Much of our information about the Celts comes from
a) the writing of Herodotus
b) records of the Roman invasions of places such as Gaul
c) the written records of the Celts themselves
d) all of the above
e) a and b only
The burials at the 5th millennium bc cemetery at Varna in Bulgaria are best known for
their abundant objects of personal adornment made out of:
a) wool
b) iron
c) gold
d) jade
e) papyrus
Which of the following is NOT a key feature of a state:
a) a high population with many thousands to many millions of people
b) the collection of taxes or tribute from subject populations
c) the right of elite to use force for internal control
d) a lack of centralized organization
e) the presence of monumentality
The rule of the Emperor Augustus from 27 bc to ad 14 is regarded as having established
several centuries of pax Romana. What was pax Romana?
a) a shrinking of the once powerful Roman empire
b) a period of constant severe warfare
c) a contagious disease that may be related to the bubonic plague
d) a period of anarchy where no one seems to have been in charge
e) a period peace enforced by superior military power
When examining the question of cattle domestication in Africa, available evidence
indicates that:
a) cattle were never a major component of African subsistence economies
b) the practice was introduced from outside of the continent by nomadic people from
Southwest Asia
c) indigenous cattle were domesticated locally and the practice was not introduced from
outside of the continent
d) cattle were introduced by settlers from the Yangzi Valley
e) African groups in the Holocene considered cattle to be unclean
Archaeologists have found intentional burials of domesticated dogs at some Archaic
period sites in the Eastern Woodlands of North America.
Gesher Benot Ya”aqov (Israel) and Zhoukoudian Locality I (China) are sites where:
a) early Neanderthal skeletons have been located
b) clear evidence has been found for stone structures being built and inhabited by early
Homo species
c) early symbolic behavior in the form of beautiful cave paintings is abundant
d) the earliest accepted evidence for early human use of fire has been identified
e) all of the above
The potato was first domesticated:
a) in Asia
b) in Southwest Mexico
c) in the American Southwest
d) in Andean South America
e) in Europe
Researchers were surprised to discover that hunter-gatherer groups who reached of
Cyprus around 10,000 bc:
a) made complex pottery before groups on the mainland
b) brought domesticated goats and sheep with them
c) had already perfected intensive agricultural techniques
d) had introduced a wild species of pig to the island to be hunted
e) all of the above.
The so-called “Noah’s Ark hypothesis,” also called the single origins or “Garden of
Eden” hypothesis, traces the evolution of Homo sapiens to a single geographic center,
which is:
a) Asia
b) Africa
c) Western Europe
d) the Levant
e) Northern Europe
“Narmada Man”
a) is the earliest Homo species known so far in South Asia
b) is the name assigned to one of the only figural statues carved by the Indus
civilization
c) is the term used to refer to a shaman from Sri Lanka
d) is the only phrase that has been translated from the Indus script
e) is an early Australopithecine only found in South Asia
By far the most important crop to the cultures of Mesoamerica was:
a) maize
b) potatoes
c) squash
d) rice
e) beans
An essential aspect of Darwin’s idea of natural selection is that:
a) vastly different species will all eventually coalesce to form one species
b) evolution is essentially random and that no specific traits give an individual within a
species an advantage
c) successful individuals within a species are more likely to reproduce and pass
advantageous traits onto their offspring
d) offspring rarely display the successful characteristics of their parents
e) none of the above
In most of Africa the earliest metallurgy was based on:
a) gold
b) copper
c) bronze
d) iron
e) steel
Cromlechs, menhirs, and henges are all examples of:
a) later Neolithic stone tools
b) megalithic monuments
c) pottery shapes produced by the Bandkeramik culture
d) patterns seen in Celtic gold work
e) the wild ancestors of modern cattle
One key factor in megafaunal extinction during the end of the last ice age was:
a) a major volcanic eruption
b) environmental change
c) diseases contracted from humans
d) genetic stagnation
e) all of the above
Systematic excavation of archaeological sites began in the late 18th century when the
concept of stratigraphy began to be understood. Stratigraphy is:
a) another term used to describe Darwin’s theory of natural selection
b) the idea that processes that act on the Earth are so very different at different times
that we cannot draw meaningful conclusions from superimposed layers of sediment
c) the study of radiocarbon dates
d) another term for tree-ring analysis
e) the successive deposition of superimposed layers of natural and cultural material
Pottery has often emerged around the time that cultures have become sedentary. This
has been attributed to
a) the discovery of the controlled use of fire
b) the introduction of sophisticated clay mining techniques
c) the extinction of megafauna whose skins would have previously been made into
leather containers
d) the inability of basketry to withstand being moved from place to place
e) the increased need for storage as agriculturalists acquired more material goods
Which of the following animals was NOT domesticated in the hilly areas of Southwest
Asia:
a) pigs
b) sheep
c) goats
d) cattle
e) red deer
The key concept that underpins the postprocessual approach to archaeology is:
a) the belief that all archaeological conclusions must be objective and completely based
on science
b) the reliance on science to come up with clear answers to archaeological questions
c) an assertion in the expertise of archaeologists when it comes to interpreting the past
d) the rejection of the idea that we can ever attain objective knowledge about the past
e) the belief that the natural environment is the reason for most change in human
society
Because states are made up of large populations which must be fed, they typically
developed in:
a) marginal areas where other groups did not compete with them for food
b) coastal deserts that were intensely modified
c) fertile basins or river valleys
d) high mountains outside of the normal range of predators
e) dense tropical forests where there were many animals
The spread of intensive __________ in the Andes and the desert coast was generally
accompanied by the production of pottery and by loom weaving.
a) fishing
b) mummification
c) contact with Polynesia
d) farming and herding
e) writing and record keeping
__________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
One of the most complex and enduring hunter-gatherer traditions in the world is the
______ culture that occupied parts of Japan from c. 10,500 to 300 bc and manufactured
complex pottery.
a) Chulmun
b) Yayoi
c) Ainu
d) Shikoku
e) Jomon
Which of the following is a model that has been suggested for the evolution of modern
humans:
a) an African replacement hypothesis: modern humans arose in Africa then replaced
other Homo populations elsewhere with little hybridization
b) an African hybridization and replacement hypothesis: modern humans arose in Africa
then replaced other Homo populations in other regions, mating and hybridizing with
them
c) an assimilation hypothesis where gene flow between local Homo populations and
African Homo sapiens was significant in creating modern human populations
d) a multi-regional evolution hypothesis in which Africa is not seen as the primary
location of the evolution of Homo sapiens
e) all of the above
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
Rectangular __________, which are found at some Taino sites in the Caribbean, are a
clear indication of contact with Maya kingdoms.
a) tombs
b) temples
c) high platform mounds
d) ballcourts
e) large palatial complexes
Some researchers believe that chop and cut marks found on bones from the Gran
Dolina, TD6, represent clear evidence for:
a) warfare among different species of Homo
b) cannibalism
c) the use of metal tools
d) early surgery
e) ritualistic sacrifice
The first of all domesticated animals was the _____, which was domesticated by
hunter-gatherer groups during the Paleolithic.
a) the horse
b) the goat
c) the cat
d) the pig
e) the dog
An agricultural intensification technique that involves the use of tiers of stone walling
to create stepped fields in hilly terrain is called:
a) composting
b) plowing
c) terracing
d) irrigation
e) reclaiming
The earliest stone tools are from the ___________ industry.
a) Acheulean
b) Australopithecine
c) Oldowan
d) Turkana
e) Clovis
Although numerous regional species were domesticated in different parts of the
Americas, the only domesticated animal that was present throughout North, Central,
and South America was the:
a) cat
b) pig
c) horse
d) dog
e) turkey
The League of the Iroquois:
a) eventually consisted of five nations
b) was an alliance formed to lessen tensions in the Eastern US region
c) existed during the European colonization of the Northeast
d) was the eventual result of over a century of close ties between its constitute groups
e) all of the above
The wild ancestors of the plants and animals that were first domesticated in Southwest
Asia thrived in hilly habitats.
Genetic data supports the idea of three waves of dispersal of hominin species out of
Africa, the last being the dispersal of modern humans.
Linguistic studies have shown that the spread and evolution of Austroasiatic languages
can be traced by studying basic everyday words such as “dog,” “child,” “fish,” and
especially “rice.”
The Bodo cranium suggests that a gradual shrinking of brain size was occurring in early
human populations at around 600,000 years ago.
One feature of most proto-urban sites that have been located in the Indus Valley and in
the Baluchistan uplands is the use of wheel-formed pottery.
Metallurgical technology during Peru’s Middle Horizon included soldering, sweat
welding, raised relief, and alloying gold with silver or copper.
True hand axes have not been found among the artifact assemblages in Chinese Homo
erectus sites.
It is remarkable that the civilizations of South America achieved what they did since
they did not practice agriculture until after the Spanish Conquest.
Adaptive radiation is a model for evolutionary change that describes a situation where
species that have adapted to fit unique niches coalesce to form one evolutionary branch
and to occupy just one ecological niche.
It is clear that the Mississippian societies of the American Midwest and South East had
completely different and separate belief systems: the iconography on artifacts from
different sites is not comparable.
The first faming settlements of mainland Europe were located in what is now Sweden.
“Lucy,” the name given to a hominin skeleton found in Ethiopia in the 1970s, would
have walked upright.
Guinea pigs were domesticated in South America to serve as pets and were not used as
a source of food.
The Oldowan tool industry developed directly from the earlier Acheulean industry.
Because of periodic subtle changes in the pattern of the Earth’s orbit around the sun, it
may technically be correct to label the current warm phase we are living in as an
interglacial, rather than calling it the postglacial.