1
Food production is a phenomenon of
(A)
the last 100,000 years.
(B)
the last 12,000 years.
(C)
99 percent of human existence.
(D)
the last millennia.
2
Which of the following dating to 10,500 B.C. is said to have had its walls collapsed by the
blast of trumpets?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
The answer is Jericho.
3
In 10,000 B.C. nearly everyone in the world lived by hunting and gathering. By when did
most people become farmers or herders?
(A)
A.D. 1
(B)
1000 B.C.
(C)
A.D. 1000
(D)
none of these is correct
The answer is A.D. 1.
4
The earliest known farmers in the world lived in
(A)
southwestern Asia.
(B)
northeastern Asia.
(C)
the Nile Valley.
(D)
Iran.
The answer is southwestern Asia.
5
Where did farming begin in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey)?
(A)
we don’t know
(B)
Urfa
The answer is the last 12,000 years.
(C)
the Euphrates valley
(D)
the Jordan valley
6
One of the earliest plants to be domesticated in the northern parts of Southeast Asia and
southern China was
(A)
wheat.
(B)
rice.
(C)
corn.
(D)
barley.
Feedback:
The answer is rice.
7
The best-known early European farming culture, which is named after its distinctive line-
decorated pottery, is the
(A)
Bandkeramik complex.
(B)
Cayönü.
(C)
Göbekli Tepe.
(D)
Göbekli Tepe.
Feedback:
The answer is Bandkeramik complex.
8
Briefly explain how agriculture spread around the world. Describe the major consequences
of this development immediately after.
Answer:
9
Explain why Melanesia and Polynesia in the Pacific were relatively late to be settled. What
technological advances were necessary before these areas could be settled? How did this
late arrival likely affect eventual agriculture?
Answer:
10
Discuss how agriculture was “invented.” Was this a major insight or just the application of
knowledge long known? Explain your response.
Answer:
11
Discuss evidence to suggest that Vere Gordon Childe’s idea of an agricultural revolution is
too simplistic.
Answer:
12
Which technology of the last 50 years revolutionized the chronology and study of early food
production?
Feedback:
The answer is we don’t know.
(A)
accelerator mass spectrometry
(B)
flotation
(C)
dendrochronology
(D)
palynology
13
In which region do we see the most pronounced changes in forager societies in the Stone
Age?
(A)
the Americas
(B)
southeastern Asia
(C)
Europe
(D)
Polynesia
The answer is the Americas.
14
Canoes voyaged from island to island bringing plants and domesticated animals of their
homelands with them, reaching Hawaii around
(A)
A.D. 1280
(B)
2000 B.C.
(C)
A.D. 1035
(D)
A.D. 1219
The answer is A.D. 1219.
15
Some 15,000 years ago, the great ice sheets began to retreat, ushering in postglacial times
that are often called the
(A)
Holocene.
(B)
late-Pleistocene.
(C)
Miocene.
(D)
Oligocene.
The answer is Holocene.
16
How many years did it take after the retreat of the Scandinavian ice sheet before forests
covered much of Europe?
(A)
1000
The answer is accelerator mass spectrometry.
(B)
3000
(C)
5000
(D)
7000
17
All of the following were general conditions necessary for a complex forager society to
develop EXCEPT
(A)
population movements limited by either geography or the presence of other people.
(B)
abundant resources that were predictable in their seasonal appearance.
(C)
population growth that resulted in an imbalance between people and their food supplies.
(D)
the reduction of local animal species because of climatic changes or overhunting.
overhunting.
18
Agriculture was not “invented” by a single society; its importance lies in the fact that
agriculture was
(A)
the catalyst for cultural developments in later millennia.
(B)
the reason why populations shifted from place to place over time.
(C)
the cause of a sudden and sustained spike in population in the Holocene.
(D)
none of these is correct
The answer is the catalyst for cultural developments in later millennia.
19
The rise of agriculture led to which of the following?
(A)
a more settled way of life
(B)
long-occupied villages
(C)
more substantial housing
(D)
all of these are correct
The answer is all of these are correct.
20
Agriculture in which farmers clear land by burning off native vegetation, plant crops, and
then move on to new plots when the land loses its fertility after several years is called
(A)
crop rotation.
(B)
swidden agriculture.
(C)
organic farming.
The answer is 7,000.
(D)
subsistence farming.
21
The Diaotonghuan and Xianrendong caves in the lower Yangtse valley in China document
rice cultivation by about
(A)
1000 B.C.
(B)
2000 B.C.
(C)
4000 B.C.
(D)
6000 B.C.
The answer is 6000 B.C.
22
Wild cereal grasses were important in the human diet from at least
(A)
15,000 years ago.
(B)
8,000 years ago.
(C)
3,000 years ago.
(D)
2,000 years ago.
The answer is 15,000 years ago.
23
Which of these was a widespread farming culture in the Huang Ho valley of northern China
after 5000 B.C.?
(A)
Yangshao
(B)
Bashidang
(C)
Pengtoushan
(D)
Diaotonghuan
The answer is Yangshao.
24
According to one authority, what percentage of African soil is moderately fertile enough to
support gardens?
(A)
0.05
(B)
0.1
(C)
0.4
(D)
0.9
The answer is swidden agriculture.
25
Discuss how the technological developments that resulted from increased agriculture likely
led to warfare. Name three other important cultural developments that resulted from
agriculture that were less destructive.