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Chapter 10
The Neolithic Revolution:
The Domestication of Plants and Animals
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The characteristic Mesolithic tool was a small, hard, sharp blade hafted together in handles
or shafts called a _______________. The smaller size enabled them to devise a wider array
of ___________ tools made out of stone and wood or bone.
a. Solutrean knife, other
b. tortoise shell, Levalloisian
c. Venus, Acheulean
d. microlith, composite
e. Neandertal, Middle Paleolithic
2. About 12,000 years ago warmer climatic conditions prevailed, resulting in new forests, more
plant food, and abundant sources of fish and other food around lakeshores, bays, and rivers.
Human populations developed new techniques to catch and kill animals, and spent more time
fishing and collecting wild plant foods. This new way of life marks the beginning of the
_______________,
a. Lower Paleolithic
b. Middle Paleolithic
c. Upper Paleolithic
d. Mesolithic
e. Neolithic
W 3. At around the same time that participants in the Archaic culture were hunting sea mammals,
fish, and sea birds and using ground stone tools, the Natufians in the Old World were using
composite microlith tools in quite a different kind of subsistence activity. They were using
them in activities involved in _______________.
a. hunting large herd animals
b. shooting fish with arrows
c. making boats to go to Australia
d. killing birds with harpoons
e. none of the above
4. The Natufians _______________.
Chapter 10
a. lived at the eastern end of the Mediterranean
b. are an example of a Mesolithic culture in the Old World
c. lived in stone-walled houses in small villages, caves, and rock shelters
d. are the earliest known Mesolithic peoples to have cut grain and stored crops
e. all of the above
W 5. The _______________ was characterized by the transition from a foraging economy to
one based on food production.
a. Mesolithic
b. Upper Paleolithic
c. Triassic
d. Neolithic
e. Middle Paleolithic
6. The change from hunting, gathering, and fishing economy to one based on food production
is evidenced in the presence of the earliest pottery vessels, dated between 15,430 and
18,300 years ago and found at Yuchanyan Cave in _______________.
a. Northern Europe
b. Southern Europe
c. Southeast Asia
d. the Pacific Northwest
e. Southwest Asia
7. _______________ is a term applied to an evolutionary process whereby humans modify,
either intentionally or unintentionally, the genetic makeup of a population of plants or
animals.
a. Transition
b. Conversion
c. Modulation
d. Domestication
e. Modification
The Neolithic Revolution: The Domestication of Plants and Animals
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8. According to this theory, animal domestication began because the oases attracted hungry
animals that came to graze on the stubble of the grain fields. People, finding these animals
too thin to kill for food, began to fatten them up. This is known as the _______________,
or oasis theory.
a. hilly flanks
b. desiccation
c. hungry animal
d. skinny animal
e. watering hole
W 9. What is distinctive in Southeast Asia was the domestication of root crops, such as yams
and yaro. Root crop farming, or _______________, typically involves the growing of many
different species together in a single field.
a. veggie management
b. vegacrops
c. vegeculture
d. yamaculture
e. potatoculture
W 10. Sixty percent of the crops grown in the world today were invented by _______________,
who not only remain the developers of the world’s largest array of nutritious foods, but are
also the primary contributors to the world’s varied cuisines.
a. ancient Chinese
b. Romans
c. French
d. Ancient Greeks
e. America’s indigenous peoples
W 11. The change to food production also took place in South America where there was a greater
emphasis on root crops, the best known being the _______________.
a. sweet potato.
b. carrot.
c. turnip.
d. potato.
e. radish.
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W 12. As mentioned in your textbook, modern agriculturalists rely on a mere dozen species for
about ________% of the world’s annual tonnage of all crops.
a. 80
b. 50
c. 25
d. 60
e. 40
13. Excavations at the Neolithic settlement that later grew to become the biblical city of
_______________ have revealed the remains of a sizable farming community occupied as
early as 10,350 years ago.
a. Jerusalem
b. Bethlehem
c. Jericho
d. Bagdad
e. Constantinople
W 14. For the first time in human history, clothing was made of woven textiles during the
______________.
a. Mesolithic
b. Upper Paleolithic
c. Holocene
d. Neolithic
e. Middle Pleistocene
W 15. Close contact with the farmers in Jericho and other villages is indicated in the common
features found in _______.
a. art
b. ritual
c. use of ritual goods
d. burial practices
e. all of the above
The Neolithic Revolution: The Domestication of Plants and Animals
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W 16. To protect against ________________, the people of Jericho surrounded their settlement
with massive walls of stone, 2 meters (6.5 feet) wide and 4 meters (12 feet) high, behind
a large rock cut ditch, 8 meters (27 feet) wide and 2 ¾ meters (9 feet) deep.
a. floods
b. mud flows
c. human invaders
d animals
e. all except d
17. It was not until _______________ years ago that domestic rice dominated wild rice to
become the dietary staple in China.
a. 4,000
b. 11,000
c. 100,000
d. 25,000
e. 50,000
W 18. What was distinctive in Southeast Asia was the domestication of root crops, most notably
______________________________.
a. potatoes and carrots
b. yams and potatoes
c. beets and potatoes
d. yams and taro
e. lettuce and tomatoes
19. In vegeculture propagation is by vegetative means, i.e., the planting of
_______________.
a. seeds
b. sod
c. cuttings
d. vegetables
e. none of the above
20. Native Americans domesticated over three hundred food crops, including two of the four
most important ones in the world today: _______________.
a. tomatoes and squash
b. wheat and rice
c. potatoes and maize
d. broccoli and asparagus
e. peas and carrots
21. Increased dependence on farming is associated with _______________.
a. decreased fertility across human populations
b. an increase in the food supply
c. the stabilization of the food supply
d. the destabilization of animal populations
e. increased fertility across human populations
W 22. About 12,000 years ago _______________, changes that affected productivity of hunting
for food.
a. the climate of the north grew colder
b. tundras and the large herd animals that they supported spread throughout the Old
World
c. glaciers melted and the sea levels rose
d. deserts replaced forests
e. the fish disappeared from the ocean
23. About 12,000 years ago climatic conditions changed, resulting in new forests, more plant
food, and abundant sources of fish and other food around lakeshores, bays, and rivers.
Human populations developed new techniques to catch and kill animals, and spent more
time fishing and collecting wild plant foods. This new way of life marks the beginning of
the _______________, or Middle Stone Age.
a. Lower Paleolithic
b. Middle Paleolithic
c. Upper Paleolithic
d. Mesolithic
e. Neolithic
The Neolithic Revolution: The Domestication of Plants and Animals
24. Evidence of the efficiency of cultural adaptation accomplished during the Upper
Paleolithic is demonstrated by ___________________________.
a. new tool technologies
b. new modes of expression
c. the migration of humans all over the globe by sea
d. the migration of humans to all continents by land
e. all of the above
25. The _______________ were the earliest Mesolithic people known to have stored plant
food, as evidenced by basin-shaped depressions in the rocks found outside homes and
plastered storage pits beneath the floors of the houses.
a. Natufian
b. Cro-Magnon
c. Aborigines
d. Polynesians
e. Babylonians
26. Domestication of sheep and goats was evident at ancient Jericho, in the Jordan Valley,
8,000 years ago. At the same time similar developments were occurring in southeastern
Turkey and the lower Jordan River Valley, where _______________ were the focus of
attention.
a. cattle
b. dogs
c. cats
d. chickens
e. pigs
27. Domestication of plants appeared in the Americas about _______________ years ago, as
evidenced by remains in the coastal forests of Ecuador.
a. 9,000
b. 15,000
c. 2,000
d. 25,000
e. 10,000
28. By about _______________ years ago, people and their crops began to spread across
Africa, west to southeast, creating the modern far-reaching distributions of speaks of
Bantu languages.
a. 100,000
b. 5,000
c. 10,000
d. 25,000
e. 5,000
29. Facts surrounding the _________________________ support the understanding that the
concentration of domesticates and the consequent vulnerability to disease may also
contribute to the geographic spread of farming.
a. brewing of alcoholic beverages
b. storing of plant food
c. taming of pets
d. Irish potato famine
e. domestication of sheep
30. A number of Neolithic settlements have been excavated, particularly in Southwest Asia. The
structures, artifacts, and food debris found at these sites have revealed much about the daily
activities of their former inhabitants as they pursued the business of making a living. One
such site is ____________, an early farming community in the Jordan River Valley of
Palestine.
a. Bethlehem
b. Jerusalem
c. Jericho
d. Gaza
e. Tel Aviv
31. According to field observations of anthropologists Melvin Konner and Carol Worthman,
_______________ mothers do not believe that babies should be fed on schedules like
those recommended by North American childcare experts.
a. Inuit
b. Bantu
c. Igorot
d. !Kung
e. Aborigine
32. In Mexico, chili peppers have been a part of the diet for millennia. The fumes from the
smoke of burning peppers were also used as a kind of _______________.
a. treat for good behavior
b. chemical weapon
c. punishment for bad behavior
d. insect repellent
e. b and c
TRUE/FALSE
W 1. Food foragers do not have to work as hard as farmers to survive.
W 2. The development of Mesolithic cultures accompanied the ending of the ice ages.
W 3. The Mesolithic tool kit contained the characteristic hand ax.
W 4. The transition to relatively complete reliance on domesticated plants and animals took
several thousand years to accomplish.
W 5. The Neolithic revolution was a result of innovation, the ultimate source of all cultural
change.
6. Ancient people applied the knowledge of firing clay to make pottery containers and
cooking vessels, which is a form of secondary innovation.
7. Jared Diamond ally describes contemporary food foragers as “walking encyclopedias of
natural history with individual names for as many as a thousand or more plant and animal
species and with detailed knowledge of those species biological characteristics,
distribution, and potential uses.”
8. In root crop farming, propagation is brought about by the planting of cuttings, rather than
the planting of seeds.
9. Considering all of the separate innovations of domestic plants, it is interesting to note that
in all cases people developed the same categories of foods.
10. Early Neolithic graves were constructed of or covered by stone slabs and included
elaborate grave goods, indicating significant differences in social status.
11. New World farming, according to your textbook, developed independently of Europe and
Asia, with different crops and different technologies.
12. As pointed out in your textbook, two anthropologists remark, “Taken as a whole,
indicators fairly clearly suggest an overall decline in the quality—and probably in the
length—of human life associated with the adoption of agriculture.”
13. Crops bred for higher productivity and storability, rather than nutritional value,
contributed to the poor health of Neolithic people.
14. Domesticated animals cannot be distinguished from their wild counterparts.
15. Excavation of Neolithic sites provides excellent evidence that the development of culture
from the Paleolithic to the Mesolithic to the Neolithic involved a steady, upward trend
toward a better quality and length of life.
16. Neolithic means “New Stone Age,” a name derived from the polished stone tools that are
characteristic of this period.
The Neolithic Revolution: The Domestication of Plants and Animals
17. The oldest known pottery is from Yuchanyan Cave in China’s Hunan Province, dating
back to about 15,000 to 18,000 years ago.
18. The Natufians lived between 5,000 and 7,000 years ago in caves at the western edge of
Europe on the Atlantic Ocean.
19. Southeast Asian Neolithic populations were primarily known for vegeculture.
20. It is best to view the advent of food production as but one more factor contributing to the
diversity of cultures, something that had begun in the Paleolithic.
21. Food production developed in Mesoamerica and Peru wholly independently of Europe
and Asia, with different crops, animals, and different technologies.
22. Konner and Worthman’s observations among the !Kung of the Kalahari Desert shows
that !Kung beliefs about appropriate infant feeding directly affect the biology of fertility.
SHORT ANSWER
1. Environmental and climatic change impacted the development of the Mesolithic. Explain.
2. Paleobotanists tell the difference between a wild plant species and a domesticated one by
studying which elements of the fossil?
3. Explain how a study of age and sex ratios of butchered animals at an archaeological site
could indicate whether or animal domestication was practiced.
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4. Although the exact relationship between population growth and food production
resembles the old chicken-and-egg question, why is the increased dependence on farming
associated with increased fertility across human populations.
5. Slash-and-burn and slash-and-char are different techniques. Explain.
6. According to the original study, what does the increase in infectious diseases during the
Neolithic reflect?
7. What does “domestication” mean in terms of a process employed by humans?
8. Compare the characteristics of domesticated plants with those of their wild counterparts.
9. What was the health of most Neolithic peoples?
10. What can the sex and age distributions of animal remains found at butcher sites disclose
about the use about domestication?
11. What is the “dessication” or “oasis” theory of V. Gordon Childe?
12. Describe the clothing the occurred for the first time in human history during the Neolithic.
13. What tool-making technologies defined Neolithic societies?
14. Pottery is a key archaeological marker of the Neolithic revolution. Why?
15. Pastoralism arose in specialized environments. Explain.
The Neolithic Revolution: The Domestication of Plants and Animals
16. Pottery and plant and animal domestication, as well as the loom and spindle appeared
much later in the Americas than in other parts of the world. However, this does not
indicate any backwardness on the part of Native Americans. Explain why this is the case.
ESSAY
1. Discuss the cultural diversity during the Mesolithic.
2. Of the various theories that have been proposed, the most likely is that food production
came about as a consequence of a chance convergence of separate natural events and
cultural developments. Describe what is meant by chance convergence.
3. Describe and discuss the theories presented in your textbook for why humans made the
switch from food foragers to food producers. What were the problems with these
theories?
4. Paradoxically, while domestication increases productivity, so does it increase instability.
5. Explain why the widespread use of pottery is, to the archaeologist, a good (but not
foolproof) indication of a sedentary community.
6. The Neolithic developed more slowly in the New World than in the Old. Provide
examples of this slower development and explain the reasons.
7. Discuss reasons why some people of the past did not make the change from food foraging
to food production.
8. Changes in the Neolithic are sometimes mistakenly associated with progress. Discuss in
terms of the impact of food production on human biology.
9. As pointed out in your textbook, higher mortality rates in Neolithic villages were offset
by increased fertility, for population growth accelerated dramatically at precisely the
moment that health and mortality worsened. Discuss the factors responsible for this
increased natality.
10. Your textbook points out that whatever the benefits of food production, a substantial
price was paid. Explain what is meant by this statement.
11. How did the cultural transformations of the Neolithic solve challenges of existence at the
time ? Do you think the challenges were adequately solved, or did the transformations
simply create more problems?
12. In the Americas the shape and timing of the Neolithic revolution differed compared to
other parts of the world. Discuss why and how it differed.
13. Whatever the benefits of food production, a substantial price was paid. What was the
price paid for food production?
14. Discuss the field studies by Mel Konner and Carol Worthman among the !Kung of the
Kalahari Desert in southern Africa as they relate to the interplay between cultural and
biological processes in human infant feeding.