Archives: Quiz

The National Historic Preservation Act was passed in reaction to the destruction of historic buildings that was resulting from a push to “clean up” American urban centers. Piltdown Man was important because he was the Missing Link.ʺ ʺ Answer: FALSE […]

Looting of archaeological sites has become less frequent since the passage of antiquities laws. Relative dating establishes the exact chronological relationship between two artifacts found in the same context. Answer: FALSE Even with well-preserved skeletons, one rarely can determine successfully […]

Christian Thomsen suggested the Three Age System, which divides the past into the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages. The rate of epiphyseal union is the same in every bone, and so cannot be used to age skeletons. Answer: TRUE The […]

The most commonly used and most important method of radiometric dating in archaeology is radiocarbon dating Most CRM archaeologists are employed by universities. Answer: FALSE Archaeology is an apolitical enterprise. Answer: FALSE Hunter-gatherers sometimes practice horticulture on a part-time basis. […]

Representational art is most visible in the archaeological record. Janet Spector found that the Dakota had different questions and conclusions about their own cultural resources than did the archaeologists. Answer: TRUE Boucher de Perthes’ discoveries immediately revolutionized public perceptions of […]

Diseases can leave evidence in bone as well as in human soft tissue. It is a felony to destroy an archaeological site. Answer: TRUE Because archaeology is a scientific discipline, archaeologists cannot ever be fooled by fakes. Answer: FALSE Absolute […]

Geophysical survey includes non-invasive and non-destructive techniques for discovering buried features within sites. Postmortem changes to bone can inform archaeologists about disease in past populations. Answer: FALSE At Olduvai Gorge, potassium-argon dating was used to date the eruption of the […]

Middens are always located close to habitation sites. The presence of hookworms and pinworms in palaeofeces indicates unhygienic and unhealthful conditions. Answer: TRUE Optimization models are used to explain aspects of behavior related to the use of resources. Answer: TRUE […]

The Wogeo of New Guinea believe that Wogeo traditions are the only valid traditions in the world and that Wogeo speech is uniquely pure. They refuse to speak the languages of the communities with which they trade because their neighbors […]

The goddess Ishtar was found in: a. Mesopotamia b. Egypt c. Greece d. India An anthropologist visits a remote tribal community and finds that they are wearing tennis shoes and using canned goods even though much of their original way […]

The survival of culture traits often occurs when they are fused together with new, introduced traits. Thus a contemporary Australian aborigine band will preserve their traditional songs and instruments by creating music that incorporates elements from the dominant culture, such […]

A student picks up a coin from the sidewalk and puts it in her pocket. Later that day she takes an exam on which she scores an A. She then carries her “lucky coin” to her next exam. This is […]

In Vodou, the term lwa refers to: a. places of worship that are sacred to particular spirits b. animals that are sacrifices to particular spirits c. spirit beings d. drums and musical idioms A prescriptive ritual that one that is: […]

Magic refers to the: a. belief in a generalized supernatural power b. belief in an ancestor that has been transformed into a god c. use of ritual to cause injury or death d. use of ritual to control events through […]

Among the Yanomam, hallucinogenic snuff is taken by shamans in order to: a. divine the future b. locate the location of animals c. entice spirits into the body d. feed the gods In the Huichol ritual an altered state of […]

In an analytic definition of religion, the study of the organization and leadership of a religious system represents the: a. social dimension b. ritual dimension c. institutional dimension d. narrative dimension All of the following are true about priests except: […]

In the story of Snow White, the queen’s looking glass is an example of: a. magic b. divination c. witchcraft d. a worldview In the Navaho Creation Story, the Holy People appeared and explained that they wanted to create people: […]

A periodic ritual is one that is: a. performed because of the will or desire of a deity b. associated with critical events in the life of an individual c. celebrated on a ritual calendar d. involved with an altered […]

Like Zande witches, Navaho witches are born with a physical substance within their bodies that are responsible for their witchcraft. Much of the popular Christian beliefs about angels comes not from the Bible, but from other Church writings. Answer: T […]

According to Reed (Forest Development the Indian Way), until the recent incursion of colonos (colonists, such as ranchers and farmers), Guaran villagers a. had no contact with people in other parts of South America. b. traded with outsiders for machetes, […]

The fact that a tourist sees scenic mountains and valleys when viewing a high pass in the Rocky Mountains, whereas a geologist sees cirque basins, U-shaped valleys, and paternoster streams, illustrates the concept of a. ecosystem. b. cultural ecology. c. […]

Miner (Body Ritual among the Nacirema) notes that the Nacirema enjoy eating a variety of foods that have been purified by dipping them in a ritual vessel filled with boiling oil. Any use of anthropological knowledge by anthropologists to increase […]

According to Guneratne and Bjork (Village Walks), Nepalese tourist companies characterize the Tharu as primitive forest dwellers untouched by civilization. By sustainable development, Reed means that commercial lumber companies and ranchers should replant the tropical forest after they have cut […]

The Tiv felt that Laertes bewitched his sister, Ophelia, so that he could sell her body to raise money to repay gambling debts. Slash-and-burn agriculture is a kind of horticulture. Answer: T A Chinese woman enters her husband’s house as […]

According to Shandy (The Road to Refugee Resettlement), the UN has several categories of refugees. The refugee most likely to be accepted for resettlement in a second country is called the “economic refugee.” A leader is a person who obtains […]

Pistococas are people who tread on a mixture of kerosene and coca leaves. According to Sutherland (The Case of the Gypsy Offender), Gypsies frequently take one another’s social security numbers in order to hide their identity. Answer: T Innovation is […]

According to Alverson (Advice for Developers), Tswana farmers fail to recognize the subtle references about sex, age, and class in the English language of Peace Corps volunteers . In his article, “Body Ritual among the Nacirema,” Miner notes that women […]

According to Alverson (Advice for Developers), Peace Corps volunteers feel they are making a sacrifice to serve other, less fortunate people, and that they are the experts in relations with local people. Acculturation refers to the process of learning one’s […]

Culture is the patterned behavior characteristic of a group of people. Boxer (The Military Name Game) asserts that the original World War II purpose of naming military operations was to generate public approval for them. Answer: F Four anthropological classifications […]

Anthropologists, such as George Hicks, look for inside meaning when they do ethnographic research. !Kung regularly express admiration for one another’s hunting achievements. Answer: F The misunderstanding that Lee experienced with the !Kung was based on different cultural meanings for […]

Of the animals killed at the Olsen-Chubbuck site, it is estimated that what percentage were actually butchered? a. 25% b. 50% c. 75% d. 100% Entry level archaeologists will find the best opportunities and career potential in a. academic archaeology. […]

The system of behavior in which every individual participates is the a. cultural environment. b. cultural process. c. cultural condition. d. cultural system. Interpretation based on developing specific hypotheses using induction and then testing the hypotheses against data. a. scientific […]

The people of any Maya community could identify and verify their a. cosmos. b. neighborhood. c. leaders. d. ancestors. Finding archaeological sites depends on locating telltale signs of a. animal activity. b. quarrying. c. migration. d. human settlement. Answer: d. […]

Much Olmec pottery contains images of this important motif. a. human-quetzal b. human-butterfly c. human-snake d. human-jaguar Perhaps the most famous ax quarries are located here. a. western Siberia b. western Europe c. southern China d. northern Siberia Answer: b. […]

Part of our ethical responsibilities to the past does NOT include a. reporting new finds. b. recording the location of any collected artifacts. c. respecting the sanctity of all burial sites. d. obeying tribal laws. The earliest known hominin, found […]

Clay vessels that are built up with a lump of clay placed over the top of a convex shape. a. clay b. mold c. coil d. temper Archaeologists are not a. romantic adventurers. b. scientists. c. anthropologists. d. critical thinkers. […]

As early as 8000 B.C., Mesopotamian villagers were carrying tokens made of a. clay. b. bronze. c. gold. d. wood. The rulers of Harappa and Mohenjodaro lived in this part of the city. a. center b. citadel c. tenements d. […]

How many bison were unearthed at the Olsen-Chubbuck kill site? a. 90 b. 600 c. 10 d. 190 How do we know that forest cover expanded rapidly at the end of the Ice Age in southwestern Asia? a. pollen samples […]

Which city in the Valley of Mexico was a trading center for the Mesoamerican world? a. Lima b. Cuzco c. Teotihuacn d. Tuzigoot Computer-aided systems for the collection, storage, retrieval, analysis, and presentation of spatial data of all kinds. a. […]

Food production is a phenomenon of a. the last 100,000 years. b. the last 12,000 years. c. 99 percent of our existence. d. the last millennia. This culture’s art shows some Pukara influence, including motifs that feature anthropomorphic feline, eagle, […]

Archaeological theory aims to explain the past as well as to a. change it. b. change our understanding of it. c. describe it. d. alter it. The first archaeologists were a. historians. b. mathematicians. c. adventurers. d. physicists. Answer: c. […]

Most public archaeology activity operates through a. academic archaeology. b. private sectors. c. larger companies. d. government. Somewhat akin to the well-known process of natural selection in biological evolution. a. cultural selection b. invention c. diffusion d. social selection Answer: […]

After about 16,000 years ago, Cro-Magnons began hunting a. doves, finches, and robins. b. buffalo and wild cattle. c. whales and narwhales. d. salmon, trout, perch, and eels. The quiet philanthropy of volunteers has a. endowed professorships. b. paid for […]

Sumerian civilizations came into being as a result of a combination of social and a. religious factors. b. economic factors. c. environmental factors. d. warfare factors. This consequence of food production prevented people from reverting back to hunting and gathering. […]

Which two archaeologists discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun? a. Heinrich Schliemann and Alexander Conze b. Alexander Conze and Flinders Petrie c. Leonard Woolley and Arthur Evans d. Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon The Grotte de Chauvet is one of the […]

The story of humanity begins deep in geological time, during the later part of the Cenozoic erathe age of a. humanity. b. the dinosaurs. c. enlightenment. d. mammals. An education in archaeology should begin as being a. somewhat specialized. b. […]

The first Europeans to contact the Northwest Coast Indians were ___________. a. Americans b. French c. Russian d. British From 1680 to 1880 many Cheyenne were forced from __________. a. Minnesota to Oklahoma b. Florida to Montana c. Wyoming to […]

Men in the Arctic fought mainly over _________ and resolved disputes with __________. a. hunting partners, harpoon-throwing contests b. territory, knives c. women, song contests d. food, their fists The Archaic Puebloans or Anasazi __________. a. adopted above-ground masonry houses; […]

The major social unit in California was __________. a. the clan b. the lineage c. the moiety d. the nuclear family. Highly respected and sometimes serving as doctors or second wives, the Cheyanne hemaneh literally translates as __________. a. bisexual […]

Southeast religions __________. a. emphasized One World, the visible world we live in b. believed in the maintenance of purity and harmony as their primary goal c. said people had no souls d. believed the world is round and sits […]