all of the above
e) a and b only
What can be said about the sexual dimorphism of Homo ergaster?
a) Homo ergaster was less sexually dimorphic than the australopithecines
b) Homo ergaster was more sexually dimorphic than the australopithecines
c) The sexual dimorphism ofHomo ergaster was very similar to that of the
australopithecines regards
d) Very little: no female Homo ergaster skeletons have ever been found.
e) Very little: no male Homo ergaster skeletons have ever been found.
Wild _______ is only native to Africa, yet the domesticated variety of this plant is
found in earlier deposits at sites in India and Pakistan than at sites in Africa.
a) rice
b) maize
c) wheat
d) barley
e) sorghum
Classic Maya rulership was closely associated with __________, which can be seen in
the construction of defensive walls and earthworks, but especially through depictions of
captives and sacrifice in Maya art.
a) peacekeeping
b) maritime trade
c) weaving of cloth
d) war
e) farming
This Aztec ruler was killed under mysterious circumstances while under Spanish house
arrest in 1520.
a) Pakal
b) Yax Kuk Mo
c) Atahualpa
d) Mexica
e) Motecezuma II
The oldest known Acheulean tools date to 1.76 million years ago and are found in:
a) East Asia
b) Northern Europe
c) East Africa
d) the southern tip of South America
e) the south Asian islands.
Which of the following is a common trait among most primates:
a) dexterous hands
b) nails instead of claws
c) eyesight with stereoscopic color vision
d) locomotion that places emphasis on hind legs
e) all of the above
Extensive looting of the Lambayeque site of __________ has produced much of the
Andean goldwork in international museums and private collections; the site now
resembles the cratered surface of the moon.
a) Cuzco
b) Batn Grande
c) Kuraka
d) the Nazca Lines
e) Boca Grande
A biological process that involves changes in the physical characteristics of plants and
animals as they become dependent on humans is called:
a) cultivation
b) herding
c) agriculture
d) natural selection
e) domestication