Pompeii and Herculaneum are particularly valuable to archaeologists because
__________.
A) they provide the most complete view of Roman life currently available
B) they are the only ancient cities ever found that had been covered by volcanoes
C) they date from 2000 BC
D) they demonstrated the historical truth of Homer s Iliadʹ
E) they revealed much about Roman North Africa
The human skeleton __________.
A) can provide as much information as an entire body
B) is comprised of 220 bones and 28 teeth
C) can be divided into the axial skeleton and the appendicular skeleton
D) is unlikely to reveal the sex of the owner
E) provides little information about the owner’s activity during life
All of the following are examples of palaeofeces except __________.
A) chitin
B) coprolites
C) cess
D) gut contents
When making decisions regarding mitigation, archaeologists consider __________.
A) only the area with the densest concentration of artifacts
B) all land area that might be affected by a project
C) only the area that contains human remains
D) only those areas with obvious surface artifacts
E) only those areas deemed historically unique
Which of the following technologies is used to facilitate the non-invasive analysis of
mummified remains?
A) stable isotope analysis
B) trace element analysis
C) MRI
D) archaeometry
E) DNA analysis
An ossuary contains __________.
A) geofacts
B) hearths
C) features
D) middens
E) human remains
The use of artistic images to represent information and aspects of belief systems is
generally referred to as __________.
A) iconography
B) pictographs
C) ideograms
D) art
E) ritual
A total station is __________.
A) used to find sites
B) is a three-part numbering system for archaeological sites
C) determines the precise location of an object within an excavation unit
D) determines where an archaeologist will excavate
Skeletal sex is most accurately determined by __________.
A) assessing the morphology of the pelvic bones
B) evaluating the attributes of the skull
C) measuring the length of the long bones
D) the overall size of the skeleton
E) areas of muscle attachment
All of the following are perishable kinds of artifacts except__________.
A) wood
B) fiber
C) antler
D) bark
E) leather
Obsidian hydration dating is based on the fact that __________.
A) obsidian absorbs water from the surrounding environment over time.
B) obsidian loses water over time.
C) obsidian absorbs nitrogen over time.
D) obsidian changes color over time.
Change that can be observed through time is called __________.
A) diachronic
B) synchronic
C) temporal
D) long range
E) none of the above
The Maya subsistence strategy consisted of __________.
A) horticulture
B) foraging
C) intensive agriculture
D) all of the above
Taro was the most important crop in leeward Hawaii because __________.
A) it was the most commonly grown
B) it had symbolic significance
C) it was tremendously productive
D) it grew such large tubers
E) it was the richest food available
Stable isotope analysis can be used to analyze __________.
A) prehistoric migration patterns
B) the frequency of disease among prehistoric people
C) the age of an individual at death
D) the diet of prehistoric people
E) genetic relationships between prehistoric populations
Australopithecus fossils were relatively dated through the use of __________.
A) antelope fossils.
B) dinosaur fossils.
C) pig fossils.
D) sloth fossils.
E) monkey fossils.
Evolutionary ecology takes as its starting point __________.
A) a consideration of the environmental conditions that might influence the
development of a particular technology
B) an evaluation of the evolution of a particular environment
C) that all cultures are fundamentally variations on the same set of adaptations
D) a genetic basis for cultural behavior
E) a genetic basis for gender roles
The example of Greek coins in the text illustrates the utility of __________.
A) seriation.
B) stratigraphy.
C) maritime archaeology.
D) index fossils.
E) radiocarbon dating
Which frequently causes compaction of soil making excavation difficult?
A) wind
B) mudslides
C) earthquakes
D) water
E) volcanoes
Smelting, casting, and forging all refer to__________.
A) aspects of metallurgy
B) ways to knap flint
C) technologies known only to Romans
D) weapon making
E) ceramics
An anthropologist collecting ethnographic data is studying __________.
A) primates
B) the study of hominid evolution
C) a particular cultural group
D) geological processes
E) past material culture
Foragers are also known as__________.
A) horticulturalists
B) pastoralists
C) hunters and gatherers
D) primitive
E) indigenous people
The sub-fields of anthropology as practiced in America do not include __________.
A) archaeology
B) biological anthropology
C) linguistics
D) geology
E) cultural anthropology
To say that the discipline of archaeology originally developed from a base in history
means __________.
A) that archaeology is concerned with the ʺgreat figuresʺ of the past and their
accomplishments
B) that archaeology remains tied to the interpretation of text
C) that the original focus was to learn when and where things happened
D) that archaeology has always been scientific
E) that it began with a focus on ancient European cultures, because that represented the
history of the researchers themselves
States are characterized by all of the following except __________.
A) large populations
B) formal record-keeping
C) controlled storage facilities
D) high mobility
E) social stratification
When groups in direct contact are disproportionate in size or are very different
culturally, the __________ tends to prevail
A) more flexible
B) smaller and less complex
C) group with the most trade routes
D) larger and more complex
E) most violent
Occam s razor states that __________.ʹ
A) societies should not be judged by any standards other than their own
B) the most simple explanation is most likely to be true
C) simple answers are usually inadequate
D) older deposits are on the bottom
E) the archaeology of literate societies whose writing we cannot yet read is considered
prehistoric
When did postprocessualism develop as an archaeological paradigm?
A) During the Renaissance (1600s)
B) During the American Civil War (1860s)
C) During World War II (mid-20th c.)
D) The 1980s
E) The 21st century
William Rathje used ethnoarchaeology to __________.
A) determine how dogs damage and re-distribute animal bone
B) gain a better understanding of possible Palaeolithic butchering techniques
C) determine if it was possible to quarry limestone with flaked stone bifaces
D) investigate contemporary patterns of garbage contents
E) understand Upper Paleolithic cave painting techniques
A deposit formed by the mixture of numerous feces is called __________.
A) cess
B) coprolites
C) gut contents
D) phytoliths
E) ecowaste
An instrument that measures variations in the strength of the earth’s magnetic field is
called __________.
A) a magnetism detector
B) a Global Positioning System
C) an electromagnetoscope
D) a magnetometer
A group with an independent political organization is known as __________.
A) stratified
B) non-stratified
C) polity
D) egalitarian
E) state
Specialists who study faunal remains are called __________.
A) osteoarchaeologists
B) palynologists
C) palaeobotanists
D) zooarchaeologists
E) none of the above